Kifaru House stands on a hilltop in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mount Kenya to the south, dry country falling away north toward Samburu land. Five cottages of timber, stone and thatch sit wide apart on lawns the conservancy’s wildlife treats as its own. A resident giraffe has been known to lean at a cottage door. Breakfast happens on the terrace above a waterhole, and rhino sightings on the plains below are near certain.
A resident giraffe has been known to lean at a cottage door.
The house belongs to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy outright, one of only two lodges on Lewa it holds itself, with Elewana Collection managing it under contract. Profits and conservancy fees are reinvested in rhino protection and the communities along Lewa’s boundary. Kifaru is Swahili for rhino, a name that points straight at the conservancy’s founding purpose.
David and Delia Craig ran cattle on this land until 1983, when they set aside part of the ranch as a rhino sanctuary with the conservationist Anna Merz and Peter Jenkins. In 1995 the family gave the whole ranch over to wildlife, and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was born. It now holds roughly a tenth of Kenya’s rhinos, along with Grevy’s zebras.
Black and white rhino are both resident, and both are seen
Lewa is private land, so guides can leave the track for a sighting and drive after dark, and walking safaris go out with armed rangers who read the ground as they go. Black and white rhino are both resident, and both are seen. Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and Beisa oryx graze among the plains game, and cheetah and wild dog move through the same country.
Life gathers in a single main house. The sitting room has a well-stocked bar, the library has Wi-Fi, and stone fireplaces stand at either end of the room. Guests eat together at a long dining table said to be cut from old dhow decking. Cool highland evenings belong to the log fires, and mornings move outdoors to the terrace, where breakfast runs long above a waterhole that elephants wade into and rhino visit at odd hours. A heated infinity pool is set to line up with Mount Kenya, with a shaded lounge and a massage room beside it.
With five cottages, the mood is closer to a private house than a lodge, and groups often take the whole property as a buyout, sleeping up to twelve guests in all. The cottages sit far enough apart to feel separate, their glass doors angled to frame the view while keeping the afternoon sun off the beds, each with its own tiled veranda to sit out on. Little interrupts the quiet beyond lawn birdsong and, after dark, lions out on the plains. One cottage is a family one, with a second twin-bedded room for children.
Little interrupts the quiet beyond lawn birdsong and, after dark, lions out on the plains.
Over 150 rangers patrol Lewa, and tracker dogs based at conservancy headquarters are used to follow poachers’ trails. Clinics, school bursaries and water projects serve the pastoralist communities living alongside the conservancy, among them a micro-credit scheme lending to local women starting businesses. Guests can visit the operations centre and, in term time, the local schools. The guides come mostly from neighbouring communities and hold Bronze or Silver certification from the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association.
Getting here is a short hop, light aircraft from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport to the Lewa Downs airstrip and then a drive across the conservancy. Evening camel treks with Samburu handlers suit anyone who has never ridden, while horses go out for competent riders and electric mountain bikes cover ground quietly. South of Lewa, the Ngare Ndare Forest has a canopy walkway strung at tree height above a river where elephants pass. Helicopters can be chartered for Mount Kenya and the country further north.
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accommodation
Five thatched cottages of local timber and stone sit around the lawns. Four take two guests each, with a king-size four-poster bed, twin washbasins, a shower, a writing desk and a private tiled veranda. One of them adds a Victorian bathtub and an outdoor shower. The other is a family cottage, a double and a twin bedroom, each en suite.
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Day and night game drives run in open 4x4s with camera mounts, and conservancy rules allow off-road approaches that national parks do not. Walking safaris go out with armed rangers. Also on offer: camel and horse riding, e-bike excursions, and visits to Lewa's anti-poaching tracker dogs.
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conservation
Income from Kifaru House flows into Lewa Wildlife Conservancy's own budget, funding rhino protection: a ranger force of over 150, tracker dogs at conservancy headquarters, and daily monitoring of black and white rhino. Lewa's Community Development Programme funds schools, clinics and water projects for nearby communities.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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Most guests fly. Safarilink and Air Kenya each run a daily scheduled flight from Nairobi's Wilson airport to the Lewa airstrip, forty-five minutes to an hour and a half in the air depending on how many stops the plane makes on the way, and from the airstrip it is a fifteen minute drive to the house, a transfer included in the stay. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, which flies direct and to your own timings.
The scheduled light aircraft take soft bags only, fifteen kilograms per person including hand luggage, so pack a duffel rather than a hard case. Driving from Nairobi takes four to five hours, and Lewa runs strict vehicle rules, so anyone arriving by road is met at the conservancy headquarters and brought in from there.
Officially, yes. The house sits at around 1,700 metres on the Lewa conservancy, and both TravelHealthPro, which carries the UK's official travel health advice, and the CDC put the altitude above which malaria risk falls away in Kenya at 2,500 metres. Lewa is below that line, so both sources class it as a malaria risk area and recommend antimalarial tablets for it.
We are travel planners, not medical professionals, so that decision sits with you and your doctor or travel clinic, and the advice gets reviewed, so check it is still current close to departure. The practical side is simple: long sleeves and repellent once the light goes, and the cool highland nights keep mosquito numbers down, though that changes nothing in the official guidance.
Yes, children of any age can stay, and the house suits families better than most safari lodges. The two-bedroom family cottage gives parents and children their own rooms with separate entrances, cots and high chairs can be set up with notice, and the staff keep younger guests busy between drives with activity books, spotting games and board games. Tell us the ages when we plan and we will build the days around them.
Two things are worth knowing in advance. Walking safaris are for guests of sixteen and over, at the guides' discretion, so younger children stay with the vehicle, and the lawns are unfenced with wildlife wandering through, so a guard walks everyone back to their cottages after dark.
Nearly everything once you are there. The rates cover all meals, house wines, beers, selected spirits and soft drinks, laundry, twice-daily shared game drives, night drives, guided walks, bush breakfasts and sundowners, and the transfer between the Lewa airstrip and the house. Champagne, private cellar wines and premium spirits cost extra, as does taking a safari vehicle for your own private use.
Lewa's conservancy fees are also charged separately for each person per night. We build them into your quote from the start so nothing arrives as a surprise, and if a day out to the Ngare Ndare Forest appeals, tell us early and we will price that in too.
Highland weather: dry warmth by day and a real chill after dark. The house sits at around 1,700 metres, so the middle of the day brings strong equatorial sun, then temperatures drop sharply once it sets. The long rains fall around April and May and the short rains in November, and the months between stay largely dry.
Pack warm layers for dawn drives and dinner outside, neutral colours for the bush, and serious sun protection, because the altitude sharpens the sun. Closed shoes earn their place if you plan to walk, swimwear is worth having for the heated pool, and binoculars turn the waterhole below the terrace into an event. Keep it all soft-sided if you are flying in on the scheduled flights.
The dry months are the pick: late June to September and again December to February bring clear skies, firm ground and wildlife gathered at the water, with July to September the strongest game viewing of the year on Lewa. The heaviest rain tends to fall in April and in November, when some tracks turn to mud.
The house takes guests the year round though, and the green months make their own case: fresh grass pulls the plains game through, rates drop, and January and February are superb for birds, with more than 400 species recorded on the conservancy. Lewa's rhinos live there in every season, so the heart of a stay does not depend on the calendar.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
