Sue and the late Willie Roberts built Sirikoi in a shaded acacia grove inside the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, in the northern foothills of Mount Kenya. Willie was a second-generation Kenyan who built his first lodge at nineteen, and he designed this one himself, without an architect. His hand still shows in a place run as a family home rather than a hotel, with the owner-led warmth that made it one of the region’s most closely watched small lodges.
Elephants bathe and wallow within view of the lawns almost daily.
Sue’s interest in botany explains the organic garden that now supplies much of the kitchen. Elephants bathe and wallow within view of the lawns almost daily. The staff come largely from neighbouring villages and extend the ease of a household. Sirikoi has the feel of somewhere lived in, a home into which guests are welcomed.
A mountain spring feeds the waterhole in front of camp, and guests rarely need to leave the lawns to find wildlife. Giraffe, buffalo and gazelle cross the wetland on their own schedule. Nothing here runs to a viewing timetable. Lewa holds a substantial share of Kenya’s black rhino and a significant number of endangered Grevy’s zebra.
Giraffe, buffalo and gazelle cross the wetland on their own schedule.
Inside a private conservancy, guiding is not bound to daytime drives on fixed roads. Each booking travels with its own vehicle and guide, so a night drive, a walk with an armed tracker or a change of plan for a good sighting is simply arranged. Beyond the Big Five come the northern species: reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, Beisa oryx and gerenuk. Birdlife runs past 350 species, and Lewa’s anti-poaching and tracker-dog teams take guests behind the scenes.
Sirikoi keeps its accommodation deliberately small. Four luxury tents stand on raised platforms with private verandas facing the water, each with an indoor lounge, an evening fireplace and a bathroom with a freestanding Victorian bath and a rain shower. One tent adds an annexe for children. The common areas gather under deep thatch in a structure of wood and stone, filled with family heirlooms, African art and bronze wildlife sculptures, so even the shared rooms read as rooms in a home.
The two-bedroom cottage sleeps up to four, with its own living area, a small kitchen and a private deck with a fire pit above the wetland. Sirikoi House goes further: three en-suite bedrooms, two fireplaces, a private heated pool, and its own safari vehicle, guide, chef and dedicated team, run entirely separately from the main lodge. Guests in the tents have an infinity pool overlooking the wetlands. Between tents, cottage and house, Sirikoi suits a couple, a family or a full group without anyone sharing space they had not chosen to.
Sirikoi runs on solar power and draws its water from the mountain spring.
Much of the food comes off Sirikoi’s own ground. The garden nurtures more than eighty kinds of organic fruit, vegetables and herbs, and the kitchen builds its menus around whatever it is producing that week, supported by free-range chickens and a small dairy herd. The cooking is fresh and home-style, served on the deck above the waterhole, by the fire, or under the stars depending on the evening. A walk through the one-acre garden with the head groundsman has become one of the more memorable parts of a stay.
In 2024 the Roberts family established the Sirikoi Trust to deepen the lodge’s conservation and community work, and staying here supports Lewa’s broader rhino and Grevy’s zebra programmes directly. Sirikoi runs on solar power and draws its water from the mountain spring. The lodge holds a Gold-level eco-rating from Ecotourism Kenya and belongs to The Long Run sustainability network. Where time allows, bespoke helicopter excursions reach Mount Kenya, the Mathews Range and Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, turning what would otherwise be a full day’s drive into a short flight.
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accommodation
Eighteen guests across four luxury tents, a two-bedroom cottage and the three-bedroom Sirikoi House. The tents have private verandas facing the waterhole, a lounge, an evening fireplace and a bathroom with a freestanding Victorian bath and rain shower. One tent has a children's annexe. The house and cottage are exclusive-use.
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activities
Inside the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, guiding includes day and night game drives, walking safaris with expert trackers, and horseback and camel safaris. Birdwatching runs to over 350 species. Guests can join a tour of Lewa's anti-poaching operations, walk in Ngare Ndare Forest, and take helicopter excursions to Mount Kenya, the Mathews Range and Reteti Elephant Sanctuary.
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conservation
Sirikoi runs on solar power and spring water, holds a Gold-level Ecotourism Kenya rating, and belongs to The Long Run sustainability network. The Roberts family established the Sirikoi Trust in 2024 to extend its conservation and community work. Staying here supports the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, home to a significant share of Kenya's black rhino and a significant population of Grevy's zebra, and the lodge employs over seventy staff drawn largely from neighbouring villages.
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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Fly from Nairobi to the Lewa airstrip, about fifty minutes from Wilson airport by scheduled light aircraft, and the lodge is then a short drive of fifteen to twenty minutes across the conservancy. Helicopters can land at the lodge's own helipad, and we can arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, where the schedules do not suit.
The light aircraft take soft bags only, around fifteen kilograms per person including hand luggage, so pack a duffel. The drive up from Nairobi takes about five hours, with Mount Kenya keeping you company for much of it.
Think of it as a lower-risk malaria area rather than a malaria-free one. Lewa's altitude, around 1,700 metres, and its cold nights keep mosquito numbers down, but both the CDC and the UK's official travel health advice place the level at which the risk truly falls away at 2,500 metres, so antimalarial tablets are usually still advised.
The advice is reviewed often, so check the current position with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, and keep up the usual care against bites in the evenings.
High-country weather: warm, clear days and cold mornings and nights the whole year, with fires lit against the evening chill. The long rains fall from around March to May and shorter rains late in the year, greening the conservancy and softening the tracks.
Pack proper warm layers for dawn and the night drives, sun protection for the day, neutral colours, and closed shoes for walking out with the trackers. Swimwear is worth its space for the pool.
The dry windows, roughly July to September and December to February, bring the strongest game viewing as wildlife draws in to water, with clear skies for the walking and the night drives. The green seasons are quieter, with the birding at its best and the game more spread out.
Nights stay cold whichever you choose, so the real decision is between the clarity of the dry months and the quiet of the green ones.
The rate is all-inclusive: accommodation, meals built around the lodge's own garden, house drinks, laundry, and the full run of activities on Lewa, with the day and night game drives, guided walks and the conservancy fees all inside it.
Helicopter excursions, horse riding safaris, trips to the Ngare Ndare forest and spa treatments sit outside the rate, so tell us what appeals and we will price the whole trip as one number before you commit.
It is one of Laikipia's easier lodges to visit with children. The kitchen will flex mealtimes and menus for younger guests, the garden tour, with its chickens and vegetable beds, lands surprisingly well with small children, and the lawns and pool give a family room to breathe between drives.
Some activities carry age limits for safety, and the right rooms depend on who is coming, so tell us the ages and we will set up the tents, the cottage or the house to fit.
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.
