The Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy was established in 1995 by Samburu Elders, the first conservancy in Samburu County. Namunyak means “The Place of Peace.” Two years later, in 1997, third-generation Kenyans Piers and Hilary Bastard partnered with the community to open Sarara Camp.
In 2010 their son Jeremy Bastard and his wife Katie took over the operation. Both went on to co-found Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. Today all three Sarara lodges are wholly owned by the Samburu community, with the management team operating on their behalf, making this one of the region’s largest employers. The same partnership runs all three Sarara properties across the conservancy, the original Sarara Camp, these Treehouses and Reteti House, and has helped wildlife recover on land the Samburu themselves own and protect.
Sarara Treehouses sits in a mature forest glade at the foot of Mount Uarges, the highest peak in the Mathews Range and one of the Samburu’s seven sacred mountains. Eight canvas suites stand on stilts within the canopy, so elephants, buffalo and giraffe move across the forest floor directly beneath the decks. Each suite stands in its own private clearing, walled in canvas and open to the trees, with a front deck that can be made up as a star bed beneath the canopy.
Elephants, buffalo and giraffe roam the forest floor directly beneath your raised deck.
A permanent waterhole lies below the main lounge and infinity pool, drawing wildlife into view through the day. Around 60% of the income generated here is reinvested locally, supporting roughly 1,200 Samburu families across the conservancy.
The conservancy spans around 850,000 acres of plains, riverine corridors and rocky slopes in Samburu County, northern Kenya. The lodge sits in mature highland forest, separate from its sister Sarara Camp on an open hillside about 20 minutes away. Access is a 20-minute drive from Sarara’s own airstrip for private charters, or a scheduled flight to Kalama followed by a road transfer of about an hour and a half. The adventurous can arrive on foot or by bush pony, with camels carrying the luggage.
Because Namunyak is a community conservancy rather than a national park, activities here face few restrictions. Days can include unrestricted game drives, night drives, walking safaris, horseback rides on bush ponies and camel treks into the Mathews Range. Guests hike the montane cloud forest, fly-camp in dry riverbeds, swim in the infinity pool above the waterhole and watch wildlife from a dedicated hide.
Two worlds meet here: montane forest above the camp and the arid Samburu plains below.
Namunyak holds Kenya’s second-largest elephant population, more than 480 reticulated giraffe and the critically endangered Grevy’s zebra. Gerenuk, beisa oryx, lesser kudu, buffalo, leopard, lion and wild dog all range across the conservancy. In the forest above camp, reachable only on foot, live De Brazza’s and colobus monkeys among centuries-old cycads.
Jeremy and Katie co-founded Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in 2016, Africa’s first community-owned and community-run elephant sanctuary, where Samburu keepers raise orphaned calves for release back to wild herds. Sarara Treehouses guests visit at dawn or evening feed times. The Sarara Foundation, also formed in 2016, runs nomadic Montessori schools and mobile healthcare clinics, while the Milk to Market programme creates income for Samburu women.
Meals make the most of regional produce with a Samburu touch, taken communally and often under the stars on the terrace overlooking the waterhole. The camp is off-grid and fully solar-powered, free of single-use plastics, and built from locally felled timber and stone, with large boulders forming the back of the open-sided thatched lounge.
accommodation
The camp offers eight canvas suites raised on stilts into the forest canopy, each in its own private setting. All are en-suite with outdoor solar-heated showers and a front viewing deck that can be made up as a star bed on request. A family unit pairs two close but non-interconnecting tents, each with its own bathroom.
activities
Game drives run day and night with Samburu guides, unrestricted by national park rules. Walk the Mathews cloud forest, ride bush ponies, trek with camels and fly-camp under the stars. Swim in the infinity pool above the waterhole, then visit Reteti Elephant Sanctuary at a dawn or evening feed time.
conservation
All three Sarara lodges are wholly owned by the Samburu community, and around 60% of the income from Sarara Treehouses is reinvested locally, supporting roughly 1,200 families. Proceeds fund Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, nomadic Montessori schools, mobile health clinics and the Milk to Market programme for Samburu women.
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.
You fly from Nairobi's Wilson airport to an airstrip in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy of northern Kenya, around an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half by light aircraft, and the camp meets you for the transfer to the forest glade at the foot of Mount Uarges.
We build the flights into your itinerary. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, flown direct to the conservancy strip and timed to your arrival in Nairobi.
The bush planes take soft bags of around fifteen kilograms per person including hand luggage, so pack a duffel. This is remote, forested mountain country, so the flight is much the easier way in.
Yes, though a lower-risk one than the coast. The Namunyak country is hot and semi-arid, which keeps mosquito numbers down, but it sits below the altitude at which the CDC and TravelHealthPro regard malaria risk as negligible, so antimalarial tablets are usually advised, with the risk a little higher after rain.
We do not make medical recommendations. We are travel planners, not doctors. Which tablets are right for you, whether they suit your own health or anyone else's in the party, and what is appropriate for a child, is a conversation between you and your doctor or a travel clinic.
The practical side we can speak to is not medical: cover arms and legs from late afternoon and keep repellent to hand.
The forest glade at the foot of the mountains is fresher and greener than the arid country around it, with warm days and cool mornings, and the suites open to the trees so you feel the air directly. The rains bring the forest to life.
Pack light, breathable clothes in neutral colours, a light layer for the mornings and for sleeping on the open star-bed deck, sun protection, and closed shoes for the walking. Swimwear for the infinity pool above the waterhole, and binoculars for the canopy birds.
The dry seasons are the more reliable time, when the remote tracks firm up and access is easiest, with June to October the strongest window and January to March also good. After the rains the Mathews Range greens up, and the forest holds its water and wildlife year round.
Elephants, buffalo and giraffe move across the forest floor beneath the decks whatever the season, so the choice is really about the dry-season access and clear skies versus a greener, wetter landscape.
Each of the eight suites stands on stilts up in the canopy, walled in canvas and open to the trees, with its own clearing for privacy. The front deck can be made up as a star bed, so you can choose to sleep out under the leaves and the sky.
Because the suites are raised, wildlife moves along the forest floor below you rather than beyond a fence, and a waterhole sits under the main lounge and pool. It is a place to enjoy slowly, more about the forest, the sacred mountain above it and the Samburu-owned land than a tally of big game.
It can suit families, with a family unit pairing two close tents each with its own bathroom, and the treehouse setting, the star beds and the elephants below the decks tend to captivate children. Bush ponies, camel treks and the Reteti elephant sanctuary add to the appeal.
The raised, open decks above a forest where wildlife roams mean it favours steady children over very small ones, so tell us your children's ages and we will advise honestly and shape the days and the sleeping arrangements to suit.
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our approach
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
