Sera Community Conservancy brought black rhino back to Northern Kenya in 2015, after a thirty-year absence, and Saruni Rhino was built to put guests within walking distance of them. Rangers find the animals first by radio transmitter. Then you leave the vehicle and go on foot, moving quietly through the acacia scrub, testing the wind with a handful of river sand thrown into the air.
Rangers find the animals first by radio transmitter.
Bandas stand among leaning doum palms along the dry Kauro River, sleeping up to ten guests in the wider Sera Conservancy, deep in Samburu country. Tracking is what people come here for, but the isolation is part of it too. This is a stretch of Northern Kenya that sees very few other visitors, and the silence of it stays with you long after the walking is done.
The tracking happens inside the Sera Rhino Sanctuary, which took in its first ten black rhino in 2015 and has since raised a growing population of black and white rhino. You go on foot, led by Samburu trackers and armed conservancy rangers, and the approach is slow and deliberate, ending within viewing distance of an animal most visitors only ever glimpse from a vehicle.
You go on foot, led by Samburu trackers and armed conservancy rangers
Beyond the rhino, the conservancy holds the Samburu specials. Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich move through here, alongside elephant, buffalo and the occasional leopard or wild dog. A natural waterhole sits in front of camp, drawing elephant and plains game, and each morning thousands of sandgrouse descend in a single noisy flurry to soak water into their feathers.
Riccardo Orizio, the former Italian journalist behind the Saruni lodges, opened Saruni Rhino in February 2017 in partnership with the Sera community, on a site the community had used for a guesthouse since 2006. The land and the buildings belong to the Sera Wildlife Conservancy. Most of the team on the ground is drawn from the local Samburu community, and lease payments, conservancy fees and a share of tourism income go towards scholarships, water access and healthcare across the region.
The design is deliberately pared back, built of rough-hewn stone, heavy timber and thatched makuti roofs, open-fronted to the riverbed. Polished stone floors hold the cool through the heat of the day. Sand-filled private terraces set with loungers run to the edge of the dry riverbed, and a curved pool follows the natural line of the bank. When the sun drops, lanterns and firelight do most of the night-time work.
When the sun drops, lanterns and firelight do most of the night-time work.
The days follow the rhythm of the tracking. Mornings and afternoons are given over to walking safaris along the sandy riverbeds and to game drives, by day and by night, across the wider conservancy. Meals come as picnic breakfasts or as lantern-lit dinners eaten in the cool sand of the Kauro riverbed, under a sky with no light to dim it. Cultural life centres on the Singing Wells at Kisima Hamsini, where Samburu herders dig deep into the dry earth and chant family songs that their own herds recognise and follow to the water.
Longer excursions reach the community-run Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in the Mathews Range, where rescued orphans are brought back to health, and the climb up Lontopi Mountain for anyone wanting a harder day on foot. Helicopter and biplane flights open the wider Northern Frontier from the air. Access is by light aircraft into a Northern Kenya airstrip and then a drive into the conservancy, and the sister camp, Saruni Samburu, lies within reach by road or a short charter.
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accommodation
Bandas of stone, timber and thatch run along the Kauro riverbed. They range from a two-person banda with an outdoor tree bed to a large open-plan banda for families, and a stone-and-thatch family villa of two en-suite bedrooms sharing a lounge and a veranda over the waterhole. Sleeps up to ten.
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activities
On-foot black rhino tracking in the Sera Rhino Sanctuary with Samburu trackers and armed rangers, plus walking safaris, day and night game drives across the community conservancy, birdwatching, the Singing Wells cultural exchange, Reteti Elephant Sanctuary excursions, the Lontopi Mountain hike, and helicopter or biplane flights.
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conservation
Saruni Rhino operates inside the Sera Rhino Sanctuary, a community-managed reserve that returned black rhino to Northern Kenya in 2015 after a thirty-year absence. Guest fees support armed anti-poaching units and the monitoring of the rhino population. Most on-site staff are drawn from the local Samburu community, and tourism revenue funds scholarships, water access and healthcare.
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.
Scheduled flights from Nairobi's Wilson airport land at the Kalama airstrip to the south, and from there it is a road transfer of around two hours into Sera, usually taken slowly as a game drive. A private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, can land instead on an airstrip inside the conservancy just minutes from camp, which we recommend for shorter stays.
The light aircraft hold soft bags of about fifteen kilograms per person including hand luggage. This is genuinely remote country, and the journey in is part of the point.
Yes. Sera lies in the hot, low country of Northern Kenya, far below the 2,500-metre line at which the CDC and the UK's official travel health advice treat malaria risk as fading, so antimalarial tablets are usually advised despite the dry climate.
The bandas open to the riverbed rather than sealing behind glass, which is part of their magic, so repellent and cover after dark matter more here than in most rooms. Confirm the current guidance with a travel clinic or your doctor before travelling.
Hot. The far north runs warmer than Kenya's highland parks, with strong sun through the middle of the day and mild evenings in the riverbed that cool before dawn. Rain, when it comes, falls mostly around November and from March to May.
Pack for the tracking above all: sturdy, broken-in walking shoes, neutral colours with nothing bright, a hat, high-factor sun cream and a good water bottle. Swimwear for the pool between walks, and a warm layer for the early starts.
The camp asks for a minimum of two nights, and the minimum is also good advice. Tracking wild black rhino on foot depends on wind, ground and the animals themselves, so two attempts across two days give far better odds than one, and a third night adds room for the Reteti elephant sanctuary excursion, which needs booking ahead.
We usually pair the stay with a few nights elsewhere in Samburu country, which the flight and transfer logistics make easy.
The camp welcomes children, and the family banda pairs two en-suite bedrooms around a shared lounge, but the headline activity has a hard age limit: tracking rhino on foot is restricted to guests of sixteen and over.
Younger children can still take the day and night game drives and the cultural visits, and childcare can be arranged in camp while parents walk. For a family with teenagers, few places in Kenya hand over a memory like this one.
The dry months, June to October and December to March, are best for the tracking, with firm sand in the luggas and sparse cover, and the trackers work the afternoons, when the rhino are most active. The short rains around November and the long rains from March to May green the country and scatter the game, and the walking becomes heavier going.
If the tracking is the point, and it should be, come in the dry.
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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.
