The tents at The Cliff face east with their beds turned to the view, so the sun comes up over Lake Nakuru while guests are still in bed. The suites run along a volcanic rock face about 100 metres above the western shore, inside the national park, and from that height the whole lake fills the view, with the Rift Valley stretching away beyond.
The sun comes up over Lake Nakuru while guests are still in bed.
Inside the canvas are wooden floors and wide windows, and the deck and freestanding bath both face the lake. Behind the suites, the camp gathers around an open dining room and a bar lounge, with a pool for the slow hours and a spa and small gym besides. Below the cliff lies the park, where game drives go out among rhino and Rothschild’s giraffe and boats head across the lake.
Boats leave at sunrise or mid-morning for roughly three hours on the water. From the boat, the lake the suites look down on is at eye level, and it is busy. Great white and pink-backed pelicans crowd the shallows. Cormorants and African fish eagles work the edges, and hippos and waterbuck keep to the shore.
Great white and pink-backed pelicans crowd the shallows.
The lake was once famous for vast flamingo flocks, but over the past decade and more the water has risen sharply and the flocks have largely dispersed to other Rift Valley lakes. Greater and lesser flamingos are usually still seen, in numbers that shift with the seasons, and the boat seeks them out. For dense pink crowds, Lake Bogoria National Reserve, further north in the Rift Valley, is the better bet.
Lake Nakuru National Park became Kenya’s first government-managed rhino sanctuary in 1987, and its 188 square kilometres hold both black and white rhino. White rhino are seen with real regularity; black rhino take far more luck. Rothschild’s giraffe browse alongside buffalo, zebra, eland and waterbuck, with lion and leopard among the predators. There are no elephants. More than 400 bird species have been recorded, and in 2011 the lake was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, part of the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley.
Game drives leave at dawn and again in the late afternoon, though with a private guide and vehicle the timings bend to suit: a long morning spent tracking rhino, perhaps, or an early return in time for the mid-morning boat. Birding outings take a slower line along the lake edge, where goliath heron and pied kingfisher fish the margins. The middle of the day slows right down, given over to a spa treatment or a swim in the pool and then a long lunch, before the vehicles head back out for the late-afternoon drive.
White rhino are seen with real regularity; black rhino take far more luck.
The Cliff opened in 2018. Its interiors fill the canvas of a safari tent with wooden floors and soft furnishings, and enough glass to keep the lake in view from almost anywhere. All meals are included, and dietary needs are catered for with notice. Anyone who would sooner eat on the deck can order room service, and after dark the bar lounge takes over.
A private charter from Nairobi lands at Naishi airstrip, inside the park, after just 30 to 40 minutes in the air, and helicopters can fly in too. By road the capital is 156 kilometres away, with entry through Lanet or Nderit gate before 6pm. That short hop makes The Cliff a practical first or last stop in the Rift Valley Lakes on a longer Kenya safari. Up on the escarpment, the camp is at over 1,800 metres. Children are welcome from twelve, though the camp runs no children’s programme and suits mature teenagers best.
accommodation
Ten tented suites line the cliff edge, each raised on wooden decking, with a private verandah that faces east over Lake Nakuru. A freestanding bath in the en-suite bathroom is set toward the view. Each suite has a lounge and dressing area and a tea and coffee station.
activities
Game drives run at dawn and late afternoon on the national park's tracks, in search of rhino and Rothschild's giraffe, with lion among the predators. Boat safaris of about three hours leave at sunrise or mid-morning. Birding outings widen the options, and back at camp there is a pool, with a spa and gym besides.
conservation
The Cliff operates inside a Kenya Wildlife Service park, where protecting black and white rhino has been the state's work since the sanctuary was declared in 1987. Ten suites on the rock face keep the camp's own footprint small. The same park is one of Kenya's great birding grounds, home to more than 400 species.
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.
Most guests come by road. Lake Nakuru National Park is 156 kilometres north-west of Nairobi on the main highway, two and a half to four hours depending on the traffic out of the city, and the camp's guests enter by Lanet or Nderit gate. The park gates close at six in the evening, so we plan the drive to arrive well before then.
To save the road, we book a private charter from Nairobi, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, to Naishi airstrip inside the park, thirty to forty minutes in the air. Naishi takes private charters rather than scheduled flights, and the camp's vehicle covers the short drive from the strip. The Cliff also takes guests arriving by helicopter.
Yes. The camp runs its own boat safaris on the lake, with two departures a day, one at sunrise and one in mid-morning, each lasting about three hours, and breakfast is served on board. Every trip begins with a safety briefing, life jackets are on board and a crewed safety boat stays close by.
From the water the park opens out differently, with the cliffs rising on one side. Great white pelicans gather in numbers, flamingos join them when the lake holds them, hippos lie in the shallows and waterbuck graze the banks, with now and then a rhino at the water's edge. Tell us when you book and we will fit the boat around your game drives.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Kenya as high risk for malaria, setting apart only the city of Nairobi and highland country above 2,500 metres. The American CDC counts every part of Kenya under 2,500 metres as a risk area, game parks included. The Rift Valley floor around Lake Nakuru lies well below that height, so the standard Kenya advice applies.
We do not make medical recommendations: we are travel planners, so the choice of tablets belongs to you and your own doctor or a travel clinic, ideally with your dates in hand. Nights on the cliff top are cool, but cover arms and legs after dark and keep repellent close all the same.
Yes, from the age of twelve. The Cliff takes children of twelve and over and has no child-minding, so it suits a family travelling with teenagers rather than one with young children.
For that age the park works well: rhino are found on the game drives, the boat goes out onto the lake for the pelicans and hippos, and the pool fills the hot middle of the day. If your children are younger, tell us their ages and we will suggest a camp elsewhere on the route that takes them.
Rhino above all. Lake Nakuru became Kenya's first government-managed rhino sanctuary in 1987, and the fenced park of 188 square kilometres holds both black and white rhino, along with Rothschild's giraffe, buffalo, lion and leopard. More than 400 bird species have been recorded, and the lake is one of three, with Elementaita and Bogoria, that UNESCO inscribed in 2011 as the Kenya Lake System World Heritage Site.
The flamingos come and go. Since about 2010 the lake has risen sharply, the water has grown less alkaline and the algae the birds feed on has thinned, so most of the great flocks have moved to Bogoria and Elementaita. About six thousand were counted on the lake in 2021, and pelicans gather in numbers, but no month can promise flamingos.
January and February, and July to September. These are the dry spells at Lake Nakuru, when the park roads are easy and game stays close to water, and July to September is the cooler of the two. March, June and October to December sit either side of the rains and suit a short stay, while April and May bring the long rains and heavy going on the park tracks.
The green months have their own case. The country is fresh, migrant birds are in from November to April, which makes the boat mornings richer, and there are fewer people about. In the long rains the lakes also hold up better than much of Kenya.
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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.
