Top 14 Safari Lodges In Kenya 2023
Kenya is one of the most renown countries for an African safari – best known for the Great Migration and the Maasai Mara National Park, it has other amazing game parks including the Amboseli National Park, Tsavo National Park, and Lake Nakuru National Park. Kenya is also home to Mount Kenya which can be found in the Mount Kenya National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular destination for hikers, climbers, and wildlife enthusiasts.
Safaris in Kenya consist of a guided excursion, either by safri vehicle or on foot. Professional guides will lead you through the parks, pointing out animals and plants explaining the various relationships between the animals and their habitats. You might even be able to take a hot air balloon flight over a park to get a bird’s-eye view of the wildlife below.
A safari in Kenya allows you to explore the local culture as well as view beautiful wildlife. Many safaris include trips to Maasai settlements, where you can learn about these legendary warriors and cattle herders’ traditional way of life.
When deciding where to stay on a Safari in Kenya it is important to consider which areas you want to visit and the kind of experiences you wish to have.
Maasai Mara National Reserve
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a wildlife reserve in southwestern Kenya that borders Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. The reserve is named after the Maasai people who live in the area and comprises 1,510 square kilometers (580 square miles).
The Maasai Mara is famous for its spectacular wildlife, and it is regarded as one of the greatest places in Africa to observe the “Big Five” – elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Many other species live there, including cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, zebras, and many varieties of antelope.
The reserve is well-known for its annual wildebeest migration, which occurs from July to October each year known as the Great Migration. Millions of wildebeests, zebras, and antelope migrate from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara at this time in search of fresh grazing and water. The migration is a breathtaking spectacle that draws thousands of people each year.
Cultural activities are also a fantastic highlight of visiting the Maasai Mara. Visitors can experience how the Maasai live during a cultural tour, including their traditional home, diet, and everyday activities. Students can also learn about the Maasai’s close relationship with cattle, which are seen as a sign of prosperity and prestige.
Traditional Maasai activities such as spear throwing, leaping competitions, and dancing are also available to visitors. These activities, which are accompanied by singing and chanting, offer a unique glimpse into the Maasai’s rich cultural legacy.
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli is well-known for its vast elephant herds, which can be viewed throughout the park. Other wildlife species found there include lions, cheetahs, leopards, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, and a variety of birds.
The sight of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, is one of the delights of Amboseli National Park. On clear days, visitors may view the mountain’s snow-capped peak towering over the park’s plains. The combination of wildlife and mountain views creates an amazing experience.
Visitors to Amboseli can enjoy a variety of activities such as game drives, guided nature walks, and bird watching. Photographers visit the park to capture the breathtaking beauty and wildlife on film.
You can also take part in cultural tours from the Amboseli National Park.
Tsavo National Park
Mzima Springs, a series of natural springs that provides fresh water to the park’s wildlife, is one of Tsavo National Park’s highlights. Visitors to the springs can take a guided tour and see the crystal-clear water as well as the hippos, crocodiles, and other creatures that reside there.
Tsavo is also known for its breathtaking landscape, which includes rough hills, vast plains, and volcanic landscapes. The landscapes of the park make for a spectacular backdrop for wildlife viewing and photography.
Tsavo National Park visitors can engage in a variety of activities such as game drives, guided nature walks, and bird viewing. The park also includes a tour to a typical Maasai village where visitors may learn about their culture and way of life.
Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru National Park is located in central Kenya, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Nairobi. It is named after the alkaline lake that dominates the park and has an area of 188 square kilometers (73 square miles).
Lake Nakuru National Park is well-known for its diverse birdlife, particularly its resident flamingo population. Millions of flamingos live in the lake and feed on the algae that blooms in the alkaline water. Other bird species that can be found in the park include pelicans, cormorants, and storks.
Our Top 14 Luxury Safari Lodges In Kenya
There are a number of fantastic luxury safari lodges in Kenya, each lodge offers its own unique experiences, tastes and style. Here are our top 14 lodges to stay at while on safari in Kenya.
1. Angama Mara
Angama Mara is perched on the edge of the Oloololo Escarpment and provides breathtaking views of the surrounding plains.
The lodge is divided into two camps, each with 15 luxurious tented suites. The tents are fashioned in a classic safari style with modern facilities and are designed to optimize the views.
Angama Mara is inspired by the Swahili phrase that means “suspended in mid-air.” Angama Mara is a spectacular safari lodge overlooking Kenya’s Maasai Mara, regarded by many to be the most beautiful game reserve on the continent.
The lodge is divided into two camps, each with 15 luxurious tented suites. The tents are fashioned in a classic safari style with modern facilities and are designed to optimize the views. The lodge also has a private airfield with access to the Mara below, tailor-made safari days, and a notably warm Kenyan welcome.
Angama Safari Camp, an exclusive-use movable tented camp located deep in the Mara Triangle and amidst the giant herds during the Great Migration, complements the lodge superbly.
2. Mara Plains Camp
Mara Plains Camp is a luxury tented camp in Kenya’s Olare Motorogi Conservancy, which borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The camp provides a luxurious safari experience with first-rate service and amenities.
The camp is made up of seven luxury tents, each with its own balcony and en-suite bathroom. The tents are decorated in an exquisite, safari-style with modern facilities and are designed to fit into the surrounding nature.
Mara Plains Camp is well-known for its excellent wildlife viewing opportunities, especially for big cats like lions, leopards, and cheetahs. In addition, the camp provides a variety of activities such as game drives, guided hikes, and cultural trips to Maasai villages.
No other Maasai Mara camp provides the enormous traversing area that Mara Plains Camp does, with access to 40,000 hectares of private conservancy land and the world-renowned Maasai Mara, home of the Great Migration.
3. Porini Lion Camp
Porini Lion Camp is a luxury safari camp in Kenya’s Olare Motorogi Conservancy, which borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The camp is located in a private conservancy, making for a more private and intimate safari experience.
The camp is made up of ten spacious and exquisite tents, each with its own private veranda and bathroom. The tents are designed to blend in with the surrounding wilderness and have solar-powered lights and hot water.
While picking your Maasai Mara Hotel, avoid the tourist hotspots and go for a more authentic safari experience. The award-winning, eco-friendly Porini Lion Camp provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to go on guided walks with Maasai Warriors and enjoy day and night safari game drives within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy.
4. Ol Pejeta Bush Camp
Ol Pejeta Bush Camp is a safari camp located in central Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The camp provides a one-of-a-kind and authentic safari experience, with an emphasis on sustainable tourism and conservation. Ol Pejeta is located in Laikipia County in central Kenya, overlooking the ragged slopes of Mount Kenya. The environment varies from wetlands and savannah to acacia and yellow-green fever tree thickets.
The camp is made up of six luxurious tents, each with its own bathroom and balcony. The tents are designed to fit with the surrounding bush, providing a private and personal safari experience.
The conservancy is noted for its innovative conservation activities, such as efforts to protect and conserve endangered species such as the northern white rhino.
Ol Pejeta Bush Camp is open June – April and closed in May, and it welcomes families and children of all ages.
5. Ol Seki Hemingways Mara
The Ol Seki Hemingways Mara is in the Naboisho Conservancy, which borders the Maasai Mara Reserve. The conservancy restricts access to clients staying in the region and provides an extremely exclusive safari experience. The lodge is made up of nine exclusive tents that provide amazing views as well as the best Kenyan hospitality anyone could ask for. There is no such thing as a typical day in Ol Seki Hemingways Mara. The lodge is tiny and attempts to personalize every day to your preferences, making your time in the Mara an unforgettable safari encounter.
In the Maasai Mara, wildlife is abundant all year, and game viewing is feasible at any time. The weather and accessibility of particular regions, however, vary according on the rains, which often arrive between May and June and in November.
6. Mara Nyika Camp
Mara Nyika Camp, which means “Great Plains,” is an intimate Great Plains Conservation Réserve-Collection safari tented camp nestled in a valley and is an ideal setting for your Kenya safari. The camp is hidden beneath the treetop canopy on the western edge of the Naboisho Conservancy, bordering the Maasai Mara.
All of the suites provide guests with breathtaking views of the plains. The walkways connecting the guest suites to the main area have the feel of a treehouse under canvas. The ethos and motivation of the camp are one of exploration and adventure. Mara Nyika Camp values privacy. Privacy to live, think, explore, be passionate, and be pampered – all with one of Africa’s most magnificent landscapes.
7. Saruni Mara Camp
Saruni Mara is a luxury safari lodge in Kenya’s Lemek Conservancy, which borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The lodge provides a luxurious safari experience with first-rate service and amenities.
Each of the lodge’s six exquisite suites and one family home has a private veranda and an en-suite toilet. The cottages are decorated in a contemporary African style with modern conveniences and are designed to integrate with the surrounding nature.
Saruni Mara is well-known for its excellent wildlife viewing chances, especially for big cats like lions, leopards, and cheetahs. In addition, the resort provides a variety of activities such as game drives, guided walks, and cultural trips to Maasai settlements.
8. Sasaab Lodge
Sasaab’s architecture, perched on the edge of a river valley, combines Swahili and Moroccan design principles, with the African heat as the key issue. Each of the nine canvas-sided rooms exceeds 100m2, with private plunge pools and breathtaking views across the Laikipia Plateau and Mount Kenya’s jagged peaks. Its elevated position over the river allows it to observe the elephant herds that come to bathe below, as well as a variety of other animals.
Sasaab Lodge is well-known for its excellent wildlife viewing opportunities, notably for Samburu-specific species such as the gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, and Grevy’s zebra. In addition, the lodge provides a variety of activities such as game drives, guided walks, and cultural trips to surrounding Samburu villages.
9. Ololo Safari Lodge
A small safari lodge on the outskirts of Nairobi National Park in Kenya. The warmth and comfort of a home are combined with seamless style and personalized care at Ololo Safari Lodge. Ololo, a historic Kenyan homestead that has been turned into a modest lodge, is wonderfully positioned on the lovely banks of the Mbagathi River, which forms the Nairobi National Park’s southern border.
The resort is only a 45-minute drive through the park from Nairobi and both major airports, but its remote position feels a world apart. Ololo brings you the pleasures of excellent ‘paddock to plate’ fresh food. Our established and isolated gardens allow guests to settle in and enjoy a one-of-a-kind safari experience.
10. Finch Hattons
Finch Hattons is a luxurious tented camp in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park. Denys Finch Hatton, a great big-game hunter and explorer who was famously linked with Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa, inspired the camp’s name.
The camp has 17 beautiful tented suites, each with its own private veranda and shower. The tents are fashioned in a classic safari style with modern comforts and are designed to fit into the surrounding wilderness.
Finch Hattons is well-known for its outstanding service and customized attention to visitors.
11. Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge
Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge in Tsavo West National Park is a tranquil, hushed, and cool refuge framed by Mount Kilimanjaro and the rolling, volcanic landscapes of the deep green Chyulu Hills. It immerses you in stunning beauty and exhilarating adventures while surrounding you with every modern comfort. Our classic stone style enchants arriving guests, as do views of elephants, buffalo, and other plains animals drinking and cooling off in our water hole.
Tsavo West National Park is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos, and other antelope species. The park is also famous for its breathtaking scenery, which includes spectacular hills, volcanic cones, and the Mzima Springs.
12. Elewana Tortilis Camp
Tortilis Camp is a luxury safari camp in southern Kenya’s Amboseli National Park. The camp is located on a hill overlooking the park, with breathtaking views of the surrounding environment and Mount Kilimanjaro.
The camp is made up of 16 spacious and exquisite tents, each with its own private veranda and shower. The tents are fashioned in a classic safari style with modern comforts and are designed to blend into the surrounding nature.
Tortilis Camp is named after the Acacia Tortilis, a flat-topped umbrella thorn tree, and embraces a hill in one of Amboseli’s Acacia Tortilis woodland regions. Situated in a private conservancy abutting the national park, guests can enjoy wildlife drives, walks, sundowners, and bush lunches both inside and outside the national park.
13. Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge was designed for those with an African dream and a desire for adventure. The safari lodge offers an elegant blend of stark beauty and sumptuous comfort in the heart of Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, with Mount Kilimanjaro standing majestically just beyond the golden, acacia-specked grassland.
The two-bedroom family rooms features a bedroom with one king bed, a second bedroom with two twin beds, a common bathroom, and a private terrace overlooking the spectacular grasslands of Amboseli National Park.
14. Porini Amboseli Camp
Porini Amboseli Camp is an eco-friendly safari camp in southern Kenya’s Selenkay Conservation Area, next to the Amboseli National Park. The camp is located in a private conservancy, making for a more private and intimate safari experience.
The camp is made up of nine spacious and exquisite tents, each with its own own veranda and shower. The tents are designed to blend in with the surrounding wilderness and have solar-powered lights and hot water.
