5-star guide to safaris in Kenya
Safari adventures are one of the most exhilarating, life-enhancing, life-affirming holidays we will enjoy throughout our lifetime. For many, they become a necessary trip to take several times over.
Finding the right experiences and the right level of authentic 5-star luxury safari is difficult when so many are vying for attention. So we have created a simple solution; a fly-me-around-Kenya, ready-to-go itinerary to make booking easy.
You may choose one of our recently visited recommendations or you may choose to a fully peronalised itinerary, as recently experienced by our Travel Editor, Sophie Marchant, in March 2018.
The luxurious 5-star Safari Collection's Giraffe Manor in Nairobi was her starting point. Giraffe Manor is on the lips of giraffe lovers the world over and as a result, booking needs to be made well in advance. Nairobi is a wonderful 'bookend' to your savannah safaris, so if this remarkable luxury hotel is not available, then we recommend either the 5-star grand-luxe Hemmingways, or the luxury boutique gem, One Forty Eight. All three are near to one another and are only an hour from the International airport. Fortunately, they are only a 15-minute drive to Wilson Airport from where you can charter your first flight to your first safari.
We recommend starting with another Safari Collection jewel, the gorgeous 5-star Solio Lodge, north of Nairobi, located between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains. It's intimate size, personalised itinerary and abundance of wildlife, especially rhino and lion, will kick off your safari spirit while it is fantastic for families too. The fever tree forest is mesmerising and teaming with rhino, buffalo and waterbuck.
From here, you can take off from their private airstrip, as we did, to our second recommendation, just a half-hour flight away. The luxury Safari Collection camp of the exotic 5-star Moroccan-Swahili inspired Sasaab is found in Samburu. Simply flying over the rugged, arid, yet exquisite landscape, in various clay hues, will make your heart soar. But getting there is extraordinary. The views across the Northern Frontier District towards Mount Kenya are spellbinding. It is rich in game including the Big Five and the 'Samburu Special Five': Grevy Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Somali Ostrich, Gerenuk and Beisa Oryx.
Finally, to complete the safari trilogy, we recommend &Beyond's Bateleur Camp, a revamp beyond your wildest dreams, located at the base of the famous Oloololo Escarpment, at the edge of the Rift Valley in the must-see Masai Mara. The deeply comfortable 5-star tents ooze explorer charm in a style and comfort that has raised the bar to a whole new level. The vintage allure sets the perfect tone for enjoying the majestic landscape and its prolific wildlife including the Big Five, hippos and crocodile, in a splendour that really does feel like 'Out of Africa'. The golden savannah-rich Mara Plains, onto which the camp faces, are world renown for 'The Twice-Annual Great Migration'. However, there is a reason to visit all year round.
A short drive to their private airstrip and you return to Nairobi and stay one more night, if you can, in one of the above luxury hotels. This will be a trip of a life-time.