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Kenya Safari

Lewa Safari Camp

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya

View of Bedroom Interior at Lewa Safari Camp
Return to Map of Central Kenya                     Image © Lewa Safari Camp

View images of Lewa Safari Camp:  Lewa Safari Camp Images

LEWA SAFARI CAMP RATES: Lewa Safari Camp Rates

LEWA SAFARI CAMP - LEWA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY, KENYA
Lewa Safari Camp is set on the 65,000 acre, privately owned Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Situated against the dramatic backdrop of the snow-covered massif of Mt Kenya and with the magnificent Northern Frontier District stretching out to the North, Lewa is an outstanding tourist destination, offering spectacular scenery, superb game viewing and exciting activities for the discerning traveller.

The Conservancy, formerly a working cattle ranch and otherwise known as Lewa Downs, has been in the Craig family since 1924. Three generations of the family continue to be involved in daily operations on Lewa. With wildlife densities as high as anywhere in Africa, it is possible to see all of Africa's Big Five on Lewa, and the Conservancy provides a refuge for several endangered species.

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a pioneer in wildlife preservation, which has gained a reputation for extending benefits of conservation beyond its borders. Lewa Safari Camp is fully owned by the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which means that all proceeds generated by the camp are directly reinvested into wildlife conservation and and local community development projects.

Accommodation            For images of Lewa Safari Camp, click Lewa Safari Camp Images
The camp can sleep 26 guests, and comprises 12 tents; nine twin rooms, one double and two family/triple tents, all with en-suite bathrooms, hot and cold running water, and flush toilets.

There are power outlets inthe tents so phone/camera batteries can be charged in the tent or in the main mess. Lighting is by a 240V generator, run morning and evening hours. Hair dryers can not be used.

Your host at the Lewa Safari camp is Anne-Marie, who is always on hand to share her intimate knowledge of this land and its wildlife, and to ensure that your stay at Lewa is both memorable and comfortable.

Amenities
• Sitting and dining room with fireplace
• Lewa Safari Camp has a swimming pool
• Laundry services provided
• Wireless internet access – guests can bring their own laptops
• There is mobile phone network
• There are credit card facilities - Amex, Visa and Mastercard
• Massage, manicures and pedicures

Meal Plan
Full board accommodation, beers, soft drinks, house wines and bottled water (excludes champagne).

Activities & Wildlife
Lewa Safari Camp is located where the Big Five roam at ease and one is almost guaranteed to spot some of the resident black rhino.  Marvel at the endangered Grevy's zebra, with 25% of the world's population occuring here.  From tracking lion to observing the elusive sitatunga,the wildlife experiences are many.

During your stay at the Lewa Safari Camp, you can enjoy a wide range of activities:
• Game viewing
• Bird watching
• Night and day game drives
• Bush walks
• Lion tracking
• Horse and Camel trekking
• Game viewing from the blinds
• Visits to the cultural village
• Visit the archaeological site
• Fly fishing (weather /time permitting

Optional Extras
• Visit Il N’gwesi cultural village
• Massage, manicures and pedicures

A Typical Day at Lewa Safari Camp
Activities include escorted game viewing drives in a four-wheel drive vehicle, escorted horseback rides amongst the plains animals, and local walks.  You can learn to read animal spoor and approach game on foot for exciting pictures.  The four-wheel drive safari vehicles are open-sided with an overhead canvas awning to provide shade.  There is a prehistoric site on the ranch where rough-hewn Acheulian hand axes can be found scattered on the ground, perhaps a half million years old.  There is also a picturesque waterfall on the property, where you can ramble among the rocks or enjoy a relaxing afternoon reading or bird watching. 

Animals to be seen at Lewa include elephant, numerous reticulated giraffe, eland, lion, leopard, cheetah, Burchell’s and Grevy’s zebra, Jackson’s hartebeest, greater kudu, Grant’s gazelle, impala, gerenuk, bushbuck, dikdik and many others. Lewa is also one of the few places where one can see Grevy’s zebra and Burchell’s zebra, side-by-side. Founded by Anna Mertz in 1983 to protect Kenya’s few remaining black rhino, the 4,000-hectare Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary is also located on the conservancy.  Since that time, black rhino have been caught and brought to Lewa either from the wild or from other private sanctuaries and there are currently over 30 rhinos protected here, including both black rhino and white rhino.

Set amid yellow-barked acacia trees, the small swamp contains a breeding stock of sitatunga, a shy aquatic antelope with long splayed hooves, which enable it to traverse marshy areas.  Also, a treetop game lookout nearby is a fine place to enjoy cocktails at sunset while observing wildlife.  There is some magnificent country to be explored on the flat and in the hills and horseback riding is the perfect way to get right among the plains game . . . literally a few feet away from browsing giraffe, zebra and eland.  The horses give enormous pleasure to many who have never ridden before.  It may also be possible for you to take an escorted walk with a camel train, with the camels perhaps carrying the table, chairs and provisions for an impromptu picnic or afternoon tea.

The bird life is superb; vultures, eagles and other birds of prey can be photographed soaring within a few feet and you can also see numerous species of bustards, plovers, coursers, bee-eaters, weavers and many others.  In the evening after dinner, you may be able to depart on a night drive with a spotlight, on the lookout for nocturnally active species such as leopard (frequently encountered), aardvark, caracal, bat-eared fox, civet cat, honey badger, porcupine, bush baby, various mongooses and various genet cats.  You may also get to see cheetah. 

When the time comes to leave, you go away with memories of warm and friendly hospitality, spectacular scenery and the abundant wildlife.

Please remember that Lewa is a working conservancy and you may if you wish assist in any number of programs going on during your stay

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Lewa was once a cattle ranch; it then became a heavily guarded black rhino sanctuary, and it is now the headquarters for a non-profit wildlife conservancy, which has gained a world-wide reputation for extending the benefits of conservation beyond its borders.

The Craig/Douglas family first came to Lewa Downs in 1922, and managed it as a cattle ranch for over 50 years. Unlike many other ranchers in the area, they had always valued the wildlife that shared the land with the cattle, and developed wildlife tourism as an additional activity.

By the early 1980s it was uncertain whether any black rhinos would survive in Kenya. Poaching for horn had reduced Kenya's rhinos from some 20,000 in the mid-1970s to a few hundred by 1986. It was clear that the only way to prevent their complete extinction was to create high-security sanctuaries

In 1983 the Craigs and Mrs. Anna Merz - who funded the programme - decided to establish the fenced and guarded Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary at the western end of Lewa Downs. The rhino sanctuary was stocked partly with animals from other reserves and partly from isolated individuals from northern Kenya, whose likely survival in the wild was a matter of months at most. The black rhino that were caught settled down and bred, and white rhino were added.

After ten years, it was clear that the rhinos needed more space, and the sanctuary was expanded to cover the rest of the ranch, and the adjoining Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve .

The perimeter was almost entirely fenced, for security and to ensure that elephants did not raid crops in neighbouring farms, but the ecological connections between Lewa and neighbouring wildlife areas were maintained by leaving gaps in the fence for animal movements. At the same time the entire property was converted to a wildlife sanctuary, as the Craig family handed over the management of the ranch to a non-profit organization - the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.  Read more about Lewa on their website: http://www.lewa.org/

Kinanjui Lesenteria
Kinanjui Lesenteria was the Head of Security at LWC at its inception in 1995 but he has worked for the Craigs since 1966. His first job was to protect domestic and wild animals from poachers. Later, when Ian Craig left school, Kinanjui was given the responsibility of teaching him about hunting and wildlife. In the ten years that the two spent out together in the bush an enduring friendship developed.

A born hunter, Kinanjui had an unparalleled knowledge, respect and understanding of wildlife. So, when hunting was banned in 1977, there was nobody better equipped to protect and care for the rhino and other endangered species at Lewa. In 1997 Kinanjui, an Ndorobo Maasai, persuaded the Ndrorobo Maasai communities of Il Ngwesi and Namunyak of Ian’s integrity and to accept his help in building a lodge as a tourist attraction. Kinanjui retired in 2001, but he is still visiting Lewa on a regular basis.

Other Considerations
Seasons
Lewa Safari Camp is closed for the months of April and November.

Travel
• By daily schedule flight (via Nanyuki) to Lewa Downs.
• By private air charter directly to Lewa Downs airstrip.
• Lewa Safari Camp is approx. 1hr game drive from Lewa Airstrip.
• By road, five hour drive from Nairobi.


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