It’s become my mission to explore every corner of this beautiful country. With every trip, I discover more amazing places, and my last trip to Kenya was no different! This time my journey took me North of the country, specifically to Samburu, and there, I stayed in this marvelous hotel called Saruni Samburu— a true Kenyan paradise in the heart of Northern Kenya.
First, let’s talk about location! Saruni Samburu is perched on top of a cliff in the Kalama Conservancy right outside Samburu National Park!! It’s the only lodge within eyesight for miles and the views are absolutely incredible from pretty much every location in the lodge!! The main “lobby” area overlooks a watering hole where several animals come to quench their thirst when the day’s heat is taking its toll. In fact, during our stay, we were lucky enough to see a herd of elephants come to the watering hall, as well as many other gazelles and even baboons. Make sure to bring a pair of binoculars.
The amenities at Saruni Samburu are incomparable. They have two infinity pools: one situated at a lower vantage point in the lodge overlooking the aforementioned watering hole. The second is the upper pool, located at the highest vantage point from the lodge and offers a full 360 view of the entire surroundings. Check out a video here!! There are 6 luxury villas, all of which boats a unique layout, but generally have a living room area, bedroom area, indoor bathroom, and outdoor shower area. From our room, we had an outstanding view of the plains from every room! Check it out here!
As far as activities go, there were game drives offered in the mornings and evenings, stargazing, bush breakfasts, and more!! The Saruni Lodges website is an incredible resource to check out all amenities! I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t mention how good the food was! Be prepared to eat well, travel fam!! Finally, there are two things I also want to highlight! First, the staff and service at Saruni Samburu were impeccable! If you’ve traveled much, you know that service can make or break a trip! Here, the service matched the environment— superb all the way!! I especially want to highlight our guide, Joseph, and our butler, Robert, both of whom did a spectacular job taking care of us!! The leopard/wild dog encounter we experienced is probably in my top 3 safari stories ever. This segues nicely into the second thing I want to highlight: another reason to visit Saruni Samburu is that Samburu offers unique wildlife not seen in other parts of Kenya. Here you can see the Samburu Special Five: Beisa Oryx, Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Somali Ostrich, and Gerenuk. Check out my Instagram page for footage of each. There are also other animals like the Kudu that are not found in the Mara or Amboseli!! I was mostly shooting video, but here are some cool photos I got of some of the wildlife we saw.
In all, I couldn’t recommend a trip here more! Go to our Work With Us page if you have additional questions and I’ll be happy to answer them if you’re interested in working with us!
