Guide Price: From: $550 To: $800
Campi Ya Kanzi, owned and run by Luca and Antonella Belpietro, is a cosy, chic tented lodge perched in the rolling {Chyulu Hills} overlooking the plains towards the snowy top of Kilimanjaro. During the rains, the surrounding bush is lush and green while in the dry season, the sculptured hills and valleys are covered with a waving sea of golden grass.
The Chyulus have a completely different feel to other safari destinations as the air can be crisp and cool and the hills have a distinctive other-worldly character. Luca and Antonella have lived here for many years and seen their home/lodge through lots of trials and tribulations including establishing a meaningful relationship with the community and a large fire that destroyed a large portion of the camp. However, they have stuck it out and their passion and commitment to their chosen way of life is very obvious and engaging.
The beautiful 'Tembo House' which serves as a relaxed sitting area and dining room, is very much the centre of the family home, where delicious food and wine is served and guests can enjoy the large library and warm fireplace in the evening. Wildlife here is not as prolific as the Mara but there are over 60 animal species and over 400 species of birds, so there is plenty to see.
Game drives on the ranch and in Tsavo and Amboseli, walks, picnics and bush meals as well as cultural visits and trips to the community activities operated in conjunction with the lodge, all lead to full and interesting days. The tents are large and homely and tent only in name as they are lavishly furnished with a large bathroom and a level of attention to detail that makes you feel very pampered.
stylish 'tented lodge' with 6 thatch cottages
From: 550 To: 800
Incl. FB, drinks, game drives, cultural visits, laundry. Excl. Champagne, special wines, air excursions.
The Chyulu Hills, and the plains that lie at their feet to the south, are one of Kenya's most photogenic regions. This is an area of rolling open plains interrupted abruptly by the Chyulu Hills themselves. The Chyulus run in a series of whale-backed summits in a line about 30 miles long dividing the country of the Wakamba people from Maasai land, Amboseli and Mt Kilimanjaro to the South. Kilimanjaro on the Tanzania border, dominates the skyline in views from Ol Donyo Lodge, one of the best places to stay in the Chyulus. The Chyulu Hills National Park itself is, in reality, only a small part of the area you'll explore if you come here. It is based on a section of the hills themselves, which are amongst the youngest volcanic hills in Kenya. The last eruption in the Chyulus - down on the far eastern end - happened just a few decades ago. This is a truly magical area of ragged craters, rolling grassland, exotic aromatic plants and cedar forests. At times, in the cool of the early morning there is a distinctly Scottish flavour to the highland air in the Chyulus. At the foot of the hills is a whole other side to the Chyulus experience - here the hills give way to rolling plains of fertile volcanic soil. Mature flat-topped acacia woodland covers the area immediately under the hills, while impenetrably thick bush covers lava flows that are home to some of Kenya's last wild black rhinoceros. From the edge of the woodland, grass covered plains with soft rolling hills run as far as the eye can see. Read more?
Kenya is the most established safari country, and consequently you have to step a little off the conventional route to find real wilderness, but it’s certainly there. Kenya also has much going for it as a family destination, and also a good number of very individual safari camps and lodges with a personal approach that makes your experience very special. Kenya also has a particularly diverse ecology which ranges from snowy mountains to true desert, rolling grassy plains filled with wildlife to craggy scrub intersected with dry riverbeds, sparkling beaches and volcanic ranges. Read more?
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Vanessa's 16 years in travel has seen her knowledge develop from sub-Saharan Africa into North Africa, Central and Southern America and the Galapagos. Consequently, she’s a veritable encyclopaedia of travel information and exceptionally cool, calm and collected in the face of the greatest planning demands.
At Natural High, we've had long experience putting together trips in Africa that really work. Whether it's intimate bushcamps in out of the way places, or a private lodge in one of Africa's top-billing wildlife areas, light mobile camping or remote island escapes, we know there is a lot to choose from. We're absolutely confident that we can recommend the right places for you.
