Borana

There's a wholesome glamour to Borana. The lodge is very well pulled together, set in great country and the animal concentrations, which now include wild dogs, are excellent. There's tons to do and great people to do it with. All round, this probably makes Borana one of the best places to stay in Laikipia.

The emphasis at Borana is on comfort and a sort of hearty grandeur that chimes absolutely with the highland ranch life that goes on in one of Laikipia's highest areas. Think Uggs and rough suede gilets. At Borana there's a lot of sheepskin and leather (straight from the ranch tanneries), the textiles are thick and woven, the timber - much of it fallen wild wood - chunky and strong. There's no veneer at Borana, this lodge is as solid as the granite hillside it commands.

The hillside on which Borana is set is a wide area, and the lodge buildings tumble down its slopes. Everything is very spread out and each room has big views, through remarkably large picture windows, across the river valley to the foothills of Mount Kenya beyond. Each room is a large stone built cottage with beautiful woven reed thatch roofs. No shortage of space on this 35,000 acre ranch means all rooms can offer plenty of space, yet being on hillsides means the rooms are on multiple levels and consequently have a cottagey style.

Borana is set on a rocky hillside in Laikipia, overlooking a dam (reservoir) and meandering river valley, in the foothills of Mount Kenya. Borana is the lodge on a ranch of the same name that most farmers only dream of owning: it's high(6200ft) so it's sunny and cool and rugged - all 35000 acres of it is now increasingly devoted to wildlife, rather than livestock. When you come to Borana, you get not only private access to these wild acres , but also to the way of life of a family whose ancestors were a part of colonial history.

In 1918, a young Welshman called Llewellyn Powys came out to Kenya to take possession of a farm he was granted in return for his military service in World War One. As he had nothing to put on it, he didn't occupy it immediately but went instead to work for someone else - he was paid in sheep. When he had enough to form his own flock, he walked them to his new farm, miles across Kenya from the Aberdares to Kisima, a piece of land in the shadow of Mount Kenya. Here he stayed, and married, and had children. And eventually bought more land, including Borana. His children, Gilfred Powys and Rose Dyer still live on this farm, with their children, and their children's children. The story has an almost Amish quality to it, but life for the Dyer family now has bushy tailed bigness to it that also rubs off on the lodge. As you move around the ranch on what become quite busy days, you will almost inevitably rub shoulders with different members of this very friendly family, and might even be invited in for tea.