Ol Lentille is thorn and dust country - and because there's so little water, none but the toughest or most adaptable of creatures like to live here, so don't come for game. Ol Lentille has made quite an effort to counter the harshness of its Laikipia environment (hat's off to the decorators) - it's not at all in the usual mould, being of a fairly modern, definitely first world design - in fact if you shut the heavy woven curtains of your clean lined white room, and lie on the expensive cotton sheets of your bed, you could pretend you weren't in Africa at all. As there isn't much to do at Ol Lentille, it puts a fairly serious burden on the hotel to live up to its promises of luxury and glamour as that's presumably what will tempt people in. They seem to have some of the trappings - glossy pool area, massage service, butlers, but it's ultimately the service that will count. As it's early days we didn't feel able to judge this. Although you'd never guess it to look at it, Ol Lentille is a community lodge - and uh uh no, that doesn't at all mean the community get to stay in it. A community lodge is basically something that (usually foreign) donors build for a local community, and sort of continue to run for them, filling it with tourists in theory, filtering money down to the locals in the form of conservation fees, or land rent or even profits from the lodge, or all three. John and Gill Elias who put up lots of the money for Ol Lentille, and are now running the place have some pretty ambitious ideas, both for the community side and the hotel side. They don't have a great deal of experience in either but it could be that the power of their intention will get them through and the substance of the hotel will slowly grow and blossom.
Bed only.
In reality, whether you end up staying in Nairobi because of flight timings, or because you choose to break your journey, it's well worth opening your eyes to the spectacle that is modern Nairobi and there is plenty to recommend it for a short visit. Nairobi is a colourful, messy, noisy city, which is, above all, quite unlike what we in the west have come to expect cities to be about. 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?
Can't find the camp you're looking for? Just let us know and we will be sure to help.
Catherine's long experience of, and enthusiasm for Africa, makes her a mine of travel information. Add to the mix her vivacious character and inscrutable attention to detail and there are few people you'd rather have plan your holiday.
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.
