Desert Rose is about as close as many of us will get to falling off the edge of the map. It is a genuinely isolated lodge in one of the remotest part of Kenya and the scenery and sense of true wilderness is absolutely breathtaking.
One of the many charms of Desert Rose is the diversity of the vegetation found in the area, particularly on Mt Nyiru, towards the top of which there is indigenous forest full of cycads, orchids and cedar trees. On the lower ground, the land is scrubby and arid with dry river beds and thorny acacia.
The lodge itself has been crafted from ancient dead cedar and stone with even the basins and baths carved from rich red wood, and to find an enormous four-poster bed in this rugged, empty place is pleasantly bizarre. Everything is designed to be as soft on the environment as possible but thankfully a wonderful swimming pool has crept through the eco net and makes for a perfect focus in the heat of the day. Generally speaking the whole place has a healthy whiff of eccentricity about it.
There is no real game to speak of around this area, having long fallen prey to the local people or the climate, so activities here revolve around walks, camel trips and, oddly, sliding down a giant granite water-slide. The lodge staff are all Samburu from the local area and for those willing to go farther afield still, there is also the unusual opportunity to visit the Turkana people who are one of the few tribes in Kenya to have remained steeped in ancient tradition and dress.
There is certainly no likelihood of feeling part of the madding crowd up here but on our busy planet, there is a price to pay for solitude and so the costs of getting here can be on the steep side. However, to gaze over endless Africa with your morning tea and know that you are so far away from 'civilisation' is magic.
Incl. FB, wines, beers, soft drinks, airstrip transfers, walks, bush meals, cultural visits.
Lake Turkana, lying on the far northern border of Kenya with Ethiopia, is a harsh but incredibly beautiful lake. Surrounded by wind-swept, rock-strewn desert, and fiercely alkaline, the lake offers little succour to the local tribes people nor to the smattering of wildlife that scratches a living in this moonscape environment. 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.
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