A brilliant experience of Kenyan people, culture and wildlife.

Kenya | Sep 9 - Sep 25, 2023

The best hotel we visited in Kenya. The rooms were spacious, well appointed and equipped. On chillier nights, we came back to find hot water bottles in our beds! Very friendly, discretely attentive and effective staff who obviously take a huge pride in their work and made us feel very welcome. Great views of the river and hippo, with antelope and other animals around the lodge grounds but not intrusive. Great facilities, including a fire pit in the bar in the evening. A convenient and inviting pool. Great meals (every time) and waiters to welcome you back each time we came in. At 5.30am on the morning we left, there was someone waiting to take our bags when we came out of our tent!! A delightful place to relax after a day on safari.

The tented accommodation was adequate, set in a pleasant environment. Food was fairly basic and lodge routines weren't explained very well - the evening meal is a communal meal at 7pm, and you need to be there at 7! Some staff were friendly, but we detected some tensions among the staff.

A beautiful situation, with views down to the lake and the park, with the Rift Valley on the horizon. Accommodation was good with plenty of space and en suite facilities. A great dining room with good views of the lake. Friendly and helpful staff. A good pool. Comfortable. We enjoyed our time here.

An authentic experience of living with the Maasai people, who are very warm and welcoming. We were a little nervous when we arrived but we're made to feel fully at home and shown around everywhere. We loved the visit to the school and the village, and a real taste of the Maasai culture and community. We were welcomed into their lives and it was wonderful. The meals were all excellent, and particularly the evening meal, with the traditional entertainment afterwards. Though living in a Maasai hut, we felt very safe at all times, protected by the warriors from any wild life. In 24 hours we had made friends and experienced something of the life of the Maasai living at one with each other and with nature. I wouldn't have missed this experience for the world!

An open, quite large lodge just outside the National park. Elephant and giraffe could be seen around it, and a baby antelope was resting in the shade of our hut. The accommodation is quite spacious and well fitted out, with the outer walls of the hut being mosquito proofed. It was clean comfortable. The pool is pleasant and has a pool bar. The dining area and bar are open and give the place a very relaxing and pleasant environment. The buffet food was good with variety, as most of the hotels we stayed in. An enjoyable stay here for 2 nights. There is a balloon safari camp close by, so we were aware of the balloons being filled and fired up on the first morning, but it was not intrusive.

A beautiful setting, with an old style lodge fronting onto the lake, with a huge lawn running down to the water. In the evening, the hippo family come out to graze the grass. During the day baboons play in the garden. The lodge has an early 20th Century country club vibe, but is slightly run down. Our tent/huts were very compact and the bathrooms were in need of upgrading. From 7pm to 6am guests have to be escorted by security because of the presence of the hippos, but that adds a certain charm to the site. The bird life and hippos (in the water during the day) make the setting very attractive, though the abandoned chalets on the waterfront add to the run down feel. The food in the dining room is excellent and the staff are friendly and attentive. Recently taken over by Muthu, so may get the conference centre make-over!

This has fairly recently been taken over by the Muthu group and is set up as a conference hotel. There were several large conferences taking place the first few days, which affected the busyness of the dining room at lunchtime adversely. Our rooms initially were sub-standard and in need of refurbishment. Showers and Aircon didn't work and decor was distinctively worn and shabby. However our complaints and kimkim representation produced significant upgrades to fully functioning rooms with sea views. There are two outdoor pools, a pool bar and access to the beach (public) which we enjoyed. However, the conference focus of the hotel means there is very little to help tourists in terms of available excursions or activities, or support for getting around Mombasa. This hotel has no currency exchange or cash facility, we needed to get ourselves to a local ATM. The food in the dining room was good quality, but on the Sunday the dining room closed as there were no conferences, and we had to order food in the cafe (which was very good - but less choice). The staff were generally friendly, but the management (while responsive to our complaints) are oriented to a conference clientele, not tourists. We organised our own visit to Mombasa and spent most of the rest of the time relaxing by the pool. There is a bar which is very dark and has a large sport TV display, and a cafe terrace overlooking the beach. Also a gym and spa.

A guided tour of some of the history of Kenya that is so fascinating. It combines some of the human history with the rich natural history.

Amazing privilege to watch orphaned elephants being fed! Informative background information about elephants and the work of the Trust. Lots of "Aah' moments

Being able to get close to Giraffe is a privilege, as well as to feed them and find out about the work of the centre. The interaction with the giraffes is fascinating.

We had a guide around the museum which was brilliant as it gave us real insights into what we were looking at. This museum starts to paint the picture of part of the history of Kenya and how people have contributed towards that history. I hadn't realised that coffee doesn't grow well at the altitude of Nairobi!!

A gem of a museum, that also came alive as our guide explained the history and significance of the different artifacts. It has a unique collection of locomotives and the history of the building of the railway is a key to understanding something of the development of Kenay over the last century. A fantastic experience, not simply for railway enthusiasts but also those kenn to understand a bit more of the history of Kenya.

A wealth of natural birds and animals in their own environment. A privilege to witness these - particularly the Rhinos. In addition to lions, Giraffe, Antelope, Zebra and Warthogs, we also saw a Leopard! Such and abundance of nature in all its forms - and so many birds!!

We found this a really moving experience, to be welcomed and included in the family of the Maasai culture. See the Hotel review.

Our favourite Game park. Here we had some unique and special experiences. Seeing prides of lions close up, Cheetahs and their cubs, lion's hunting, Antelope and wildebeest in such large numbers, and then Wildebeest migrating across the R Mara. A wonderful God-given privilege.

These game drives, as described in the Reserve description above, were facilities by Andrew our driver. His experience and expertise enables us to enjoy and have the experiences we had. Thank you Andrew.

WE enjoyed walking around with the animals - as a contrasting means fo transport!! Also the boat ride, with its sights of so many different s[ecies and the demonstration of the Fish Eagle swooping to catch its food! Incredible.

Elephants having fun, elephants keeping cool, young and old. Incredible animals. And also plenty to reflect on with the changing nature of the park and climate change.