Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Expert Reviews (10)
Kenya Parks
Brian is an award winning travel writer, author of safari books and regular contributor to magazines such as BBC Wildlife and Travel Africa.
7 people found this review helpful.
Private Sanctuary in the Shadow of Mt Kenya
The Laikipia Plateau is Kenya’s second largest wildlife refuge after Tsavo, and Lewa is the jewel in its crown. It started life as a cattle ranch but became a non-profit-making wildlife conservancy in 1983. Set in full view of Mt Kenya, its 263 sq km of rolling golden grassland and iconic flat-topped thorn trees provide a glorious setting in which to track down the Big Five. If you want to see rhinos you can’t fail at Lewa. Dozens of black and white rhinos roam freely here under tight security along with cheetahs, wild dogs and the world’s largest single population of the endangered Grevy’s zebra. Another Lewa special is the sitatunga, a rare swamp-dwelling antelope introduced from Saiwa Swamp, the only other place in Kenya where it is found. If you are thinking of heading up-country to Meru or Samburu I would strongly recommend Lewa as the perfect add-on.
Stuart is a travel writer and author of numerous Lonely Planet guidebooks, including 'Kenya', 'Rwanda' and 'Tanzania'.
6 people found this review helpful.
Conservation As Business
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is the original and probably the showpiece conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau. A favourite of the jet set and visiting British Royalty, this is where conservation, business and community development really works. The setting, below the snows of Mt Kenya, is classic East African savannah pockmarked with yellow-barked acacia trees and home to a huge array of wildlife including all the Big Five, which you’re almost guaranteed to see.
Personally I love almost everything about Lewa and I have so many fond memories of the place. Seeing how Lewa is a private conservancy there are opportunities here to partake in activities that would be impossible in the national parks. I once spent a memorable morning with a ranger tracking radio-collared lions. We pinned our group down to an area of dense thorny scrub woodland that was so rough and rocky the jeep couldn’t advance any further. The ranger knew the lions were within 20 metres or so of us but we just couldn’t see them, so he hopped out of the jeep and instructed me to do the same and then on foot we gingerly (me considerably more gingerly than him) popped our heads around the side of trees looking for them!
Lewa is also where I had the most exciting bushwalk I have ever done. For those who’ve not done a bushwalk before, you need to know that it’s rare to ever see more than perhaps a fleeing dik-dik, but on this particular morning we found ourselves hemmed into a tight valley by groups of elephants on all sides. We climbed a small hill to move away from them and as we reached the top, so too did a group of female elephants with young. They were no more than 25 metres away and I remember asking my Maasai guide what we should do if they charged. He looked around and said “We’ll move up that hill”. I looked to where he was pointing and said “What? That one over there with all the buffalo on it?”.
Visiting Lewa is very expensive (you have to be a guest of one of the handful of very small and exclusive lodges), but if you can possibly afford it, don’t miss the opportunity to experience this wonderful slice of East Africa.
Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.
3 people found this review helpful.
Africa on Horseback
One of the oldest reserves on the Laikipia Plateau, Lewa has been the home of the Craig family since 1924, initially as a cattle ranch, but since 1983 as a nonprofit private wildlife sanctuary, the proceeds of which are either pumped back into conservation, or diverted to local community projects and economic development. We visited it in an unusually wet rainy season, when road access to several parts of the reserve were restricted, but even so we found the setting of craggy hills to be lovely, and the game viewing exceptional. We enjoyed great sightings of black and white rhino, lion, elephant and buffalo, as well as the localised Grevy’s zebra (Lewa’s estimated 350 individuals represent 15 percent of the global population of this endangered equid). An important attribute of this reserve is that, in addition to the usual daytime game drives, it offers a choice of guided game walks, expertly guided horseback rides, and night drives.
Alan is a travel writer and author of over 20 Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the guides to Southern Africa and Zambia & Malawi.
2 people found this review helpful.
A Conservation Success Story
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a brilliant place to indulge in some fine accommodation and see some of Africa’s most coveted wildlife. It’s the kind of place where you go to bed to find a hot water bottle strategically placed under the covers, and fresh brewed coffee by your bedside in the morning.
The landscape is a collection of huge, whaleback hills covered in grassland, and, for the most part, dead acacia trees – the elephants are destructive around here. Big, open, rolling savannah country stretches over hills, dipping into valleys. There are also pockets of fever trees. Mt Kenya pokes its nose above the horizon in the distance.
This is undoubtedly one of the best places in Africa to see black rhino. Not only does the conservancy have a good number of these critically endangered creatures but they are well protected and that sense of security must have pervaded their brains, as they are easily viewed.
But the highlight for me was following two cheetah (brothers) stalking the evening shadows. We got really close to them and they didn’t seem bothered at all, hardly affording us a glance as they surveyed the landscape for their next meal.
I also saw lions take down a baby giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, Grant’s gazelle, buffalo wallowing in a mud bath, elephants and many birds, especially vultures. Lewa was a fantastic wildlife viewing experience with very knowledgeable guides.
Dale is a multi-award-winning writer and photographer with more than 500 published magazine articles featured in magazines such as National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Travel Africa, and CNN Travel.
1 person found this review helpful.
Black Rhinos & Cantankerous Camels
I have always been of the opinion that camels are both bad-tempered and cantankerous creatures with bad teeth and even worse breath. As such, I must admit to not being all that keen on them, so when I was given the opportunity to tour the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and its surrounds as a guest on a camel caravan, I initially had some reservations.
I needn’t have worried though, as the whole thing turned out to be epic and the camels themselves were lovely.
Accompanied by traditionally attired Samburu warriors equipped with spears, AKs, and iPhones, we ventured out into the rolling hills of the Northern Rangelands with our trusty pack animals carrying our tents and provisions. Mt Kenya was visible, looming over the flat-topped acacias like a jagged sentinel.
I was out there in the bush for four nights, sleeping in a transparent tent beneath a milky way that was so bright I could almost read my book from the light of the stars. We encountered elephants and rhinos, zebras and buffalo, as well as herdspeople from the various groups who live around the park.
Although camel treks were a highlight for me, the traditional safari offerings in Lewa are also top-notch (if not a little on the pricey side).
On game drives, we came across all of the big five, the highlight of which were the many huge-horned black rhinos that live there under the protection of a very efficient antipoaching team. Typically, black rhinos can be skittish and aggressive, but at Lewa, they appear docile, sweet, and approachable.
Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.
1 person found this review helpful.
Colonial Hospitality at Lewa House
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a private conservation area located in the Laikipia Plateau region of Kenya. The property is particularly scenic and includes a beautiful yellow fever tree forest. Rolling hills offer good views over the plains and on a clear day Mount Kenya sticks its head out. All the Big Five can be seen, but Lewa is most renowned for its successful rhino conservation program – both black and white rhino are common. Lewa is also home to a high number of the endangered Grevy’s zebra.
There are nine lodges in the conservancy, but my favourite is Lewa House. It’s a family business going back to the ’70s when tourism first developed here. Staying at Lewa House is like a colonial homestay. The rather clichéd phrase “Arrive as a guest, leave as a friend” felt very real for me. Meals are elaborate, homely affairs, while bush breakfasts, horseback safaris and sundowners all add an insight into the colonial lifestyle. Unfortunately, the game viewing circuit isn’t very big, and game drives are kept rather short.
Mark is a travel writer who grew up in Africa and has written over 700 titles for Condé Nast Traveller, Travel Africa, BBC Wildlife and others.
1 person found this review helpful.
A Highland Paradise on the Slopes of Mount Kenya
Lewa is justly famous for its great herds of rhino but it is the magnificent views of the nearby peak of Mount Kenya that stick in the mind just as much as the gigantic herbivores. I rode into Lewa (on an extremely fast one-eyed polo pony) at the end of a five-day horseback safari across the flanks of Mount Kenya. The rhinos were an impressive sight – seemingly oblivious to our presence – and we galloped with lolloping giraffes and among a herd of Grevy’s zebra (rarely seen elsewhere). A safari this high up the mountain offers some pleasant experiences that most people don’t often associate with Africa: it is chilly here at night and the pleasure of sitting around a log fire and drifting off under thick, cosy blankets with the sounds of the African night outside is memorable. As are the misty dawns with the great peak of Mount Kenya just beginning to raise its jagged head.
Stephen is a travel writer and avid conservationist whose work appears in prestigious magazines such as Africa Geographic and Travel Africa.
A Conservation Success Story and Rare Species Sanctuary
Lewa is an intriguing and unique safari experience. Visitors will not only get to see a host of endangered wildlife species and enjoy high-quality game viewing from a choice of fine safari lodges, but they will also be exposed to a highly successful conservation project at the very forefront of East African conservation.
Lewa, at a paltry 250 square kilometres, is – by African standards – a small and intensively managed conservation area. The presence of a number of internal management fences and legal cattle grazing inside this fenced reserve are not everyone’s cup of tea, but Lewa is also Kenya’s foremost black rhino sanctuary. Aside from the endangered East African black rhino and Grevy’s zebra, Lewa is home to the full suite of Big Five and plains game species, with reliable and top-quality sightings all but guaranteed.
But what makes the wildlife-rich Lewa so unique and attractive is that this private reserve is probably the most well-resourced and well-protected conservation area in all of East Africa. Lewa is at the very forefront of Kenyan conservation, intimately involving its surrounding communities and, with the Northern Rangelands Trust, ensuring that it has a positive conservation impact well beyond its boundaries.
Lizzie is a reputed guidebook writer and author of the Footprint guides to South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
A Thriving Conservancy That Protects Rhino and Many of Kenya's Other Endangered Mammals
Lewa is a privately-run, non-profit conservancy in northern Kenya, set up in 1983 by cattle ranch owners dedicated to wildlife conservation. It’s first and foremost a black, and white, rhino sanctuary and numbers here are simply staggering – I saw several of each species in a single afternoon’s game drive. Plus I spotted plenty of elephant in the yellow fever tree woodlands, herds of the endangered Grevy's zebra on the grassy plains, and watched a female lion and her two cubs drinking on the edge of a reedy swamp at the same time as a pair of brave sitatunga waded in the shallows. But the highlight for me was my incredibly informative Maasai guide, who not only knew about the animals but proudly told me about the conservancy’s success – today’s Lewa is considered a leading example of sustainable tourism, re-investing all profits back into projects that support wildlife and community development. There are five expertly hosted places to stay, and along with day and night drives, horse-riding and walking, Lewa offers the full package for wildlife and conservation-lovers.
Anthony is a photographer and writer for travel magazines and Lonely Planet, including the guides to Kenya and Botswana & Namibia.
Lewa: Laikipia’s Showpiece Conservancy
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy lies just beyond the Laikipia Plateau, but this is still a flagship reserve for the Laikipia model. Luxury lodges and tented camps stand in blissful isolation, while sightings of the Big Five in a single day are a very real possibility. I saw more rhinos on my first drive across the conservancy than I had seen in a year of wildlife watching elsewhere, and the lions and elephants, too, were easy to find. Expert guides get you off road, up close and personal – I could have reached out of my vehicle to touch rhinos and elephants, was charged by a baby rhino and its mum, and a Somali ostrich sped past, all before breakfast. Lewa is also classic East African savannah country and large enough to mean that there are ample opportunities for feeling like the clamor of Kenya is a world away. And so much of what they do at Lewa – from serious anti-poaching programs to community engagement – goes to the heart of modern conservation efforts in the country. Apart from game drives, other activities include horseback riding, a rhino orphanage, village visits and scenic flights, and there’s even an annual marathon where participants (including a British royal or two in the past) run through lion country.
Safari Tours to Lewa Conservancy
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![8-Day Safari and Sand; a Kenyan Family Adventure]()
8-Day Safari and Sand; a Kenyan Family Adventure
$4,582 pp (USD)
Kenya: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Resort
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Lewa Conservancy (Laikipia Plateau), Diani Beach, Nairobi (End)
Purple Nomad Africa
5.0/5 – 13 Reviews
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![8-Day Save the Rhino Safari Adventure]()
8-Day Save the Rhino Safari Adventure
$3,410 pp (USD)
Kenya: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Tented Camp
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Lake Nakuru NP, Solio Ranch (Laikipia Plateau), Lewa Conservancy (Laikipia Plateau), Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Laikipia Plateau), Sweetwaters (Chimp Sanctuary), Nairobi (End)
Holiday Spot Safaris
5.0/5 – 3 Reviews
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![10-Day Magical Kenyan Honeymoon Special]()
10-Day Magical Kenyan Honeymoon Special
$18,766 pp (USD)
Kenya: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Tented Camp
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Lewa Conservancy (Laikipia Plateau), Samburu NR, Masai Mara NR, Nairobi (End)
Call Of Africa Safaris
5.0/5 – 3 Reviews
