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Write a User ReviewPrivate 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.
Conservation As Business
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
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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.
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.
A Conservation Success Story
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
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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.
Black Rhinos & Cantankerous Camels
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
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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.
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.
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.
A Conservation Success Story and Rare Species Sanctuary
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