12 Days Bigtime Safari Experience

Immersed in the leafy surrounds of Kenya’s beautiful Karen Forest is the elegant House of Waine – an upmarket retreat, which offers guests intimacy and superb accommodation. Guests can unwind in one of 11 individually decorated suites —each with a spacious, marble en-suite bathroom, satellite television, a complimentary personal non-alcoholic mini-bar, TV with satellite and local channels, and tea and coffee-making facilities. Appreciate colourful fresh flowers and delicious cookies delivered to your room each day.

House of Waine offers a wonderful selection of menus, served in various locations on the property, which reflect the diversity of flavours found in Nairobi. There are also two bars, which are exclusively for the use of guests and a sparkling heated swimming pool for those quiet hours between sightseeing. Must-see attractions include a visit to Kazuri Beads, the Karen Blixen Museum, Matbronze Art Gallery and Foundry, Giraffe Centre (to hand feed giraffes and for nature walks), the Daphne Sheldrick Wildlife Sanctuary – where you can interact with (and perhaps adopt) elephants and rhinos – and the renowned Nairobi National Park.

Tortilis Camp is named after the flat-topped, umbrella thorn tree, the Acacia Tortilis, and embraces a hill in one of Amboseli’s areas of Acacia Tortilis woodland. Located in a private conservancy bordering the national park, game drives, walks, sundowners and bush meals take place both inside the national park and in the conservancy, where guests enjoy exclusivity.

The tents are all spacious, with king or twin beds and elegant en suite bathrooms. There is a main lounge, bar and dining area, all exquisitely built with natural materials and thatched roofs. The Private House and Family Tent are located slightly separate to the main camp, upon the hill where they share a pool.

Tortilis Camp was one of the first eco-lodges of its size, and is very proudly 100% solar. Guests can rest assure they are leaving a minimal footprint during their stay.

The new and pleasingly boutiquey Ngorongoro Lodge achieves a sense of soothing sanctuary – pale wood and hand-woven rugs amid splashes of colourful local artwork and traditional African motifs. Its 28 rooms and 24 luxury suites are decorated with uplifting Maasai artwork, minimalist roomy en-suite bathrooms, and show-stopping panorama windows onto the verdant caldera. There are plenty of outdoor spaces to relax and soak up the Ngorongoro Conservation Area’s endless landscapes (and, if you’re inclined to share with the folks at home, there’s Wi-Fi throughout). We’re never ones to forget that holidays are, well, a little holy – so time for The Spa, the 24-hour gym, lolling in the gorgeous outdoor pool, or browsing beautiful locally sourced items in the boutique is a given. Two gourmet restaurants feature international, African and Asian influenced cuisine, a barbeque area and, for those who yearn for an evening in with their own private panorama, attentive room service is at the ready.

Secluded between the boulders and kopjes of the famous Mara River in Serengeti National Park is a tented safari camp that not only offers splendid Big 5 and Great Migration viewing but is built according to the best practices in global sustainable architecture. Lemala Kuria Hills – named after the ancestral home of the local Kuria tribe – not only has vistas to the Kenyan border and across the golden Lamai grasslands but is also constructed with green building materials with a special concern for maintaining the natural integrity of the area.

Each of the 15 luxury tents (14 of which face the burnt orange sunset; one overlooks the sunrise) and are sited under mature trees, is built from reclaimed steel, glass, sustainable decking and composite canvas, with solar and wind power making it as carbon neutral as possible. They also house emperor (super-king) sized beds and private plunge pools for refreshing post-siesta dips.

Secluded between the boulders and kopjes of the famous Mara River in Serengeti National Park is a tented safari camp that not only offers splendid Big 5 and Great Migration viewing but is built according to the best practices in global sustainable architecture. Lemala Kuria Hills – named after the ancestral home of the local Kuria tribe – not only has vistas to the Kenyan border and across the golden Lamai grasslands but is also constructed with green building materials with a special concern for maintaining the natural integrity of the area.

Each of the 15 luxury tents (14 of which face the burnt orange sunset; one overlooks the sunrise) and are sited under mature trees, is built from reclaimed steel, glass, sustainable decking and composite canvas, with solar and wind power making it as carbon neutral as possible. They also house emperor (super-king) sized beds and private plunge pools for refreshing post-siesta dips.