Saruni Samburu

an iconic hilltop hideaway

Saruni Samburu is located in the Samburu area of northcentral Kenya.

This property is privately owned by Italian, Riccardo Orizio, who is a bit of a cool customer, with a distinct flair for design.

The camp itself is a very stylish and innovative small lodge, dramatically perched on top of one of these mountains, one of the most architecturally impressive in East Africa.

Approached up a tortuous track up the mountain, the camp is centred on very chic open-plan public areas, with a campfire out front. There is a swimming pool down the slope and a second one at the far top end of the mountain.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Saruni Samburu is in a total of six suites …

• Honeymoon Villa : x1 : This villa (#3) projects from a rocky promontory and has magnificent views. It has one bedroom with one large bed, a private dining area and veranda.
• Villa : x1 : This is the closest to the lodge (#5) and has a standard room, which can have one large or two smaller beds, a private dining area and veranda.
• Large Family Villa : x2 : These two units (2a/2b and 6a/6b) both have two large bedroom suites which are ideal for a family, but which can also be booked by two separate couples as the two sides can be completely sub-divided. Rooms 2B and 6A have one large bed, whilst 2A and 6B each have two smaller beds.
• Family Villa : x2 : These units (1a/1b and 4a/4b) also have two bedrooms, separated by a shared lounge area, but they are not usually considered suitable to be booked separately as they are a little bit close to offer complete privacy. Both have one room with a large bed and another with two smaller beds. The first is closest to the main area, so is better for people who don’t want to walk too far.

Activities

Saruni Samburu provides the following guided activities, not all of which are necessarily included in the room rate …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Waterhole hide
• Mountain hiking
• Bush meals
• Cultural interaction

Samburu features in a relatively high proportion of trips to Kenya, being perhaps the second most popular area after the Maasai Mara.

The usual stay duration is 2-4 nights.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit Samburu is generally considered to be the Jun-Oct dry season, but there are good reasons to visit during other months. In an area as naturally arid as this, the Jan-Mar green season can also be particularly interesting.

Getting there

The majority of visitors to Samburu arrive by road as part of a budget overland safari, heading to the handful of larger and lower quality lodges inside the reserve. This is the traffic we are trying to avoid.

The majority of our guests access Samburu by light aircraft from Nairobi and distant safari locations like Maasai Mara and Amboseli.

We also sometimes recommend Samburu as a stop on a high quality overland safari steering through the backtracks of this northern region, in which case you would also usually start by arriving into Lewa Downs by light aircraft, heading here by road, then either flying out or continuing overland to the more remote Mathews Range further north.

unusual northern species including gerenuks and Grevy’s zebras