Destination Guide
Kenya
Stay
We only feature hotels that we can vouch for first-hand. With Indagare Plus,members receive special amenities.
Angama Mara
Kenya's super-elegant Angama Mara safari lodge offers a sophisticated experience in the Masai Mara and lots of amenties like a pool, gym and boutique.
Giraffe Manor
Having breakfast with a giraffe probably tops the list of best-ever meals for those lucky to have experienced it. Giraffe Manor, on the outskirts of Nairobi, offers its guests the chance to live on the grounds of special giraffe sanctuary, and yes, to dine with the glorious animals. Guests who check in to Giraffe Manor, can open their drapes in the morning and see a parade of beauties. Downstairs in the breakfast room, Lynn or one of the other gregarious giraffes will reach her head right in the window to request her morning pellets. Cosmos, the head houseman, serves coffee and eggs to guests while they, in turn, can feed the giraffes (and their companion warthogs).
The handsome ivy-covered stone lodge, the kind you would expect to find in Scotland, has the trappings of many colonial estates—fine antiques, family portraits, well-worn books. However, in their love for animals the Leslie-Melvilles, the family who lived here for decades, went beyond collecting sculptures and painting of game. After a trip in 1974 to a Kenyan cattle ranch, Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville brought a baby endangered Rothschild giraffe home with them. At the time, there were only 120 of the species alive, and the Leslie-Melvilles were the first people known to raise a giraffe, which they called Daisy. Their initial success inspired them to acquire four more babies, which grew into a breeding herd, and eventually the Leslie-Melvilles were able to relocate offspring to reserves in Kenya and Uganda. There are now approximately 500 Rothschild giraffe living in the wild. A number of the descendants of the original Daisy still wander the 140 acres surrounding the manor. And with the breakfast ritual in place, sightings are guaranteed. There’s a wonderful ambiance in the house, which still feels like a private home, thanks to the family’s memorabilia. (Be sure to look for the book Raising Daisy Rothschild and other titles that Betty wrote documenting her animal adventures.) Guest rooms resemble those that you would find in the house of a grand elderly aunt with floral bedspreads and ceramic tiled bathrooms.
Segera Retreat
Located in Kenya’s Laikipia plateau, the lavish Segera Retreat safari lodge has an incredible bird's nest–like platform for sleeping under the stars.
See & Do
More Inspiration
Dispatch from the Maasai Mara
Indagare's Rose Allen Taylor, Senior Director of Travel Product, African Safari, shares highlights from her recent trip to Kenya and the Maasai Mara, including a favorite new luxury lodge with an exceptional photography program.
Indagare Insider: Into the Bush with Angama's Kate Fitzgerald Boyd
Just Back From: Kenya