About Lewa House

Lewa House: Our full report

Centrally located on the 250km² Lewa Conservancy, with fine views of the surrounding hilly savannahs and ...

... south to Mount Kenya, Lewa House is a luxury farm stay on a 7-acre plot, now entirely dependent on visitors. The property is owner-run by a Kenyan-Scots couple, who live here with their two young children.

Lewa House is approached up a gently rising dirt road – about a twenty-minute drive from the airstrip and Lewa Conservancy headquarters. Close to the house, there are big trees, extensive gardens and banks of solar panels gathering energy. As you enter the main building, a handsome, thatch-tiled hall, living room and covered terrace serve as the reception area, where you're welcomed and have the usual short briefing. The family photos, paintings and collection of artifacts lend plenty of character and warmth to these main areas.

Lewa House's guest rooms radiate around the northern and eastern fringes of the grounds, while to the south-west are the back-of-house areas, staff quarters and farm buildings.

Lewa House has four large one-room cottages, each of which sleeps two (or more with children), and three large, two-room family cottages, each sleeping four in a double and a twin.

The traditional, Kenya-settler-style family cottages with thatch-tile roofs, are solid and rustic, with spacious verandas, cement floors brightened with rugs, and stone and plaster walls. The chunky furniture is in keeping with the overall style, and the beds have full-length mosquito nets. The practical tile-floored bathrooms, which have a single wash basin, standard flush toilet, and walk-in shower (but no bathtub) are supplied with Kenyan, naturally sourced Cinnabar and Green toiletries. Drinking water is filtered spring water from the local Ngare Ndare forest, supplied in flasks.

With their organic shapes and curved roofs like tortoise carapaces, the quirky one bedroom cottages are designed more like 'earthpods' and from the outside resemble something in which a hobbit might be comfortable. Inside, however, they are very comfortable, with polished wood floors, large beds, white linens and local artwork. The rooms are spacious and there is a dressing and luggage storage area has been created at the back. The smoothly curving wall surfaces are fun, and each room has a lovely terrace looking out across the rolling hills. The bathrooms are very large, with walk-in showers (good hot water and decent pressure) and bathtubs either located under a window or just outside, in the open air. The design of the rooms also meant that these stay cool during the day, but warm at night (nights can be chilly in Lewa).

Lewa House's free-form swimming pool, insulated to keep its temperature a little higher than ambient, is reckoned to be the warmest in Lewa. At this altitude, that makes a difference, especially for children – though note that there is no lifeguard. The lovely pool terrace offers shade and plants and trees all around, with a good chance of spotting wildlife on the hillside. Lunch is taken in the open-sided dining area by the pool.

Apart from enjoying the plants and bird and insect life in the gardens, the main activity at the house itself is a tour of the back-of-house and farm areas with the owners. You'll visit their fruit and veg garden, meet their happy-looking pig (fed on what the guests can't manage), their pampered dairy cows and contented chickens. You'll have a chance to see how solar energy is stored in banks of batteries and you can ponder the science of vermiculture – worm-farming – which makes use of the pig's leftovers to create something called “worm tea", used to fertilise the gardens. A small wetland area is nurtured by grey water from the showers.

The McFarlanes, whose family also runs Browns' Cheese Farm outside Nairobi, run the farm and gardens on biodynamic principles promoted by Rudolf Steiner – essentially organic practice with a little astrology thrown in – which does away with weeding in favour of digging everything back into the soil.

In the garden you can also find a small curio shop which stocks beautifully crafted jewellery and home wear. Much of this has been produced locally with proceeds going back in to the community.

Lewa House's main activities around the conservancy are game drives and game walks. The lodge has three open-sided Land Cruisers, each equipped with bean bags and camera platforms, seating up to 7 guests in rows of 2, 2 and 3. Where possible, every couple or group will get their own vehicle. The wildlife is abundant and pretty spectacular – in a stay of a few days you're likely to see elephants and both black and white rhinos on numerous occasions, and have countless encounters with grazers and browsers of every description from tiny dik-dik to lofty reticulated giraffe. Lewa is on a wildlife corridor between the highlands to the south and northern Kenya: the conservancy perimeter, while fenced and patrolled, has gaps to the north, south and west, allowing all the wildlife – with the exception of the rhinos – to disperse as mood and seasons dictate. Ingenious wildlife “gates" use heavy posts to block the passage of rhinos while allowing slimmer or taller species to move through. Rare Grevy's zebra are a particular feature at Lewa, as are Beisa oryx. Lions and cheetahs are quite often seen, leopards less commonly.

As well as game drives, guests at Lewa House can be escorted by Calum on game walks. He is a fully qualified FGASA trails guide, and carries a heavy-duty .458 Winchester magnum rifle, so you will not only be well informed but also very well protected.

Lewa's hand-axe site is a fascinating reminder of human evolution and changing landscapes. It's located on what used to be the shores of a wide lake, and there are hundreds of hand axes, large, sharp-edged stone tools shaped by blows from another stone, scattered about on the ground. Answers to the fascinating questions about the identity and purpose of the makers – why here? why they left them behind? a factory? a market place? – are all up for grabs. There's a strict rule against taking souvenirs, however.

If you're interested in Lewa's rhino conservation work, you can visit the communications and security headquarters at the main Lewa Conservancy HQ. A monitor on the wall tracks rhino movements and wall charts identify individuals through ear-notchings. It's a slightly sobering reminder of the gravity of the round-the-clock work here.

Other activities include: visiting the Ngare Ndare forest towards the foothills of Mount Kenya; a visit to the Il Ngwesi Maasai community's village, an hour's drive north of Lewa House (US$35 per person, payable at the village); riding at Lewa Wilderness (an afternoon ride is included for every three-night stay at Lewa House); dog-training with the Lewa security guys and their bloodhounds; and simple fly-camping, which is particularly popular with teenagers and can be included at no extra charge.

Finally, if you ask ahead or stay long enough, you may get the chance to be briefly involved with the conservancy's veterinary and management practices, for example elephant darting, or managing individual animals that need attention. Such opportunities are, however, very much off the menu of standard activities and cannot be guaranteed.