Reviews of Saruni Samburu

"Second visit,went last year says it all, thankfully nothing has changed.
We had the same guide Lapion who we have bonded with and is one excellent guide and tracker have a good laugh with him, also lucky enough to have a vehicle completely to ourselves.
Saruni remains in our view one of the best locations in Kenya with stunning views and very friendly wildlife love the resident genet cat who joins you for dinner should you wish to take it in your room!
Nothing is too much trouble here overall a wonderful experience." See all these reviews: 7n in Zanzibar; 7n in Kenya

"so here, it was very very hot. like being in Arizona in the summer, and a few weeks earlier than it is usually that hot. the place was extremely elegant and beautiful and lovely design, and the staff very pleasant and friendly the manager is very new to his job, and I believe that shows some. I was left with a small sense of 'trying too hard to have us believe that he liked us and everything was great.' also we were there for New Year's Eve, and there was a lovely dinner with a glass of champagne, but it wasn't really any difference than any of the other meals. slightly more would have been nice.

the thing that was actually very negative for us, and it was one of the things that i was very clear that we did NOT want was to spend a lot (or any) time in a crowded park in a line of cars. There are some activities up by the lodge, but the heat meant it was extra hot up at the camp, and somewhat less hot down in the park, we spent almost ALL of our time down there, and there were many times of extremely crowded animal sightings or looking for animals, including spending over an hour circling a particular set of bushes where someone had seen a leopard. this was exactly the experience that I had set our entire trip up to avoid, and that's what it was !!

also, we know that everyone has some off days but our guide didn't seem to be having a very good few days sighting animals, as everything we saw was something that someone else called him about, and we missed things that everyone else at the camp saw (like the elephants mating).

Now the elephant sightings were generally amazing, with lots of lovely terrific time spent down by the river amidst herds and there were some times where we were NOT amongst a bunch of other people. That was amazing." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya

"Having stayed at Laikipia Wilderness immediately preceding staying at Saruni Samburu, the contrast was quite something. We stayed at the very end of the dry season and the area near the lodge was parched and dry and very quiet in terms of animal life. However, as we got closer to the river in the park itself, there was more colour and more game was around. We hit the start of the rains which was fascinating as the plantlife changed colour, the termites started migrating in huge numbers and the rain mites came out to turn patches of ground bright red.

The lodge itself is perched on top of a huge rock with wonderful views and fantastic rooms. In fact the rooms were so fantastic, we had a spare living room we didn't really know what to do with. However, during the rain, this was great as a comfortable place to sit and read. Food was good in general with everyone eating on one or two tables unless they wanted to eat in their rooms on their own. Service was really good, with a nice mix of Samburu style and genuine friendliness from Kennedy and from everyone else. The Samburu dancing over dinner was also a good experience, which seemed to be genuinely enjoyed rather than a bit forced as we have seen elsewhere in Kenya.

While we were at the lodge, we saw it in two different states. Initially, it was pretty quiet with only four customers there. However, on the weekend, a lot of people came in from Nairobi for celebrations, with a wedding, anniversaries and engagements all going on. One word of warning is that although the lodge is described as having six luxury eco-chic villas, each villa actually has two entirely separate rooms, so the lodge probably takes closer to 24 people than the 12 one might have imagined. When the lodge is full, it does feel a bit busy as a result, seats around the fire are at a premium and service can be a little frayed.

On the wildlife side, we had Lepaion as our guide. We liked him and he was knowledgeable when asked but perhaps a little shy in telling us what he knew. He was more than willing to help in our eccentric interest in birds, though and again was knowledgable on this too. On the driving side, the lodge is quite a long way from the park so, in the dry season at least, there is quite a long drive through the concession before seeing any wildlife. The route into the park is normally roughly the same too, so make sure you like dik-diks or birdlife to keep you entertained. There was some flexibility about how long one spent in the park though to make the most of the time available. Walking was available and well-organised, although I think hard core walkers would need to specify this: I think the camp is more designed with saunterers in mind on this front. We also went on a night drive which gave some nice variety although it was pretty quiet on the night we went.

Overall, this is an interesting lodge to review. The site is excellent, the rooms wonderful and the service good but it feels a little separated from the wilderness itself. On the wildlife front, being outside the park means that you can walk and do night drives but you may well get long spells of being in a car without much to see, so that balance is better-suited to repeat safari-goers than first timers. On the wildlife front, Samburu itself sits somewhere between the Maasai Mara (with huge amounts of game and many tourists) and more esoteric destinations like Meru or Laikipia with lower game density but fewer tourists and perhaps better guiding." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya

"Saruni was one of our most memorable holidays experiences ever! The location of the luxurious villas built uniquely into the cliff top with expansive views over the valley was truly breath taking! The food and dining experience was great up on the terrace - spectacular views with a cliff edge fireplace under a blanket of stars! The staff were really attentive and friendly and made our stay here special. The Italian owners have done a classy job of the decor and design of the lodge.

Samburu park was absolutely fantastic - we were overwhelmed by half a dozen close encounters with leopards, hunting/stalking lion prides, a close experience of an explosive cheetah chase/kill and an abundance of elephants, giraffes, zebra, gerenuk among others! Our guide, Francis, was a genius combining borderline divine tracking skills and a real passion for sharing his immense knowledge of wildlife with a humorous and engaging style.

We'd have to dig deep to find a flaw - the only one we could come up with is that the lodge is about an hour's drive from the action in the park, but this is the price to pay for the spectacular view, clifftop location and amazing staff! The landscape is also a little dry and feels more like a desert than the savannah grasslands you'd expect to see in Kenya!

We would return to Saruni in a heartbeat and would struggle to pin the star attraction here between the spectacular lodge, amazing staff, inspired guiding and exceptional wildlife!" See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"This Lodge is something very special, very special indeed!
The Location is stunning and the vista from your room or indeed from your bed is something to behold.
Food is excellent and Loz, being a vegetarian food can be an issue (see next camp comments) but no worries here!
The hosts James and crew were a delight.
We were offered in room dining every night and took up the option 2 nights out of 3, candle lit and wonderfully romantic nothing too much trouble stunning sky and during dinner both nights a friendly Genet joined us! plus a load of bats!

Our guide Lapieon and Manuel his tracker both Masai warriors where superb we had them and our own truck throughout! And if i can give you an example on one game drive they spotted some fresh Leopard tracks so cleverly drove in a circle spotted tracks coming out the other side so a bigger circle was made - no tracks coming out so gradually they shortened the circle this took about one and a half hours in the end Lapieon says the Leopard is in that bush!! and sure enough one big male Leopard was photographed and videoed amazing! I might add did the same the next day but the Leopard won!
We saw Lion, cheetah, Leopard every day.

There is however a slight issue but not to us in that it is a hour game drive to the river where most of the game can be found so you do travel 2 hours in and out not ideal for some! if an issue stay at elephant lodge highly recommended by our guides and Expert Africa!! Having said that being in a conservancy you are afforded night drives (not allowed in the park) and here I got to see a rare one and got video only seen once before in Zimbabwe some 25 years ago a beautiful Aardwolf special for me!
The Pangolins however (seen one once about 25 years ago) still elude me!

To cap the whole Saruni experience on our checkout day we were on our way to breakfast came out of our room (no camera sadly) and a Leopard walked past loz and myself 10 feet away on the path to the main area completely ignored us, had his sights on some Dik Dik further down on the rocks! WOW!

IMPORTANT FOR THOSE WHO KNOW SAMBURU THE WASHED AWAY BRIDGE AT BUFFALO SPRINGS IS NOW REPAIRED (as we arrived) finally after 2 years!

Just to sign off we saw all the unique 5 Samburu creatures : BEISA ORYX,SOMALI OSTRICH,GREVYS ZEBRA,GERENUK (love them when they stand on hind legs) and the most beautiful Giraffes in the world the RETICULATED.

Will definitely be going back but maybe in the rainy season (to get a different perspective ) because a lot of the animals move away from the river and up into the conservancy at that time. Start saving the pennies i guess!" See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya