Grand Awards Africa

Sasaab, Samburu, Kenya

The best-known of Kenya’s northern game areas is Samburu National Reserve. Its southern boundary is formed by the Ewaso Nyiro River, flowing down from the glaciers on Mount Kenya. The water creates a wide strip of vegetation and, as a result, wildlife is varied and extremely plentiful.

Around 35 minutes’ drive from the west gate of the reserve, Sasaab is a remarkable new lodge in a sensational clifftop location overlooking the river. It is situated on a private wildlife conservancy belonging to Samburu tribal people. One of the most encouraging recent trends has been the growth of conservation projects that involve and directly benefit local Africans. All over northern Kenya, community conservancies are choosing to join the Northern Rangelands Trust, an umbrella organization that now encompasses more than 3 million acres. The trust helps to promote sustainable tourism, with profits used to provide edu-cation and better health care.

Sasaab opened in August 2009, and in many ways, sets a new standard for safari properties in Kenya. Owned by the Carr-Hartley family, which has been involved in Kenyan wildlife and tourism for more than a century, its dramatic architecture is a triumphant fusion of Moroccan and Swahili styles. The result is both functional and aesthetically appealing.

There are just nine tented suites, each with more than 1,000 square feet, offering four-poster beds, lavish baths and private plunge pools on scenic terraces. During our stay, we found the staff unfailingly helpful, the food excellent and the excursions exceptionally well-organized. Sasaab also offers a spa lo-cated on the banks of the river, where you can be pampered in full view of the local elephant!

Sasaab Tented Suite, from $545 per person, including all meals, house wines, game drives and most activities. Tel. (254) 20- 892234.

Elsa’s Kopje, Mmeru National Park, Kenya

Famous as the place where Joy and George Aadamson released the lioness Elsa, Meru National Park served as a backdrop for the subsequent movie “Born Free.”

Set on a craggy outcrop, Elsa’s Kopje comprises eight cottages, a tri-level suite and a two-bedroom “house.” The center of the property is an open-sided dining area and bar covered with a thatched makuti roof. This is stylishly appointed with Oriental rugs, leather chairs, hardwood furniture and tribal art. Elsa’s Kopje is owned by a Kenyan of Italian origin, Stefano Cheli, and the innate Italian talent for cooking was fully on display at lunch, when the food would have done credit to a good city trattoria. Having eaten, we relaxed beneath a sun umbrella beside the pretty horizon pool.

The thatched, stone-walled guest cottages were designed to incorporate the landscape, and ours was arranged around a series of massive boulders. The bedroom contained a four-poster bed swathed in mos-quito netting, and extended onto a wooden deck with an exhilarating 30-mile view. Up a short flight of stairs, the spacious bath provided an extremely effective rainfall shower and an outdoor tub. The cottages are not remotely comparable to the opulent suites at lavish South African lodges such as Singita and Royal Malewane, but they offer refined simplicity and a level of comfort that would be acceptable to all but the most demanding.

That said, on a future visit, we would definitely opt to pay the extra money and stay in Elsa’s Private House, which contains a spacious and elegantly appointed living/dining area, two large bedrooms, a huge bath with a soaking tub overlooking the plains, and a private infinity pool with the same unforgettable view. Although suitable for one or two couples, the house would be perfect for parents on safari with their chil-dren.

Elsa's Kopje Cottage, from $540 per person, including all meals and game drives; Elsa’s Private House (sleeps four adults; additional beds for children available), from $2,400. Tel. (254) 20-604053. elsaskopje.com