Campi Ya Kanzi

Multiple award-winning Campi ya Kanzi is a boutique ecolodge, found high in the Chyulu Hills, on 283,000 acres of Maasai-owned land between Amboseli and Tsavo. Hemingway called this the green hills of Africa, and the volcanic ridges here are cloaked in cloud forest, falling away to open plains and the mighty Kilimanjaro. Six tented cottages and two larger suites are built from lava rock, thatch and Swahili woodwork, with hand-made furniture, verandas facing the mountain and water heated by the sun. Kanzi House, a larger four-bedroom villa, is a short walk along the ridge.

Every drive, walk and meal involves the Maasai hosts. Game drives cross lava flows and grassland in search of elephant, lion, giraffe and buffalo. Walk with Maasai guides who read tracks and plants, climb into the cloud forest, ride out on horseback or fly over to the Amboseli swamps for the day. Solar power runs the whole camp, some game drives now go out in electric vehicles, and an afforestation programme has pushed the operation into carbon-negative territory. Every guest at Campi ya Kanzi pays a nightly conservation fee that goes almost entirely into ‘Wildlife Pays’, a programme compensating Maasai herders for livestock lost to lions and leopards.