Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp

This was first stop on a mostly all northern Kenya itinerary. Out of the camps this had the most varied game viewing. Beautiful tent, great view from all the rooms. The tent has a modern feel and has solid walls. I did full board option as was concerned about flight to kalama not working out so wanted an easy back up road transfer if I needed last minute, so had my own guide from Nairobi. We had a ranger named Patrick that rode on every drive with us. He was very good. I saw 3 different recently relocated rhino. William, Bruno and a pregnant female from a distance. I saw lions, lots of elephant, giraffe, and a variety of other species. I did not see a leopard but I was only there two nights, though I was surprised to see a cheetah. Ali was my waiter and he was very attentive. The dining is at separate tables. Food was good and well presented. I’d say this camp has less intimate vibe than the other camps that I experienced where we had communal dining or guests seemed to interact more with each other. Other guests said hello but that was about it. Perhaps it was just the specific mix of clients on my dates. But I would say this is my second stay at an Elewana camp and the other also felt that way as well. Nothing necessarily bad about this but just something to be aware , some may even prefer this. I don’t use pools, but there are two beautiful pools with great views for those who are pool users.

Our first of two for night safaris and we fell in love with it. The “tents” were complete with everything one could need and really are a large and complete hotel room in a tent having two canvas sides with a full rear wall and a full screened front overlooking the valley below. Discovered the wonderfulness of having hot water bottles in bed. We had superior experiences thanks to Raphael as our guide and Beatrice as our server for wake up breakfast and meals. Little things were great like high level binoculars for all of us, warm towels on arrival from safaris, personal water bottles, safari beverages, close up encounters with all animals and great experiences with the rangers and their dogs. We saw the Big Five in our first 24 hours thanks to Raphael who was very attentive to what we hoped to see each safari and he taught us to take great pictures while teaching us a lot about the animals, the area, the people and the local song “Jambo”. Pool areas were great. Awesome views. Meals were flexible enough to allow us to get in naps and massages. Would definitely try the star beds next time. Felt safe in camp at all times. High level experience in all respects. Our daughter needed to see the medic for a fever and they were very quick to help and treated it seriously, following up many times to ensure her quick recovery.

The service in this camp is outstanding. The views heavenly. It’s clear that the manager has a customer first ethos and that this is shown across the entire camp. From the moment we arrived the level of customer service started on a high. We all greeted by our first names. The camp is ideally positioned overlooking the conservation. We sat at night by a camp fire absorbing the atmosphere. The meals are of high standard and you also have a great choice.

My wife and I have just returned from our most recent visit to Africa. This year we visited two safari camps in Kenya, the Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp in the Laikipia Area in Northern Kenya, and another camp in the Maasai Mara area. The Loisaba Tented Camp was wonderful, and highly recommended! We stayed at the camp for four nights. Although the wildlife in the Loisaba Reserve was supposed to be sparse by comparison to the Maasai Mara, but this was not really the case. I think it depends on the guide. We are heavily into photography, so the quality of the wildlife sightings matters more to us than anything else. We really liked the Loisaba camp manager (Luke). He had dinner with us twice and joined us for part of the time for dinner the other two nights. He spent time with us while we were in the camp as well. What a great guy! Our tented chalet at Loisaba was beautiful, and the staff was extremely attentive. Our butler (Ali) was wonderful. The food was excellent. For the last night they did a private dinner for us out on the lawn next to the infinity pool with some of the best chicken we have ever had. Then there was the desert for the next to the last night. It was a personal sized Amarula soufflé served in a ramekin fresh from the oven. I have never in my life tasted a desert as good as that soufflé! I intend to see if I can get Luke to send me the recipe. Our guide Rezin was awesome. He was extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife, and as excited about about some of the rare animal sightings as we were. We had the safari vehicle all to ourselves, so Rezin was free to spend as much time as needed to find the the unique animals in the area. The Loisaba area has several endemic birds, animals, and sub-species that we had never seen (and were on my bucket list). These included Gerenuks, Jackson's Hartebeests, Reticulated Giraffes, Grévy Zebras, Vulturine Guinea Fowl, and a Striped Hyena on the way back to the camp after dark. We also saw one of the reserve's reintroduced Black Rhinos (“William”), as well as lions, cheetahs, and a couple of leopards. The second cheetah sighting was especially good. We followed a coalition of two brothers through the golden hour all the way into the early evening. I came away with several nice pictures. There was also a massive troop of Olive Baboons hanging out near a very large solitary rocky knob called Parker’s Rock (I think). I’ve got some great pictures of the alpha male sitting at the very top of the highest spire. The birding in the area was also exceptional. Besides the Vulturine Guinea Fowl (a terrible name for a truly beautiful, cobalt blue bird), we saw many species that were entirely new to us, as well as many of our African favorites like Lilac Breasted Rollers, Secretary Birds, Kingfishers and raptors. I highly recommend this camp.

This was an unbelievably amazing experience for our family. Loisaba has all the game you could wish to see (although we will have to come back to spot the elusive cheetah) and we were so well looked after by all the staff and especially our exceptional guide Dalmas who is extraordinarily knowledgeable on every plant, bird and animal and brilliant at tracking them down. Loisaba is huge, yet empty of people. We rarely encountered other jeeps and those that we did see were other Elawana guests. The staff all went the extra mile for us again and again. The tents are supremely comfortable with lots of lovely extra touches like hot water bottles, fluffy towels and a resident family of Kudus. The situation is magical with the watering hole below, and uninterrupted views as far as the eye could see. The pools are so well positioned and in spite of the camp being full, we felt like we had the place to ourselves as it is all so well spread out. It was an unforgettable experience and I struggle to imagine how any safari could be any better.

I can strongly recommend everyone who wants to experience a more luxurious safari in Kenya. Luke, Mo and the team gave us an unforgettable experience at Loisaba. Accommodation, food, safari and activities- all of it was top class. Thank you