Ol Donyo Lodge

Ol Donyo Lodge is a truly beautiful property, lying in a very picturesque and desirable location – between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks, and bordering the Chyulu Hills National Park.

There are excellent views of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when the cloud cover allows (which is often) and the lodge is nestled into a hillside, looking down into savannah. What a place to wake up. Six of the suites have their own pools, and two are connected, with a shared common area and pool – ideal for families. There is a kids’ club and babysitting is available too.

The private community-owned conservancy on which the lodge sits has very high densities of wildlife, in particular elephants. The flexibility that comes with being on a private conservancy means that activities such as horse riding and walking safaris can be undertaken daily, as well as game viewing from a vehicle of course. Breakfast in the bush following an early morning horse riding safari is one of the best starts to the day we have had in this part of the world!

For the Young Explorers in the party, there is building a mini Maasai boma to look forward to, as well as treasure hunting, and learning and practising traditional Maasai bush crafts and survival skills. They can also look forward to bike rides on the plains, painting with Mt Kilimanjaro as inspiration, animal tracking and kite flying.

Themes of conservation and culture are woven into all their activities, and going over these again as a family round the camp fire in the evening is a wonderful way of cementing all they have learnt.