Lewa House

The family cottages are built with stone walls and thatch roofs in order to help maintain a comfortable climate. Each cottage features traditional hardwood furnishings and has two spacious bedrooms. The master bedroom consists of a large double bed fitted with breathable sheets and plush pillows, and the second bedroom includes two twin beds. Each of the bedrooms has its own en-suite bathroom with an indoor shower.

The cottages are ideal for families, with plenty of room and a homely atmosphere. The cottages are light and airy, with plenty of windows that offer sweeping views of the beautiful rolling landscape. The two bedrooms are joined by a large verandah with outdoor seating where the family can enjoy some time together in tranquil surroundings and gaze upon the stunning valleys and mountains.

The Earth Pods are designed with an eco-friendly focus, meaning that they are able to blend into the surrounding landscape and cause minimal disruption to the wildlife. They are also designed to collect and store rainwater and maintain a comfortable climate. The earth pods feature one bedroom with a double bed, comfy armchairs and minimalist furnishings. These simple yet charming rooms are light and airy, with double doors that lead out onto your private verandah and offer stunning views of the endless plains. Each room also has an en-suite bathroom with an indoor shower located in a stone alcove.

Lewa House has an on-site farm that produces the eggs, milk, meat, fruit and vegetables used in the lodge’s cooking. Any produce that cannot be sourced on the farm is bought from the local town of Meru, meaning that guests are able to enjoy fresh ingredients each day while supporting the local community.

Lewa’s chefs will treat you to three delicious meals each day, which can be enjoyed either out in the conservancy, the lodge’s gardens or in the cosy dining room. Guests can enjoy light or cooked breakfasts, and three-course lunches and dinners, as well as afternoon tea and sundowner snacks.

Embark on an exciting game drive across the Lewa Conservancy, in a specially-designed open safari vehicle, and view amazing creatures including the Big 5. Lewa’s incredible driver guides will be able to teach you fascinating facts about the animals that live within the Lewa Conservancy, including the endangered black rhinos and Grevy zebras. Guests will also be able to see an abundance of elephants and prowling predators. Game drives can be tailored to your interests, and the guides will do their best to help you find the creatures you most desperately want to see.

Night drives are also available, allowing guests to find some of the conservancy’s nocturnal species that don’t come out during the day. Search through the gloom with a spotlight, or venture out under the light of a full moon, and find adorable bushbabies and aardwolves. Leopards are most active when the sun goes down and you may even catch sight of them retrieving kills that they have hidden from scavengers earlier in the day.

Venture across the plains and explore the rolling landscape with Calum Macfarlane, a trained FGASA qualified Trails Guide, and explore the wilderness at a relaxed pace and without the noise of an engine. Wander to the places that safari vehicles are unable to reach, and search in the bush for tracks and marks that will lead you to exciting game viewings. Calum will be able to teach you to recognise different tracks and trails, as well as the calls of different animals and birds. Get closer to nature and immerse yourself in the landscape.

Learn more about Lewa’s conservancy activities with a visit to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy headquarters, where guests can discover the work that goes into conserving wildlife and supporting the local communities. Guest can also visit the anti-poaching tracker dogs that help rangers to protect the wildlife within the reserve, and the LWC sponsored local school. This allows guests to see how tourism supports local initiatives.

Travel to the Ngare Ndare Forest and journey across the 40-foot high canopy walkway. The bridge is constructed out of wire mesh and cables, giving guests an incredible view of the forest below as you travel beside tree canopies. The walkway ends at a beautiful viewing point where visitors can gaze down at the river and watch the elephants and buffalos as they drink and play by the waterside. Have a refreshment at the lofty leafy deck and enjoy the unique scenery.

The Ngare Ndare Forest is also home to a selection of beautiful waterfalls, where guests can enjoy the peaceful surroundings and even take a dive into the cooling waters. Relax beside the falling water, surrounded by trees that have stood there for 200 years, and listen to the gentle sound of birdsong.

Travel back in time with a visit to Lewa’s archaeological sites. Discover the warrior graves located on the hill where Lewa House stands, and learn about the people who once lived on the conservancy land thousands of years ago.

Lewa House is one of the safari lodges that works with the Lewa Conservancy. Lewa supports a number of initiatives that aid the local communities, and that allow guests to get involved. These projects include helping to fund local schools, running educational conservation programmes to teach children the importance of conserving wildlife, supporting local clinics and micro-credit schemes.

‘Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site owned by a charitable organisation benefiting wildlife, environment and the participating communities.’

Lewa House is run by Sophie Macfarlane and her husband, Calum. Sophie Macfarlane’s family founded the Lewa Conservancy in order to protect the wildlife that lives there, and continue to work with them today. In 1983, Sophie’s grandparents, David and Delia Craig, collaborated with wildlife champion, Anna Merz, to create a 5,000-acre rhino sanctuary and began to translocate black rhinos from the north to the sanctuary where they would be able to breed in a safe space, and boost their population.

Lewa Conservancy is now home to approximately 170 black rhinos which are all monitored by the conservancy’s rangers. The conservancy is also home to 12% of the world’s population of Grevy zebra, who moved to the conservancy of their own accord and are able to live there safely under the protection of Lewa’s rangers.

Lewa House is powered by solar energy, and water is sourced from a spring within the Ndare Ngare forest. The showers are heated using a solar heater. This use of clean and renewable energy reduces the lodge’s carbon emissions. Food waste is recycled and fed to the livestock that lives on the lodge’s farm, and the farm also reduces the amount of produce that needs to be imported.

Lewa House source any ingredients that they cannot produce themselves from the local Meru town. Shopping locally supports nearby communities and also helps to offset carbon emissions. The cottages and earth pods have been constructed out of natural materials, and are designed to maintain a comfortable temperature in order to negate the need for high-energy consuming devices such as air-conditioning units.