Ol Malo Lodge — Hotel in Laikipia County

Ol Malo is a beautiful property set on an escarpment overlooking the private conservancy. There are no other lodges in the conservancy. This means you will not see many if any other safari vehicles, unlike other safari areas. ||||This is not the best place for spotting animals as they are less used to the cars and have more area to hide. However, you still will see a wide range of animals, including the endangered Grevey zebra, reticulated giraffes, elephants, buffalos and antelopes. What makes this place unique is the variety of cultural and other activities. There are many more opportunities to leave the vehicle and walk in the bush. The lodge has close ties with the local Samburu community and provide a number of cultural activities and opportunities to engage with the local people. We visited a homestead and got to dance with the Samburu warriors. We had an amazing bush breakfast hosted by Colin Francombe, a true font of knowledge about the region and its history and culture, and an honorary Samburu elder. We also had sundowners in the bush with fresh beef cooked on a skillet over an open flame.||||Ol Malo go out of their way to take care of their guests. They even accommodated a crazy request to have my hair beaded in the traditional Samburu warrior style. Apparently, we are the first guests ever to have requested this, but they made it happen and my partner had her wrist beaded.||||The food, much of which comes from the Francombes’ farm or is homemade, was excellent. We especially loved the scotch bonnet pepper hot sauce. They should bottle it and sell it! ||||Our room was incredibly spacious and had unique features as it was built into the escarpment. The pool was very relaxing after a day in the bush. ||Thank you to our hosts, Meg and Rob, Paul, our guide Leuya and the Francombes for making this a...

My family (husband and 11 year old daughter) agrees with most of the reviews written. Ol Malo is a magical place run by an amazing team that makes you feel like a part of the family. We only stayed 3 days but they were filled with adventure and fun and we only wish we stayed longer. We enjoyed game drives and walks, watching elephants and zebras from our room, riding horses and camels, a safari breakfast, and a night/dinner at the tree house. The food was delicious and the staff were kind and helpful. We did not plan to do the helicopter ride to Lake Turkana but are SO happy it worked out - it is a bit of a splurge but it was the most amazing day ever! Ol Malo was our first safari lodge during our 2 week stay in Kenya, and we cannot imagine a better start to our trip. We especially appreciate how thoughtful Annie was as a host, checking on what activities we might want engage in each day and working with us to make our time there extremely special (including extra horseback riding for our horse loving daughter and dinner in our room the day we arrived). We hope to return as we enjoyed it SO much. Definitely on the top of our...

We loved everything about this place! Beautiful, comfortable, organic rooms. Spectacular setting, great staff, delicious food. Sleeping in the platform up in the tree by the watering hole was amazing! Being able to sleep safely under the stars & gently wake up to the sun rising right in front of us was such a epic experience. We saw many animals & even a cheetah eating it’s kill in a tree. We went to a local market which was super interesting & eye opening! We rode camels for the first time & had a yummy bush breakfast after our ride. So many choices of things to do! Would absolutely recommend this place! We LOVED it!! We only had a few night there & wish we stayed longer. They really took great care of us & made our stay...