Kipalo Hills — Hotel in Taita–Taveta

I visited Kipalo Hills for four nights after spending three nights in the Mara. I had a wonderful time and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it! All the staff were incredibly welcoming and helpful - especially my driver and guide Boniface and Chris. My tent was cosy and comfortable - not the most luxurious but it had everything I needed and incredible views over the park; there were also morning tea and biscuits in my room, delicious meals served with dedication by the kitchen team Chef Daniel, Emmanuel and Daniel, and sundowners watching the elephants come to drink from the camp's waterhole. Three real highlights for me were the guided bush walk which ended in a fabulous al fresco breakfast by a waterhole, the game drive in Tsavo East with another al fresco breakfast in the park, and going to see the rangers filling the waterhole and all the elephants coming to drink. Tsavo is a really special place and it's so cool to see an area that's so very different from the Maasai Mara - not green and lush like the Mara but tougher, with red dust, dramatic landscapes and animals that are bigger and hardier than the ones in the Mara.|I spent 3 nights in a standard safari tent and on the last night I was lucky enough to stay in the new villa which is just about to open. This is Kipalo's more luxury offering - while the safari tents are comfortable but fairly standard, the villa is on another level, with a huge shower, another outside shower, and a roof terrace where you can sleep under the stars, which I did. Waking up under the sunrise was one of the most memorable experiences of my entire trip. |The thing that really made the difference for me with Kipalo is learning about the work the team does with the wildlife and local communities. The Secluded Africa Trust has many projects to help in their area, including sponsoring local children through their education, handing out food to farmers suffering in the current drought, installing water tanks so villagers don't have to walk miles to fetch water, providing water for the animals, and much, much more. It's so rewarding to see how much the team really cares about supporting and giving back to their local community - this is not lip service like some other companies, these guys definitely put people before profit every single time. If you want to have an amazing African experience but also feel that your money is going to a good place and not a faceless corporation, you should definitely choose Secluded for your next holiday. Check out their beach property, Cardamom House (where I went after Kipalo) for a fantastic way to unwind at the end of your trip. |If you want to see photos, I will write about this experience on my blog at PassportAndPixels dotcom when I...

We were very lucky to stay here, though only for 1 night, but the experience we had was fantastic and worth visiting this lodge. The whole staff made us feel very special guests, the best service we had in Kenya (in comparison to 5 other locations during our trip). Hard to rank what we have enjoyed most: view, room design, service, food, people working there or the elephants (guaranteed for your stay!). We were welcomed by lodge manager Kyembeni, who made the introduction to the lodge and the staff. Daniel was assisting us the whole stay, took us on 2 drives through the conservancy (evening and next morning) with experienced driver Ronald. We learnt a lot about the animals, birds and nature surrounding the lodge. The elephants (we could only see from far in the conservancy) came so close for the lodge water whole during sunset, that it was unbelievable to watch! The 4 courses dinner cooked by Chef David was very delicious, high level restaurant food. Next early morning during the drive we were surprised by the breakfast in the bushes, and later on again we were surprised with morning elephants water whole, this is the best part - you can see elephants in their wild nature as close as possible (just hold your breath!!! And it is guaranteed, as promised). Also fun part was to see hyraxes families running around (never seen such animals before).|Important to mention that we got 2 reusable water bottles as a present to avoid using plastic bottles, good example of business taking care of sustainability. |Highly recommend this place, this is a hidden (in the thick bushes) gem! Dreaming about going back for longer to...

The excellent location of the Kipalo Hills Lodge deep inside Mbulia Conservancy almost makes up for the shortcomings in quality of the accommodation and management.|Tents have great views but except one family tent the rest of them is rather on the small side, outdated and poorly decorated.|Food was no frills but made with great dedication by the chef.|There is a waterhole at the base of the camp where you can observe elephants drinking almost every evening, otherwise game drives within the conservancy are rather uneventful since the whole area is densely overgrown and spotting the game is very difficult.|We had a very nice sundowner at the top of the hill and surprise breakfast in the bush.|It takes a 25 min drive through the conservancy on a bumpy dirt road and additional 10 min on the very busy Mombasa road before you reach the gate of the Tsavo East NP where you can see a variety of wildlife. Highly recommend this park, where we spotted plenty of elephants, giraffes, and lions on every drive.|To reach the Tsavo West gate you have to drive for one hour from the camp.|Like the conservancy, Tsavo West is also densely overgrown but you may occasionally spot elephants there and visit the rhino sanctuary that is located inside the park. Fair warning, when we went there were no rhinos to be seen.|In conclusion, a nice albeit not luxurious camp with great potential due to its...