Lewa Wilderness Lodge | Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Lewa Downs, Kenya

(Lewa Wilderness Lodge is the original family home of the Craig's and is still home to Will and Emma Craig, who host guests with their team of Professional Guides. Lewa Wilderness Lodge is a five hour drive from Nairobi. There are daily schedule flights (via Nanyuki) to Lewa Downs which land directly to Lewa Downs Airstrip. Lewa Downs Airstrip is approximately 30 Minutes drive from Lewa Wilderness Lodge)

Lewa Wilderness Lodge - Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, at the foot of Mt Kenya

Lewa Wilderness Lodge

Lewa Wilderness Lodge View Rates, Discounted Prices - Book & Save Now!

Lewa Wilderness Lodge is situated within one of Kenya’s major private conservation successes, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, at the foot of Mt Kenya.

Lewa Downs has been the Craig family home since 1924, when the Craig's came from England and began raising cattle here. Lewa Wilderness lodge is the original family home of the Craig's and is still home to Will and Emma Craig, who host with their team of professional guides.

Lewa Downs Conservancy has 3 Extraordinary Assets:
* Beautiful countryside with exceptional wildlife viewing
* A major commitment to community development and participation

* The endangered species – Rhino, both Black and White, Grevy’s Zebra, and Sitatunga

"Leave room for the wildlife" has been the Craig ethic since the 1920's. Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy is committed to the conservation of wildlife and the diverse habitats found on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya. A private ranch, a private house, a private paradise - this is Lewa Wilderness Lodge.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Non-Residents Accommodation Prices

Non-Residents Accommodation Rates Per Night Include: Full Board Accommodation + Conservancy fees + Soft Drinks, beer + Non-Premium Wine and Laundry + Shared Game drives + Day and Night + Local Airstrip Transfers (Ex-Lewa Airstrip) + Shared game drives + Guided walks + Horse Riding + Camel Walks + Pre-historic Site Visits & Community Crafts

Notes

* Check in 11:00 am, check out 10:00am (no late departures)

Non-Residents Accommodation Rates Per Night include:

* Laundry

* Camel walks

* Bird watching

* Guided walks

* Community Crafts

* Horseback riding

* Pre-historic site visits

* Swimming and tennis

* Shared day & night game drives

* Local airstrip transfers Lewa Airstrip

* Beers, soft drinks, house wines and bottled water

* Full board accommodation at Lewa Wilderness lodge

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Accommodation Rates Exclude:

* Domestic Flights Nairobi/ Lewa/ Nairobi

* Champagne, premium spirits, cellar wines

* Exclusive use of vehicle, subject to availability 350 US Dollars per day

* Scenic bi-plane flights. 600 US Dollars per half an hour. Up to two passengers. Subject to availability and payment direct to lodge

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Accommodation
Lewa Wilderness Lodge offers nine comfortable, thatched cottages with en-suite bathrooms. Electric lighting is provided by a 240 voltage generator that runs from 0630 Hours to 1030 Hours and 1800 Hours to 2230 Hours.

Travel-size hair dryers can be used in rooms –guests are recommended to bring their own and management needs to be informed. Batteries for video, phone and cameras can be charged in rooms – guests are recommended to bring their own adaptors. Lewa Wilderness Lodge cottages all have a mini-bar in each room.

Guests can relax by the fire in Will and Emma's cozy sitting room and share meals around a long banquet table in the open-air dining room. Natural springs, home-raised livestock, and a 5-acre organic garden are transformed by skilled chefs into healthy and delicious food.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge salt-water pool is refreshing, the stables are full of horses for guests to ride, and the clay tennis court comes equipped with both racquets and balls.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Amenities
* Gift shop

* Tennis court

* Sitting/dining room
* Safe box in the main office

* Laundry services provided

* Masseuse on site (extra charge)
* Mobile phone networks available

* Horizon salt-water swimming pool

* Credit card facilities – Amex, Visa and Master card

* Internet access for guests – charged at 2 US Dollars per min but only when generator is on

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Meal Plan
Lewa Wilderness Lodge food is wholesome, ranch style and organically grown. All meals are included, including soft drinks, beer, house wines and bottled water with meals.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Activities & Wildlife
Lewa Wilderness Lodge is located where the Big Five roam at ease and one is almost guaranteed to spot some of the resident black rhino. Marvel at the endangered Grevy's zebra, with 25% of the world's population occurring here. From tracking lion to observing the elusive sitatunga, the wildlife experiences are many.

A professional guiding team leads guests on customized daily safaris and educates them about flora, fauna, animal behavior, conservation, Lewa Downs history and more. During your stay at the Lewa Wilderness Lodge, you can enjoy a wide range of activities such as:-

* Farm and craft tours
* Swimming and tennis

* Incredible bird watching
* Visits to prehistoric sites
* Game viewing shared drives

* Visit Il N’gwesi cultural village
* Massage, manicures and pedicures

* Cultural visits with local communities

* Game viewing on camels and on escorted bush walks

* Day and Night Game viewing in open 4 wheel drive vehicles

* Game viewing on horseback (hats and English saddles provide)

Lewa Wilderness Lodge - A Typical Day in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Lewa Wilderness Lodge offers a wide range of activities and guests can choose between a variety of escorted excursions; game drives on the conservancy, local bush walks, or horseback riding.

There is some magnificent country to be explored on the flat and in the hills and horseback riding is the perfect way to get right among the plains game: literally a few feet away from browsing giraffe, zebra and eland.

The horses have given enormous pleasure to many who have never ridden before. The peace is remarkable, the only sounds being the plod of the horse’s hooves and the singing of birds.

The swamp, amid yellow-barked acacia trees, contains a breeding stock of sitatunga, a shy aquatic antelope with long splayed hooves, which enable it to traverse marshy areas. Also, a treetop game lookout nearby is a fine place for observing wildlife.

Animals to be seen at Lewa Downs Conservancy include elephant, numerous reticulated giraffe, eland, lion, leopard, cheetah, Burchell’s and Grevy’s zebra, Jackson’s hartebeest, greater kudu, Grant’s gazelle, impala, gerenuk, bushbuck, dikdik and many others. Lewa is also one of the few places where one can see Grevy’s zebra and Burchell’s zebra, side-by-side. The conservancy is one of Kenya’s rhino sanctuaries and protects more than 20 black rhino and 20 white rhino.

There is a prehistoric site at Lewa Downs where rough-hewn ancient Acheulian hand axes can be found scattered all over the ground, perhaps a half million years old. If you are interested, a visit to see the working side of the ranch can be arranged.

The Craig's are also committed to developing several cottage industries on the fringe of their property and the local community weave attractive carpets from natural wool, sheared from sheep raised on the property, and make furniture from trees felled by elephant. You can visit the carpet and furniture workshops, or these are available for purchase at the small gift boutique as well as other items.

Lewa Downs bird life is superb and lilac-breasted rollers, superb starlings, white-throated bee-eaters and red-fronted barbets are amongst the colorful birds to be found here. When you stand on the rock outcrops, vultures and eagles can be photographed soaring within a few feet.

Arriving at the lookout point high on a windy ridge, you can see 17,000’ Mount Kenya glowing crimson in the distant sunset.

A short walk to the cliff reveals another surprise; a table and chairs have been set up and the staff is waiting to serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres!

The return to the lodge is a night drive with a spotlight, on the lookout for nocturnally active species such as aardvark, caracal, bat-eared fox, honey badger, porcupine, bush baby, mongoose, etc.

Following dinner at Lewa Wildlife Lodge, you can sip a cocktail or coffee by the fire, enjoy friendly conversation and marvel at the millions of bright stars twinkling brightly in the inky black pollution-free African sky.

Looking down towards the south, the four ‘points’ of the Southern Cross can be clearly seen.

Lewa Wilderness Lodge Cottages

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Lewa Downs was once a cattle ranch; it then became a heavily guarded black rhino sanctuary, and it is now the headquarters for a non-profit wildlife conservancy, which has gained a world-wide reputation for extending the benefits of conservation beyond its borders.

The Craig/Douglas family first came to Lewa Downs in 1922, and managed it as a cattle ranch for over 50 years. Unlike many other ranchers in the area, they had always valued the wildlife that shared the land with the cattle, and developed wildlife tourism as an additional activity.

By the early 1980s it was uncertain whether any black rhinos would survive in Kenya. Poaching for horn had reduced Kenya's rhinos from some 20,000 in the mid-1970s to a few hundred by 1986. It was clear that the only way to prevent their complete extinction was to create high-security sanctuaries.

In 1983 the Craig's and Mrs. Anna Merz - who funded the programme - decided to establish the fenced and guarded Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary at the western end of Lewa Downs.

The rhino sanctuary was stocked partly with animals from other reserves and partly from isolated individuals from northern Kenya, whose likely survival in the wild was a matter of months at most.

The black rhino that were caught settled down and bred, and white rhino were added. After ten years, it was clear that the rhinos needed more space, and the sanctuary was expanded to cover the rest of the ranch, and the adjoining Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve.

The perimeter was almost entirely fenced, for security and to ensure that elephants did not raid crops in neighboring farms, but the ecological connections between Lewa and neighboring wildlife areas were maintained by leaving gaps in the fence for animal movements.

At the same time the entire property was converted to a wildlife sanctuary, as the Craig family handed over the management of the ranch to a non-profit organization - the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Lewa Downs Conservancy Park information | Click Here

Booking & Reservations for Lewa Wilderness Lodge - a five hour drive from Nairobi. There are daily schedule flights (via Nanyuki) to Lewa Downs which land directly to Lewa Downs Airstrip. Lewa Downs Airstrip is approximately 30 Minutes drive from Lewa Wilderness Lodge- Kenya

Booking Office Tel: + 254 (0) 20 2437871

Email: [email protected]

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