Serena Mountain Lodge 2 Day Tour Mt Kenya National Park

This 2-Day/ 1 Night Safari to Serena Mountain Lodge in Mount Kenya National Park focuses on high-altitude wildlife viewing from the lodge’s unique timber-built decks and salt lick. Common visitors to the salt lick include elephants, buffalo, waterbucks, and giant forest hogs.

The lodge also has a photographer’s hide accessible via a tunnel, allowing you to photograph wildlife just meters away.

The Serena Mountain Lodge is a luxury safari “tree hotel” located at 2,194 meters on the slopes of Mount Kenya within the Mount Kenya National Park. Known for its unique cedar-wood architecture balanced on stilts, the lodge offers guests an immersive rainforest experience with direct views of a high-activity wildlife waterhole. 

Additional activities include the Kihari Hill Hike, a 2–3-hour hike (elevation 2,281m) offering views of the mountain peaks.

Serena Mountain Lodge Accommodation & Amenities

Facilities: Includes a well-stocked bar with a central fireplace, a library of Africana books, a gift shop, and massage/beauty treatment services
Room Features: Each room has a private balcony overlooking the waterhole, en-suite bathrooms with 24-hour hot water, and sound-insulated walls
Dining: A tree-top level restaurant serves international and local buffet-style meals. Specialized experiences include “Forest Breakfasts” in a glade and rooftop “Sundowners.”

Serena Mountain Lodge Activities

✓ Trout Fishing: Available in the crystal-clear mountain streams and tarns
✓  Guided Nature Walks: Led by resident naturalists through 4km of forest trails
✓ Mountain Climbing: Arrangements can be made for climbs to Point Lenana (4,985m)
✓ Cultural Displays: Traditional Kikuyu dancing and “Mwomboko” dancers often perform for guests

2-Day/ 1 Night Safari to Serena Mountain Lodge Highlights

Wildlife Viewing from the Lodge:

Wake-up Calls: Staff can wake you at night if rare animals such as hyenas or leopards arrive at the waterhole
Private Balconies: Each cabin-style room features a private balcony overlooking the waterhole for continuous game viewing
Underground Photo Hide: A secret tunnel leads to a bunker at the water’s edge, allowing you to photograph animals just meters away

Guided Nature & Adventure:

Trout Fishing: Try your luck in the crystal-clear mountain streams
Kihari Hill Hike: A 2-3 hour moderate trek offering panoramic mountain views and sightings of Colobus monkeys
Forest Nature Walks: Daily guided walks (typically at 3:00 PM) to explore the rainforest, birdlife, and diverse flora

Cultural & Educational

Tree Planting: Participate in the lodge’s reforestation program
Traditional Dancers: Performances by local Mwomboko dancers
Wildlife Talks: Nightly presentations by resident naturalists on the mountain’s ecosystem

2-Day/ 1 Night Safari to Serena Mountain Lodge Itinerary

Day 1: Nairobi to Serena Mountain Lodge 

0800 Hours – 0900 Hours: Depart from Nairobi and begin the 193 km drive north towards Mount Kenya
1030 Hours – 1130 Hours: Stop at the Karatina Market, the largest open-air farm produce market in the region
1200 Hours: Arrive at Serena Mountain Lodge for check-in
1300 Hours: Lunch at the lodge’s tree-top gallery dining room, followed by wildlife viewing from your private balcony or the open-air deck
1500 Hours: Optional daily forest walk to explore the rainforest’s unique birdlife and flora with a resident naturalist
1830 Hours: Enjoy “sundowners” at the rooftop bar overlooking the floodlit waterhole
1930 Hours: Dinner followed by nightly wildlife talks
Night: Wildlife viewing. You can request a “wake-up call” if elusive animals like leopards or rhinos appear at the waterhole

Day 2: Serena Mountain Lodge to Nairobi

0800 Hours: Breakfast at the lodge. Consider an optional Bush Breakfast in a forest glade
0900 Hours: Guided forest walk or a visit to the photographer’s hide via the underground tunnel to see animals at eye-level
1100 Hours: Return to the lodge to freshen up
1230 Hours: Farewell lunch at the lodge
1400 Hours: Depart the lodge and begin the return drive to Nairobi
1800 Hours: Approximate return to Nairobi

The 2-day Mountain Lodge Safari from Nairobi is a short overnight wildlife safari to Mt Kenya National Park, located about 193 kilometers from Nairobi. Transfers by road from Nairobi take approximately 3 hours. Enjoy a high altitude game-viewing safari at a luxury tree lodge called Serena Mountain Lodge.

The lodge is located on the slopes of Mt Kenya at a height of 7,200 feet. Mountain Lodge has an open-air viewing deck overlooking its waterhole and salt lick, which attract numerous herds of elephants and buffalo.

There is also a tunnel leading to a photo hide, which offers spectacular viewing and photographic opportunities just meters away from the wildlife at the water hole. Serena Mountain Lodge’s timber-built, cabin-style room has a luxury en suite bathroom and a private balcony overlooking the waterhole.

The décor, which echoes the Kikuyu culture, features hand-woven wall hangings, soft lighting, and cozily warm soft furnishings. Hot water bottles are provided at night. Smoking is not permitted within the lodge due to its timber construction, but a smoker’s area is provided on the rooftop terrace.

Traditional Dancers: Enjoy dance displays by the local traditional Mwomboko dancers

Wildlife Talks: Enjoy nightly wildlife talks on the flora, fauna, and avifauna of the mountain

Nature walks: Forest Walks, which leave at 3 pm daily to learn more about Mount Kenya National Park’s unique birdlife – professional ornithological tours

High Altitude Game watching from the lodge’s balcony: Watch the wildlife at the flood-lit waterhole or use the photographer’s hide, which allows you to view and photograph wildlife just meters away from them

Day 1: Nairobi – Drive to Serena Mountain Tree Lodge
Day 2: Serena Mountain Tree Lodge – Drive to Nairobi

Day 1: Nairobi – Drive to Serena Mountain Tree Lodge

0800 Hours: This morning, we depart Nairobi after breakfast and proceed north, driving through lush tea and coffee estates to Mt Kenya National Park. A 3-hour transfer takes you to Nyeri in central Kenya, home to the Kikuyu tribe. You will drive through the main farming areas of Kenya with coffee and pineapple plantations.

We will stop at the open-air Karatina market, the largest farm-produce market in the region.

1200 Hours: We arrive at our lodge, check in, and lunch follows. Nestled in the heart of Mount Kenya National Park, the Serena Mountain Lodge is famous for its high-perched location and balconies overlooking a salt lick and waterhole.

Boasting a remarkable record of wildlife sightings from their floodlit waterholes and salt licks, here we will enjoy the finest in high-altitude game viewing.

1300 Hours: The waterhole, which is floodlit at night, attracts a wide variety of animals, many of which come primarily in the early evening or at night.

Common visitors include elephants, buffalo, waterbucks, warthogs, baboons, genet cats, red duikers, and marsh mongooses.

Other species include black rhinos, colobus and Sykes’ monkeys, sunis, and nocturnal creatures such as leopards, spotted hyenas, bush babies, giant forest hogs, bush pigs, and aardvarks.

An underground passage leads from the basement of the lodge to the edge of the waterhole, where there is a photographer’s hide.

1930 Hours: Dinner and overnight

Accommodation Options:
Luxury Accommodation: Serena Mountain Lodge
Mid-Range Accommodation: N/A
Budget Accommodation: N/A

Meal Plan {Lunch & Dinner}

Day 2: Serena Mountain Tree Lodge – Drive to Nairobi

0800 Hours: Breakfast at the tree hotel.

0900 Hours: Enjoy a forest walk to learn more about Mount Kenya National Park’s unique birdlife – a professional ornithological tour.

1100 Hours: Return to the lodge, freshen up, then lunch.

1400 Hours: Depart the Tree Lodge after lunch and drive back to Nairobi, arriving at your residence/ hotel at around 1800 Hours.

Meal Plan {Breakfast}

Serena Mountain Lodge 2-Day Tour Mt Kenya National Park Rates Include

✓ All meals included while on safari
✓  Professional experienced driver-guide
✓ High–altitude nocturnal game viewing
✓ All applicable game park entrance fees
✓ Guaranteed window seating with open-top
✓ Safari vehicles carry cold drinks and mineral water
✓ Round-trip transport from Nairobi to Mt. Kenya National Park
✓ Accommodation at the Serena Mountain Lodge in Mt. Kenya National Park

Notes

* This tour departs daily, and private departures are also available

Serena Mountain Lodge 2-Day Tour Mt Kenya National Park Rates Do Not Include

* International Airfare
*Accommodations in Nairobi
* Cost of obtaining a passport and visas
* Gratuity for your professional driver-guide
* Gratuity for Porterage/ waiters at hotels, camps, and airports
* Personal expenses such as transfers to/ from the airport (supplement airport transfer cost applies for tours starting from the airport)
* Personal expenses such as traveling insurance, excess baggage fee, communication charges that include laundry, emails, faxes, and phone calls, beverages including luxury champagne, luxury spirits, beer, and wines during meals or meals not indicated in the itinerary

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