At a Glance
- Exclusive cottages offer intimate, personalized stays with views across Mount Kenya’s scenic slopes.
- Guests support conservation through ranger patrols, habitat restoration, and black rhino reintroduction programs.
- Activities include horse safaris, rhino tracking, and immersive eco-experiences in Laikipia.
Borana Lodge, perched on Kenya’s Laikipia plateau, offers a unique luxury safari experience where every stay supports wildlife conservation.
Sited on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, the lodge blends comfort, intimacy, and eco-conscious living.
Guests enjoy private stone-and-thatch cottages, guided rhino tracking, horse safaris, and local dining experiences, all while directly funding ranger patrols, habitat restoration, and community projects. This eco-luxury retreat proves that high-end travel can be both indulgent and meaningful.
A legacy on the Laikipia slopes
When Borana Lodge opened in the early 1990s, it was one of East Africa’s first eco-lodges, and over time, it became the heartbeat of what is now the Borana Conservancy. Spanning roughly 32,000 acres, the conservancy has played a vital role in the protection of endangered species.
In 2013, it led the reintroduction of 21 black rhinos, helping to create a secure population that now roams freely across adjoining private reserves. What began as a family ranch has since evolved into a conservation landmark, one where tourism directly funds preservation.
A landscape apart
The Borana landscape unfolds like a natural tapestry: open savannahs dotted with acacia, cool riverine forests and rugged slopes that climb toward Mount Kenya’s peaks. Its location, far from the busier Mara circuit, offers a different kind of safari, quieter, more personal, and deeply tied to the rhythms of the land. Morning horse rides through misty valleys, sundowners on wide horizons, and glimpses of pastoral life alongside wildlife create a sense of calm that few places can match. Here, space itself feels like a luxury.
Rooms with character
Accommodation at Borana feels more like visiting a well-loved home than checking into a hotel. Eight stone-and-thatch cottages, each with its own fireplace, veranda and view, make up the property’s heart. Interiors are unpretentious yet refined, built from local materials and designed to blend into the landscape.
With capacity for around 16 guests, service remains personal and familiar. The entire lodge can also be booked for exclusive use,perfect for families or small groups seeking privacy without pretence.
Dining that feels like home
Meals at Borana are about connection, to place, to people, and to the moment. The kitchen sources ingredients from nearby gardens and local farmers, crafting dishes that celebrate the region’s produce. Long dinners are shared in the main dining room, lunches are served by the pool under soft escarpment light, and early picnics accompany morning rides. It’s dining without performance, simple, fresh, and full of heart.
Experiences that deepen rather than distract
At Borana, the activities aren’t designed to fill time, they’re meant to bring guests closer to the land. Horse safaris remain a highlight, offering silent access to areas unreachable by vehicle. Guests can also track rhinos on foot at dawn, join rangers on patrol, explore the hills by bike, or visit reforestation and rangeland projects. Every outing tells part of Borana’s story, one of coexistence, resilience and respect for the wild.
Conservation as a way of life
Conservation isn’t an afterthought at Borana, it’s the foundation. A portion of every guest’s stay helps cover the costs of ranger operations, community projects, and wildlife monitoring.
The conservancy’s transparency is part of its strength: it regularly shares updates on anti-poaching efforts, habitat restoration and education initiatives. Together with neighbouring Lewa, Borana now forms one of East Africa’s most secure rhino sanctuaries. Staying here means directly supporting that success.
A place for quiet milestones
With its privacy, warmth and breathtaking scenery, Borana is a natural setting for life’s smaller celebrations, intimate weddings, family reunions or personal retreats. The lodge’s team can tailor experiences to make every occasion feel personal, never staged. It’s the kind of place where memories form quietly, over shared meals and mountain sunsets, without fanfare or flashbulbs.
Borana’s model works, but it depends on a balance between exclusivity and inclusivity, between tourism and preservation. Maintaining anti-poaching teams, funding education programmes and adapting to climate shifts require steady income and long-term vision.
As conservation-led travel gains traction, Borana’s challenge will be to deepen community involvement while keeping its sense of solitude intact. Continued investment in rangeland restoration, local training, and conservation partnerships will ensure its promise endures.
An enduring retreat
Borana Lodge doesn’t chase scale or spectacle. Its value lies in depth, in the integrity of its conservation, the sincerity of its hospitality, and the authenticity of its experience.
For travellers who want to know their presence matters, that their stay protects wildlife and sustains communities, Borana offers something rare: a vision of luxury that’s as responsible as it is restorative.
