Top 8 Kenyan mountain lodges, clubs and camps

Mount Kenya

1. Mount Kenya Safari Club

Set in a over 100 acres of landscaped gardens with magnificent views of Mt. Kenya, the Safari Club offers a unique blend of comfort, relaxation and adventure.

Founded by Holly wood actor William Holden, the club has 144 standard and superior guest rooms. All suites include a sitting room, private verandah and large bathroom.

The club is famous for its personal attention and superb cuisine. The club restaurant serves breakfast and lunch in buffet form, while the nine-course dinner is semi-formal, with live entertainment most of the nights.

Other facilities include the Mountain View Bar & Lounge and the club-like trophy lounge. The club also offers a range of leisure activities, with horse-riding, golf, croquet, putting, bowling and swimming as well as a beauty salon and animal orphanage. A wide choice of excursions includes trout fishing trips and game drives.

2. Alliance Naro Moru River Lodge

The alliance Naro Moru lodge, set in the foot-hills of Mount Kenya, just a two-to-three hour drive from Nairobi, is a famous base for climbers.

The lodge stands on the equator between Nyeri and Nanyuki at an altitude of 1,982 meters. Set in beautiful and lush green mountain tropical gardens, it offers excellent trout fishing in the Naro Moru River, while the local area is a paradise for bird watchers.

The lodge offers full board or self service accommodation with 12 standard, 10 superior and 12 deluxe rooms plus seven cottages, five country homes, bunk houses and a campsite. Most rooms have bathroom and shower.

Recreational facilities include a new, heated swimming pool facing Mt. Kenya, two tennis courts, as quash court, a sauna, horse riding and a nature trail.

Two restaurants offer a range of cuisine, with special menus for climbers. Other amenities include conference rooms and a mountain store for all climbers of Mt. Kenya needs.

Various mountain programmes, including guides, porters and transport, are available for experts and enthusiasts alike.

3. Serena Mountain Lodge

Serena Mountain Lodge is located on the slopes of Mt. Kenya at an altitude of over 2,000 meters. This area has one of the most consistently high records in Kenya for Big game visits and sightings.

The lodge is surrounded by dense rain forest that comes alive at dusk with the exhilarating sounds of the African bush. There is a viewing bunker, where guests have a spectacular close up view of animals at the water hole.

The lodge has 42 bedrooms attractively furnished with indigenous wood and African Art. Each room has a private bathroom and spacious verandah overlooking the waterhole.

Elephant, buffalo, rhino and waterbuck are regularly sighted by guests on evening and daytime game drives.

Forest walks, with sightings of game and bird life, can be arranged. For the bold and fit, these walks can even be extended to the top of Mt. Kenya.

Aberdare Mountain

4. The ark

Comprising of 60 cabins and a full complement of 123 guests, the Ark is a ship-like tree –lodge set in the heart of the Aberdare National Park. The Ark overlooks the flood lit Yasabara waterhole and salt lick.

All accommodation features en-suite bathrooms. All cabins are fitted with buzzers to announce the arrival at the waterhole of any of the "Big Five". A "resident hunter" is also available to provide information about game and the surrounding landscape.

The main dining room-serving both European and local specialties, lounge (with fire-place) and bar all provide the ideal vantage point from which to view game. There is also a ground-level bunker for close-up "eye-to eye" photography. This accommodates eight people.

5. Treetops

Located in the heart of a dense forest in the Aberdare National Park, overlooking two water holes and with views of Mount Kenya, the famous Treetops began in 1932 as a humble two-room dwelling supported by a wild fig tree.

But in 1952 treetops, be then expanded to four rooms, gained overnight renown as the place where Princess Elizabeth was staying when she learned of the death of her father, King George VI.

Since then, for many, no visit to Kenya would be complete without experiencing the Treetops adventure.

Today, the 50-rooms Treetops offers comfortable beds in either a single or twin room with plentiful shared bathroom facilities. Two suites with their own bathrooms are also available.

From the observation lounge, guests can view and photograph wildlife including rhino, elephant, bushbuck and even lion.

Guests can arrange to be woken at night by the professional hunter when one of the ‘big five’ is in view. Guests can also book game drives into the salient in 4x4 vehicles.

6. Aberdare Country Club

Located just 2 hours from Nairobi is Aberdare country club, nestling on the slopes of Mweiga Hill. The club has a reputation for hospitality and excellent cuisine, the club is a popular weekend resort for Nairobi residents.

Accommodation is in 46 rooms, including 38 located in cottages, all with spectacular views of the plains, Aberdare Mountains and Mount Kenya. All rooms have a private bathroom with shower.

The dining room offers a selection of European, Asian and Kenyan dishes. There is a lounge bar.

Recreational facilities include a swimming pool, putting green, nine-hole golf course and tennis courts as well as horse riding.

A variety of animals can be seen in the club’s 1,300 acre wildlife sanctuary including gazelle, giraffe and zebra. There are opportunities, too, for game drives in the National Parks as well as fishing trips and bush meals.

The club has conference facilities and accommodation for groups of up to 100 people.

Other Mountain park lodges

7. Shimba Hills Lodge

Providing unique opportunities for viewing Kenyan wildlife is Shimba, in the heart of the last remaining tropical rainforests in East Africa, just 45 minutes from the ocean.

The Shimba Hills National Reserve is the only place in East Africa to view the rare and endangered Sable antelope as well as elephant, buffalo and various species of wildcat, some of which can be sighted at the lodge’s floodlit waterhole.

Built of local wood to blend with its surroundings, the lodge accommodates 65 people in comfort. Double and triple rooms have access to toilets and showers. Suites have their own bathrooms.

The open fronted dining room allows guests to view birds and game. An elevated walkway extends into the forest.

Shimba hills is one of the few places where guests can explore the wilderness on foot, with guided walks to Marere dam, cycad forest and Sheldrick falls.

The evening air is filled with the unique sounds of cicadas, bush babies and frogs. Early morning and evening game drives plus sundowner excursions are available.

8. Taita hills & Salt lick resort

The Taita Hills & salt lick wildlife resort is located at the foot of Taita Hills and adjacent to the Tsavo National park, one of the world’s largest game reserves, 200 km from Mombasa and 400 km from Nairobi.

The salt lick lodge consists of 96 rooms elevated on stilts and linked by raised walkways. The restaurant serves international and local cuisine and the terraced bar offers spectacular views of the waterhole and surrounding grasslands, where elephant, buffalo and a variety of plains game can be seen through out the year.

The area is illuminated by floodlights to facilitate game viewing at night, and there is an underground tunnel and chamber allowing guests to closely and safely view wildlife at ground level.

The Taita Hills Lodge consists of 62 rooms each with a balcony and ensuite bathrooms. With two conference rooms capable of accommodating up to 100 participants.

About the author:
Robert is a tour consultant and co-owner of Landmark Safaris Ltd in Kenya. He is degreed in Tourism management and conservation. For more information, please click here. Grab your relevant and free safari info here