Sasaab

Sasaab stands on a bluff above the Ewaso Nyiro river in the Westgate Community Conservancy, a Samburu-owned block of land on the western edge of Samburu National Reserve. The design breaks with safari convention entirely: whitewashed Moorish arches, carved doors, Swahili and North African furnishings, and nine enormous rooms that open on one whole side to the riverine bush.

Each room has its own plunge pool, and the absence of a fourth wall means the view of doum palms and dry riverbed is permanent. The setting is hot, arid and rocky - a different Kenya from the Mara's grasslands - and it delivers the northern specials: reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, Somali ostrich and Beisa oryx.

The lodge is a joint venture between The Safari Collection and the Samburu community that owns the conservancy, so a share of revenue returns to local landowners. Activities range beyond game drives to camel treks, riverbed walks, visits to Samburu manyattas and helicopter trips to the Matthews Range.