bagaria
September 13, 2025
A great safari lodge does more than give you somewhere to sleep.
After hours spent watching elephants, lions and giraffes, there’s something special about returning to a beautiful camp, taking a hot shower, ordering a cold drink and watching the sun disappear over the African landscape.
Kenya does this particularly well. You’ll find everything from intimate tented camps deep in the Masai Mara to elegant lodges overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro.
Here are some places and regions worth considering when planning a luxury safari in Kenya.
For many travellers, the Masai Mara is the heart of a Kenyan safari.
Luxury here doesn’t necessarily mean large hotels. Some of the best experiences come from small tented camps where you can hear lions calling at night and wake up to wildlife moving across the plains.
Properties such as Elewana Sand River Masai Mara, Mara Serena Safari Lodge and other intimate camps within the reserve and surrounding conservancies combine excellent locations with comfortable accommodation and exceptional game viewing.
The Mara is particularly attractive from July to October when the Great Migration is usually in the wider Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.
Explore our Masai Mara safaris
Amboseli offers something difficult to replicate elsewhere: elephants wandering across open plains with Mount Kilimanjaro rising behind them.
Properties such as Ol Tukai Lodge put you close to the action while still offering the comforts expected from an upmarket safari.
Amboseli works particularly well for travellers who want great photography without committing to a long itinerary.
It can also be easily combined with Tsavo or the Kenyan coast.
For travellers who have already experienced the more famous parks, Laikipia offers a quieter alternative.
Private conservancies in this region often offer experiences that aren’t always available in national parks, including guided walks, night drives, and conservation-focused activities.
Nearby Ol Pejeta Conservancy is especially interesting for travellers who want to understand Kenya’s rhino conservation efforts alongside traditional game viewing.
Discover more Kenya safari destinations
Samburu feels different from southern Kenya almost immediately.
The landscape becomes drier and more dramatic, and you’ll encounter wildlife species rarely seen in the Mara, including the reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk and Beisa oryx.
Luxury tented camps along the Ewaso Nyiro River offer a wonderfully intimate way to experience this part of Kenya.
Samburu is a strong choice if you value fewer vehicles, beautiful landscapes and something beyond the standard safari circuit.
Tsavo East and Tsavo West are excellent choices for travellers who want their safari to feel genuinely expansive.
The region is known for its famous red elephants, enormous landscapes and striking volcanic scenery.
Better still, Tsavo fits naturally into a bush-and-beach holiday. After your safari, you can continue towards Mombasa, Diani or another destination along Kenya’s Indian Ocean coastline.
Read our guide to the best beaches around Mombasa
Price alone doesn’t make a lodge exceptional.
When we recommend accommodation, we look at the things that actually affect your safari:
Sometimes the most expensive lodge isn’t the right one.
A smaller camp in the right location can create a far better safari than a glamorous property that adds hours of unnecessary driving to your day.
Luxury safari travel has changed.
For one traveller, luxury means a private plunge pool and a fly-in transfer. For another, it’s having a private vehicle, an excellent guide, and enough time to sit quietly beside a leopard without worrying about rushing back to camp.
That’s why we prefer designing the safari around the traveller rather than simply choosing the most expensive hotels.
At Bagaria Tours and Safaris, we plan personalised luxury and high-end safaris across Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar, combining accommodation, private safari experiences and destinations around your interests and preferred pace.
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Planning a luxury safari in Kenya? Tell us the places you’d like to see, the experiences that matter to you, and your preferred travel style.
We’ll help you build the journey around them.
