Elephant Watch is the ultimate in eco-luxury and an unrivalled wildlife experience. We are pioneers in conservation-tourism thanks to our long links to elephant preservation in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. Here, your dreams of an African adventure without compromise come true. Spend magical days among wild animals with our charming professional guides and meet leading conservationists in the field at the Save the Elephants research centre. Return to camp to immerse yourself in a luxury that is highly sensitive to the environment’s fragility, and let the commotions of modern life dissolve as your soul is soothed by its reconnection with nature. 

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CONSERVATION: At Elephant Watch Camp we believe that elephants are special. Years of scientific research, and our own daily observations, have revealed that they are highly intelligent, sentient creatures who thrive in close-knit families, feel complex emotions like empathy or compassion, are self-aware, and seem to have a concept of their own mortality. It is difficult not to draw parallels with our own consciousness. Sadly, just as we are learning more about them, their existence is increasingly in peril from habitat loss and ivory poaching. We are determined to find ways to protect them.

To secure a future for elephants in a rapidly changing world, we work closely with the charity Save the Elephants (STE) - based just downstream from us in Samburu National Reserve - to win hearts and minds over to the elephant cause. We employ almost entirely from the local communities, helping to improve the livelihoods of the people that live closest to wildlife, and have worked tirelessly to raise money for scholarships and provide medical assistance. But it's the way we help our guests fall in love with elephants through intimate encounters, normally experienced only by a handful of trusted field researchers, that seems to have the profoundest conservation impact. Visiting STE's research centre after this helps our guests understand how everything fits together in the wider context. It’s by living, breathing and loving elephants in their natural habitat, and dreaming of their certain future, that many of our guests become inspired to join hands with Save the Elephants and fight for the future of our Planet. Some have even spearheaded major awareness campaigns, such as the #KnotOnMyPlanet crusade led by Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes, helping to raise millions of dollars to fight against the ivory trade and preserve habitat.

ELEPHANT WATCHING: Through our unique relationship with Save the Elephants, our guides are specially trained to recognise about 500+ elephants from the sixty-six families that are mostly resident in Samburu, many of whom have fascinating recorded histories that date back to Save the Elephants’ foundation in 1997. All of our observations are shared with STE's researchers and fed into their long-term monitoring database. Guests are lovingly introduced to each and every elephant they meet, bringing a new dimension to their understanding by allowing us to see the world from an elephant's perspective. Our guides’ relationships with particular individuals and deep appreciation of behaviour leads to unrivalled experiences that will stay with you forever. 

AFRO-ITALIAN BUSH CUISINE: We make and bake every bite of our delicious food on site to offer you a superb fusion of Italian-Afro-bush gourmet for which Elephant Watch is famous far and wide. Vegetables are sourced locally from the foothills of Mt. Kenya, and then spiced to perfection with herbs from our organic garden. The meat comes mostly from our organic farm in Naivasha, or from the lush cattle ranches of Laikipia where livestock is pasture-raised and free to roam.

You will love our cold avocado and gazpacho soups, fresh juices, daily baked focaccia, home made ice-creams, relishes, jams, honey in the comb (from our organic apiary), and fresh pasta and rice salads. Each day is planned to suit your needs, so picnic breakfasts and lunches are carefully prepared to be unwrapped on the banks of the river as a herd of elephants stroll by. It’s a sensory delight!

If you want to taste the local cuisine, roasted goat – Samburu-style fresh off the fire – is one of our specialities. Be prepared to bite into a sizzling chunk then slice it off the bone with a sword. No knives or forks allowed! Just a pinch of salt. Painting your face with red ochre and cow fat is optional.

At night, the orange flames from the fire and glow of hurricane lamps light up the dining table where we serve iced wine and mouth-watering grilled meat and fish. The river burbles gently below us as owls hoot and baboons bark under a black sky scattered with a million stars. In the distance, the tune of a Samburu flute keeps pace with an elephant splashing across the river. It simply can’t get any better, until the pudding arrives!

DEEP GREEN PHILOSOPHY: Our environment is precious, fragile and threatened, and we humans are its guardians. At Elephant Watch Camp, our entire operation runs by our strict eco-philosophy. We aspire to be green to the core. The sun powers all of our electricity, including our fridges and freezers. Water is hand-pumped from our on-site well, carefully distributed and then re-used to nourish the trees. All of our buildings, including your luxury en-suite safari tents, are made with old fallen trees, solar-hardened earth plaster and sustainably-harvested palm thatch.

POWER, PHONES AND WIFI: The camp runs fully on solar power. The main charging area is in the Mess Tent, with British style three pin plugs.  Please note that we cannot run hairdryers or curlers on the solar system, but things like CPAP machines are no problem. Mobile phone network is available through Safaricom/Vodaphone and Airtel. Wi-Fi is available.

CUISINE: Ingredients for our chefs’ inventive fusion of Italian and African-inspired dishes come from our family’s organic farm in the Rift Valley or from the local farmer’s market on nearby Mt Kenya. Our innovative water evaporation cold-room, with its sustainably harvested charcoal walls, keeps food fresh. Firewood is collected from driftwood that is brought to us by seasonal floods. At Camp, waste is kept to a minimum and very carefully managed, with as much recycled as possible. And the animals are always treated with the utmost respect and minimal interference.

LUXURY: Even with these efforts to limit our impact on our immediate environment and the wider ecosystem, you will find that we never compromise on comfort. Come stay with us and see how luxury can still be deeply eco-friendly. You’ll have everything you need and more!

HEALTH: Samburu is a malarial area so be sure to take your preventative prophylaxis. Full medical and travel insurance is recommended. Flying Doctors evacuation service is recommended – we can sign you up for a small fee. We recommend that you get all your vaccinations up to date in good time before departure. A yellow fever vaccination is imperative and required no less than 10 days prior to travel.

TIPPING: Tipping staff is a custom in Kenya and very much appreciated. A lot of people you don’t see are working hard to make your stay as agreeable as possible. We operate a communal tipping system at Camp that is distributed to all staff at the end of the month. A recommended tip is $15-25 per guest per night. We have a card machine that accepts most credit or debit cards.

VISA: You can get a visa at the Kenyan High Commission or Embassy in your home country, or at Jomo Kenyatta International airport on arrival in Nairobi for most nationalities. A fee of US$50 is charged for a single entry visa, and US$100 for multiple entry visas either to Kenya or East Africa. Note that multiple entry visas are NOT issued on arrival, only at the Kenyan representative office in your home country. Visas on arrival must be paid for in cash in foreign currency. Credit cards are not accepted. Your passport should be valid for a minimum period of six months from the date of entry into Kenya. Make sure you have two blank pages in your passport on arrival. Please check the following websites for more information on visa requirements: http://www.kenyaembassy.com/visa.html, or, https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kenya/entry-requirements

FAQ:  http://elephantwatchportfolio.com/elephantwatchcamp/about/faqs/

Our portfolio’s Bespoke Safaris offer the opportunity of unforgettable tailor-made African wilderness adventures that marry your dreams to our deep knowledge of this region and our passion for its people, places and animals. Every journey is different. But each will share an unflagging attention to detail, a dedication to comfort without compromise, and a strict focus on responsible tourism and long-term sustainability.

We offer unrivalled access to indigenous communities we have worked with for decades. Our connections to cutting-edge conservation bring you closer to the wildlife, especially elephants, in both a profoundly moving and meaningful way. Your hosts and guides are world-class, trained to the highest levels and have years of experience. Allow us to share our secrets, show you what we love, and let the inspiration of the wilderness envelop you fully.

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Samburu lies on the frontier between Kenya’s populous central highlands and its arid, empty north. It boasts a unique mix of wildlife including rare and endangered species. It is less visited than Kenya’s other more famous game parks, but for those in the know, it is among their most treasured wilderness areas. As well as large herds of elephant, Samburu is home to a number of species only found in arid zones, including the Somali ostrich, Beisa oryx, Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk and reticulated giraffe. The reserve is also home to all three big cats – lion, leopard and cheetah – as well as the rare African hunting or wild dog whose numbers are increasing. A rhino sanctuary has recently been established to the north of the Reserve, and more than 350 species of birds are resident with another 70 migrant species that pass through.

The 70 sq mile or 165 sq km reserve is bound to its south by the Ewaso Nyiro river, which rises in the distant Aberdare mountains. Its landscape varies between riverine woodland, open scrub and low hills, with far-off peaks and ranges visible on all horizons. Across the river lies Buffalo Springs, 51 sq miles or 131 sq kms, which is a critical additional expanse of protected reserve. The area is generally hot and dry, with occasional rainstorms especially March to May, and in October and November. The Samburu and Borana people are the guardians of this wilderness. While the Samburu are cousins of the better-known Maasai further south, and share many cultural practices including wearing highly coloured decorative bead jewelry, the Borana are also nomadic pastoralists, but Muslims who are a sub section of the Galla people that stretch all the way into Ethiopia and Somalia.

There are no fences or boundaries separating us from nature at Elephant Watch Camp, so many animals live alongside us or are our neighbours. Bull elephants hang out in Camp quite a bit, especially after the rains, as this is when the Acacia tortilis trees come into fruit, sprinkling their highly nutritious seedpods onto the roofs of the tents. The elephants love to scoop these up with their trunks in big mouthfuls, so will often come very close to where you are sleeping at night. But there’s no need to fear – just relax in your bed, and enjoy their presence.

On your first night the unfamiliar sounds of the bush might make you jump, but you’ll soon learn to differentiate the grunts and barks of baboons from the moan of a lion, whoop of an hyena or cough of a leopard. It’s like learning a new language, full of colour and meaning. At dinner, you will often glimpse the friendliest of our night creatures, an exquisite little genet cat that likes to slink through the Mess tent to see what bugs are on offer, and will sometimes even jump up on the table. Yellow-winged bats with enormous ears wheel about beneath the stars and tiny Scop’s owls call in the trees.

At first light, the dawn chorus of birds will serenade your dreams as you stretch out like a cat, slipping out of bed to don shoes and step outside in search of wild things. You’ll find the sandy paths around Camp covered in the footprints of civet cats, porcupines, elephants, leopards and mongooses, and just like an early morning newspaper, you’ll soon learn to read the signs in the sand. It’s amazing how much goes on.

Good quality binoculars are highly recommended at all times – a magnification of 10 x 42 is perfect – and you’ll be delighted by the pair of Verreaux eagle owls perched high in the branches near the Mess tent, troops of monkeys tumbling in play through lianas, the flashy head-bob of an Agama lizard on a log, and the Kigelia trees bustling full of birds. No matter where you are there’s always something interesting happening.

Your Samburu hosts are constantly close by to escort you to your tent or accompany you on walks. They will happily point out a multitude of hidden creatures that you may not have seen as well as all the interesting things they get up to, and keep you safe at all times. The golden rule is to be slow and gentle in your movements around animals, and respectful at all times of their personal space. For good neighbors become good friends.

While snakes and scorpions are present in and around Camp, they are seldom seen. Most snakes are harmless and are an important part of the rich web of life that surrounds us, but in view of the venomous few, we highly recommend using a torch at night to light your way. Please watch where you are going and make sure you shake out your shoes in the morning before putting them on in case of creepy-crawlies. Better safe than sorry!