Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, or Lewa Downs, is a 20,000ha private reserve in north-eastern Kenya's Laikipia Plateau, within easy reach of Mount Kenya National Park, Samburu and the Aberdares. The number of visitors to Lewa has been greatly restricted in recent years in order to preserve the wildlife, giving the few visitors that do travel here a chance to experience Africa at its most wild, away from the crowds sometimes encountered in the more famous East African game parks.

Lewa is one of several private reserves on the Laikipia Plateau, but it is the oldest and undoubtedly the best known. An important conservation project, it protects a number of rare species, including over 100 rhino (black and white), Grevy's zebra and sitatunga. Elephant, giraffe, oryx, lion, leopard and buffalo are also present in the conservancy and regularly sighted.

The conservancy is overseen by the Craig family, who have lived in the area since 1924. They manage both Lewa Safari Camp and Wilderness Trails Lodge. In addition, Il Ngwesi Lodge is a community run tourism project that has won world acclaim. Only these three properties offer safaris within Lewa and only their guests are allowed to enter the conservancy.

In and around Lewa Downs, Kenya
As a private conservancy, Lewa offers a greater range of activities than Kenya's national parks. 4x4 game drives are of course offered, but so too are walking safaris led by local Maasai tribesmen, horse-back safaris, and fly-fishing.