Borana Lodge in Borana Ranch Laikipia Kenya

Borana Lodge is a luxury, family-hosted luxury lodge situated on a working 35,000 acre ranch in the Laikipia region of northern Kenya, just north of the Equator, and not far from Mount Kenya. Borana Hotel Lodge is set on the edge of the Samangua Valley with panoramic views of Mount Kenya. Borana Lodge is a small, luxurious lodge, 16 miles north of the equator, at an altitude of 6,500 ft, the area is a haven for a wide diversity of wildlife, including lion, elephant, Jackson's hartebeest, buffalo, reticulated giraffe, Patas monkeys and great herds of antelope roaming the plains, while the cool forest shelters bushbuck, colobus monkeys and leopard.

Borana Lodge Kenya was built is 1992 by local artisans, only local building materials and dead wood from the ranch were used in its construction, the result is a supremely comfortable and luxurious lodge which is totally in keeping with its surroundings; it seems to have grown organically from the rocks on which it was built. Borana Hotel overlooks a dam which fills with the floodwater flowing off the surrounding hills. It is the local watering hole for all the wildlife in the area so there is constant activity for the guests to watch.

There is also a game blind built right on the edge of the dam so that visitors may go down and see the activity at close range: elephants swimming are a favorite, the nights are cool and there are fires in the rooms every night of the year. The clear view of the occasional snow and permanent small glaciers on Mount Kenya is a wonderful contrast to the huge panorama of mountains and desert to the North.

A stay at Borana Hotel is a unique opportunity for total immersion in the life and goings on ranch where environmental and ecological considerations rank alongside the responsibilities felt towards the neighbouring communities, pastoralists in the form of development partnerships and mobile health clinics, or the education trust. Of course a tour to the high altitude rose farm or to our organic essential oil distillery is by no means compulsory; there are plenty of other ways to entertain you on Borana ranch hotel.

Two strings of horses, mountain bikes, game walks, cross-cultural experiences and plenty of excuses for a night fly camping await visitors. We just want you to know that there's more to Borana. Ranch, then again you could just put your feet up, sit back in your open safari land cruiser 4 x 4 and be taken to the game, eat delicious home grown organic food and maybe muster up the energy to drag yourself away from your exclusively comfortable sleeping house for an afternoon massage overlooking Mount Kenya and, of course, the pool Borana is devoted to conserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

There's a wholesome glamour to Borana Lodge, the lodge is very well pulled together, set in great safari country and the animal concentrations, which now include wild dogs, are excellent. There are tons to do and great people to do it with. All round, this probably makes Borana one of the best places to stay in Laikipia. The emphasis at Borana is on comfort and a sort of hearty grandeur that chimes absolutely with the highland ranch life that goes on in one of Laikipia's highest areas. At Borana there's a lot of sheep skin and leather (straight from the ranch tanneries), the textiles are thick and woven, the timber - much of it fallen wild wood - chunky and strong. There's no veneer at Borana, this lodge is as solid as the granite hillside it commands. The hillside on which Borana is set is a wide area, and the lodge buildings tumble down its slopes. Everything is very spread out and each room has big views, through remarkably large picture windows, across the river valley to the foothills of Mount Kenya beyond. Each room is a large stone built cottage with beautiful woven reed thatch roofs.

No shortage of space on this 35,000 acre ranch means all rooms can offer plenty of space, yet being on hillsides means the rooms are on multiple levels and consequently have a cottage style. Borana is set on a rocky hillside in Laikipia, overlooking a dam and meandering river valley, in the foothills of Mount Kenya. Borana is the lodge on a ranch of the same name that most farmers only dream of owning: it's high (6200ft) so it's sunny and cool and rugged - all 35000 acres of it is now increasingly devoted to wildlife, rather than livestock.

When you come to Borana, you get not only private access to these wild acres, but also to the way of life of a family whose ancestors were a part of colonial history. In 1918, a young Welshman called Llewellyn Powys came out to Kenya to take possession of a farm he was granted in return for his military service in World War One. As he had nothing to put on it, he didn't occupy it immediately but went instead to work for someone else - he was paid in sheep.

When he had enough to form his own flock, he walked them to his new farm, miles across Kenya from the Aberdares to Kisima, a piece of land in the shadow of Mount Kenya. Here he stayed, and married, and had children. And eventually bought more land, including Borana. His children, Gilfred Powys and Rose Dyer still live on this farm, with their children, and their children's children.