We selected Lewa Conservancy and Lewa House as our first stay. This is one family’s legacy, still run by the same family after all these years as a conservancy hotel and home. They are spearheading conservation efforts, offering farm-to-table food, and above all, treating you just like family. The hotel is small. It has the owner’s house and several cottages on the property alongside a pool, breakfast area, Linging room, master dining area, and a cove. Once we arrived at a very rural airport on the route from Nairobi to Lewah, we were greeted first by the animals on the way to the hotel, then by the owners/managers and the entire staff. This warm welcome was exceptional and showcases the warmth that the Kenyan people extended to us all during our stay. We truly felt like we were coming home. (Eastern Keyna). Sophie and Calem: Property owners Darren andemma: Property managers Ben: Our Driver and Guide David: Our Forest Ranger The accommodations were these beautiful organic mud-and-stone homes with every amenity you required. A/C, great beds and linens, beautiful bathrooms ( some with open-air bathtubs), and a porch that looked onto the savannah where animals roamed freely. Your every need was preplanned and met. The only thing missing from the room was a TV. We never even missed having it. Nature outside our porch was our TV. The staff catered to all our needs, including any food allergies we had, and was always available and on hand. Lewa house is communal in that you share the large common areas, and you have lunch and dinner at large tables with other guests and the owners. We really enjoyed every meal we had there, and especially meeting people from other countries. It was not weird at all. We also formed a very close friendship with the managers and owners of Lewa and learned so much about Africa and their lives there. Lewa House is located in the northern part of Keya, just past Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. (You will see these from the plane from Nairobi). The conservancy sits in a bowl surrounded by mountains. The conservancy covers 62,000 acres and has remnants of volcanic soil along with clay soil. You have the Lewah House hotel and several family properties (5) belonging to descendants of the original owners of Lewah sprinkled across the land. You also have a small village on site. If you do not want to do a safari, relax on your porch or enjoy the pool, you have other choices like going for a hike to a cascade, going to the forest for a forest safari, going to a coffee farm, taking a tour of the organic gardens and kitchen, visiting the village, visitig the conservancy lab and getting instructed on te efforts that are being made to help the animals survive. One afternoon, we chose the forest and cascade safari, passed by the village, and also did the garden tour and the conservancy lab. We spent 5 days in Lewah and loved it. My family walked away, wishing they could have stayed longer.