Campi ya Kanzi

The Chyulu Hills are a young volcanic range — geologically speaking, still being formed — that rise between Amboseli and Tsavo in southern Kenya. The hills themselves are forested and dramatic; the plains below them are classic East African savanna dotted with acacia and whistling thorn, inhabited by elephant, lion, buffalo, wild dog, and lesser kudu in populations that have recovered dramatically since the Maasai community established its conservancy here in 1996.

Campi ya Kanzi’s founding story is important context. The camp was established through a partnership between an Italian couple — Luca and Antonella Belpietro — and the local Maasai ilkisonko clan, with a contractual structure that gave the community land rights and directed a majority of camp revenues toward the conservancy’s running costs and community projects. The school built by the camp’s foundation now educates several hundred children; the conservancy employs Maasai rangers; the model has been studied by conservation organisations worldwide as a template for community-based tourism that actually works.

The eight tented rooms are open-fronted under thatched roofs, with wide verandas facing the plain. At this latitude (2°S), Kilimanjaro rises directly to the south and dominates the horizon on the significant proportion of mornings when cloud hasn’t built up around the peak — the mountain’s 5,895-metre summit with its ice cap is a visual presence unlike anything else in East Africa. Sundowners are routinely taken with the mountain providing the backdrop; the light on Kibo’s slopes at late afternoon is golden and extraordinary.

The camp operates on private conservancy land, which means two things that national park camps cannot offer: night game drives (essential for leopard, civets, and bush babies) and walking safaris led by Maasai rangers who grew up in this landscape. Nairobi is roughly 5 hours by road or 45 minutes by light aircraft from Wilson Airport.