Owned and run by the Maasai community, Il Ngwesi offers something truly special. Visitors to the lodge have a full wildlife and cultural experience, enjoying hospitality more akin that offered to a valued family member. With no other tourist facilities within the Group Ranch, it is the ultimate personal experience.
Activities: Superb wildlife viewing from the lodge and its rooms are combined with bush drives, sundowners, bush breakfasts by the Ngare Ndare River, visits to the Mukogodo Forest and camping out overnight. If you just want to relax at the lodge, a swimming pool and an in-house beauty/massage therapist are the perfect complement to time spent watching the waterhole from the main house or hide. Visitors can also walk accompanied to the rhino sanctuary, visit a local Maasai Cultural Boma to learn about traditional hunting techniques and honey collecting, and enjoy local music and dancing.
Those interested in community projects can spend time with local women to learn about beading techniques, or visit a local school or health clinic built with funds from an individual donor. These encounters are dignified and respectful, with none of the hustle and bustle of many community visits in other parts of Kenya.
Food: Our in-house trained chef has put together a range of creative dishes rooted in European and African cuisines. Barbecues can be organised by the pool or out in the bush, and enjoyed with a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Visiting with Children: Children are welcome! We are able to provide meals at different times to suit children and bedtimes and offer babysitting for those who wish to stay in the communal areas after their children have gone to bed. We do ask you to take responsibility for the safety of your children at all times including when in the pool. The lodge environment may be hazardous for small mobile children unless they are fully minded by an adult as a result of the lack of fences at the edge of some communal areas.
Safety and Security: We take your safety and security extremely seriously. We have an emergency procedures protocol and are in radio contact with neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. We provide information on arrival to help you stay safe during your time with us and to ensure we all respect the wildlife and the natural environment around us. Ultimately, however, this is a wildlife area and you visit us at your own risk. We ask you to sign up to this on arrival.
