Latest news with #Samburu
Vogue
a day ago
- Vogue
What Traditional Dance Reveals About a Travel Destination
Ultimately, dance is a prism for understanding people. Their resistance, passion, grief, transcendence, and joyful celebration. For those communities willing to share this with visitors (through ceremony or education at cultural centers), don't neglect the opportunity. And if you're asked to join—the only answer is yes. I've been welcomed into a swaying circle of Samburu women, leaped between moving bamboo poles beside the Manggarai, and heel-toed my cowboy boots across a dance hall in Montana—each experience deepening an appreciation for each culture's singular identity (and serving as a humbling reminder I should probably stick to ballet). So, to travelers mapping out their itineraries, take note: every culture has its own form of traditional movement, a few of which are highlighted below. Clear your dance card. Photo: Amansara Khmer (Cambodia) Dotted with temples and surrounded by ancient ruins and sacred mountains, Cambodia is a landscape imbued with spirituality. Travelers checking into Amansara should book the Dance & Devotion experience, which brings guests to the sacred dancers of Angkor Conservatoire. Here, classic Khmer dance is preserved in its native form (not a performance, but a spiritual offering) and guests have the opportunity to watch both rehearsals and the basrei ceremony. Afterward, a master teacher guides guests through a few hand movements and storytelling techniques. Viennese Waltz (Austria) Experience the glittering glamour of Viennese waltz during the city's Ball Season, which runs from November through April. During this time, Austria's gilded capital hosts over 400 balls that evoke its imperial past (particularly the Opera Ball that is held in the most beautiful ballroom in the world: the Vienna State Opera). Guests staying at Almanac Palais Vienna can book their Night at the Ball package, which includes a private dance lesson, couture gown, and horse-drawn carriage to the ball (with a limousine return at the end of the night, plus an in-room breakfast and spa treatment the following morning). Legong (Bali) Hinduism's cultural influence sweeps across all aspects of life on the island of Bali, especially through expressions like traditional dance. There are several styles that visitors can observe—from the Kecak 'fire dance' to the Barong and Kris 'dagger dance'—but definitely don't miss out on Legong while on the island. With its vibrant facial expressions and complex finger and foot movements, the story of a king who finds a lost maiden is colorfully brought to life. If you're eager to dive deeper into meaning behind these intricate movements, take a Balinese dance lesson at Hoshinoya Bali, held in a gazebo overlooking the jungle. Tango (Argentina) Argentina and Uruguay have long sparred over who invented tango, but if you find yourself in the former, book an experience with Untamed Traveling to experience the authenticity of Argentine Tango. Activities can range from lessons to an overnight stay in a tango hotel in San Telmo (the oldest neighborhood in Argentina). If educational tourism is your love language, they can even take you to a lecture about the history of the tango, followed up by a visit to a milonga where locals go dancing. Bon Odori (Japan) Japan is home to hundreds of styles of traditional dance, from Kabuki's dramatic theater sequences to the Geisha's graceful Kyomai movements. For travelers looking for an authentic, immersive dance experience, the Gujo Odori Festival in the Gifu prefecture lasts from July to September. This dance festival takes place during the obon period when the Japanese honor ancestral spirits, and there are ten recognized dances (which you're encouraged to learn on the spot from your neighbor). Even better: many attendees opt to wear yukata kimonos and elevated wooden sandals called geta. Sau Sau (Rapa Nui) Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) is the southernmost point of Oceania's Polynesia Triangle. Its rich culture and heritage is celebrated at Nayara Hangaroa (a luxury hotel owned by a local family) where guests of the property are invited to learn about the traditional dress, and can see expressions of the Haka'Ara Tupana dance group two times a week during peak season. One of the most common styles of dance is the Sau Sau; a joyful rocking of the arms and hips with dancers in skirts crafted from feathers or grasses. Sema (Türkiye) This enigmatic dance, practiced by members of the Mevlevi Order of Sufi Muslims known as 'whirling dervishes,' dates back to the 13th century and the teachings of the poet and mystic Rumi. Often called a 'moving meditation,' the ritual (known as the sema) features dancers in tall hats and flowing white robes spinning in circles to reach a state of spiritual transcendence. The dance represents a journey of shedding the ego and connecting with the divine, and it requires months of dedicated practice to learn. Travelers can observe these sema ceremonies at destinations like the Mevlana Cultural Center in Konya or the Galata Mevlevihanesi Museum in Istanbul, which has ceremonies every Sunday at 6 p.m. Caci (Flores) This ritual whip fight is integral to the Manggarai's cultural identity on the Indonesian island of Flores. The energetic dance is held between two male fighters who take turns attacking and defending. The attacker uses a whip, while the defender uses a round shield made of buffalo hide. Caci is accompanied by chanting and drumming and the fights are ceremonial, not intended to be violent. Guests staying at the newly opened Ta'aktana, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Labuan Bajo can discover Caci every Thursday at the property's amphitheater, or they can arrange an off-site dance excursion as well.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Hairdresser who left hubby & 3 kids for toyboy Masai warrior after Kenya holiday reveals how story ended
A WOMAN who left her husband and three children for a Masai warrior "holiday husband" has revealed the regret she feels over her bizarre love affair. Decades after swapping her comfortable, suburban life on the Isle of Wight for a remote region of Kenya, Cheryl Thomasgood has spoken out on her disastrous marriage to a tribal Kenyan warrior. 9 9 She explained how she felt she was used as a "meal ticket" by Masai warrior Daniel Lekimencho who she met at the Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya. Cheryl was just 34 when she became besotted with the tribesman who travelled to her hotel as part of a group that performed traditional Masai dancing for tourists. Within weeks of meeting the hunky warrior Cheryl had dumped her second husband, Mike Mason, and their three children to be with her new tribal toy boy. The 6ft 2-inch-tall Kenyan warrior was ten years younger than Cheryl when they met and struck up an intimate relationship. Shortly after meeting the dashing warrior Cheryl flew home briefly to tell her husband Mike that their marriage was over before jetting back to the Samburu region of Kenya to live with her new man. Cheryl and her new partner made headlines across the globe with people left gobsmacked at her decision to abandon the comfortable middle-class life for a new home and partner in rural Kenya. Cheryl's life now consisted of helping the warrior cook, clean and hunt, sleeping on goatskin and surviving on a diet of cow's blood and cabbage in a mud hut. Cheryl and Daniel eventually decided to leave the hardships of life in remote Kenya behind and planned to have children in the UK. The bizarre pair returned to the Isle of Wight in 1995 and married on Valentine's Day, both wore traditional Masai clothing to the ceremony. Their marriage produced a daughter, Mitsi, who is now 27-years-old, before it came to an abrupt end. Cheryl has spoken out for the first time, more than 30 years later, after the couple's relationship fell apart when her spiritual husband became obsessed with wealth. She describes feeling used as a "meal ticket" in an emotional interview with the MailOnline. Having reached an age where she wants to reflect on her life Cheryl chose to speak out about her "tormented" relationship with Masai warrior Daniel. She said: "I made a huge mistake, it was very wrong of me, and I have a lot of regrets, especially about how it damaged my children." 9 9 Cheryl split with Daniel in 1999 just four years after they were married and one year after their daughter was born. Now, 65-year-old Cheryl lives alone in a seaside town in Somerset where she is well known among the local community. She has kept her controversial past hidden from the community with none of her friends aware of the bizarre relationship she once had with the Masai warrior. Cheryl has been doing a lot of thinking about her relationship and the damage it caused her and her family. She explained how her and her Masai lover became inseparable after meeting and would often discuss the Masai way of life, culture and focus on spiritual over material wealth. But Cheryl has now told how shortly after arriving in the UK Daniel became obsessed with material things and money. The odd couple lived in Newport on the Isle of Wight with Cheryl's three children after coming to the UK. Cheryl explained that Daniel quickly changed his outlook on life, becoming ever more obsessed with money and material gain, she described her warrior husband becoming a different person inf ront of her eyes. Cheryl believed she had met and married a spiritual warrior but described Daniel turning into more of a Victor Meldrew type character later in their relationship. She detailed how Daniel quickly became moody and miserable over the couples lot in life, wanting more money and more possessions, changed by life in the UK. The couple began to argue often with Cheryl seeing Daniel's spiritualism evaporating before the lure of middle-class living. Daniel reportedly began wanting for a bigger home, designer gear and cash to send home to Kenyan relatives. Cheryl recalled the only time Daniel being happy was when the Kenyan warrior was jumping around in the garden doing his traditional Masai dance. 9 9 9 She added: "He would say that he was getting ready for battle and wanted to jump as high as an elephant. The kids loved it, but it got on my nerves after a while." Cheryl began to question Daniel's motives in being with her after witnessing his transformation and new obsession with material wealth. Cheryl doubted that Daniel loved her and felt as if she had been used by the Masai warrior for material gain, beginning to think Daniel saw her as an escape route from his tribal life in Kenya. Her doubts set in soon after the pair married in the UK but she chose to stick out their relationship to prove to the people who doubted them that it could work. Trying to pinpoint what went wrong in the peculiar relationship Cheryl blamed a slew of drastic cultural differences between her and her husband. She reportedly felt that adjusting to life in the UK was too tough for Daniel and his struggles assimilating, combined with the pressure on the pair to make their relationship work, led to the eventual end of their marriage. Cheryl admitted that she suffered sexual abuse as a young girl and spoke about the harrowing difficulties she faced growing up in a dysfunctional London household with alcoholic parents, she was reportedly contemplating suicide at the time she met Daniel. She revealed how she was urged to go on her Kenyan holiday by a friend who was in the same church choir as her, the pair went on the holiday that would change her life forever together. When Cheryl went to Kenya she was at a low point in her life she said, suffering with childhood trauma and stuck in an unhappy marriage to her second husband Mike. She had seen Daniel was an answer to her problems, believing he could help her heal and find peace through spirituality. Cheryl now admits that her love affair with the Masai warrior was just an escape from her problems and not an answer to them. Asked about what she regrets the most about her time with her warrior toy boy, Cheryl said: "The impact all this had on my children. Having a Masai warrior as a father was not easy for them. Daniel was trying his best, but he could never understand the Western ways and couldn't be the dad that they needed." Cheryl said that her children had missed out on having a proper father figure in their lives because of her relationship with Daniel and the break down of her first two marriages. Despite having no contact with Daniel Cheryl maintains that she still has good relationships with all of her children, referring to her daughter Mitsi as "the one good thing" to come out of her and Daniel's strange and difficult marriage. Her eldest son Steve is now aged 43 while his brother Tommy is 41, her daughter Chloe is aged 34 and Mitsi is 27. Cheryl insists that she loves her new quiet life and has zero intention of marrying again following a hattrick of "disasters." Following the pairs disastrous marriage and eventual split Masai warrior Daniel remained on the Isle of Wight where he now works in a supermarket. 9 9
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I dumped my husband after falling madly in love with a Masai warrior on holiday in Kenya... we wed and had a daughter. What happened next was heartbreaking
A former hairdresser who left her husband and three children for a Masai warrior has revealed that she is haunted by regret and felt used as 'meal ticket' by him so that he could escape poverty for a better life in the UK. Cheryl Thomasgood made headlines around the world when she swapped her comfortable home on the Isle of Wight for a mud hut in a remote region of Kenya after falling in love with Daniel Lekimencho. Cheryl who was aged 34 at the time was on holiday in the East African country in March 1994 when Daniel came to her hotel as part of a group that performed traditional Masai dancing for tourists. Within weeks of becoming besotted by him, she dumped her husband Mike Mason and her three children, two of them from her first marriage to pursue a new life with the 6ft 2-inch-tall dashing warrior who was ten years her junior. Her bizarre relationship with Daniel was widely featured in talk shows and newspapers at the time with the nation perplexed and shocked at how Chery could abandon her family and their middle-class life for one gruelling poverty with a Masai warrior she barely knew. After her three-week holiday when she first met him, she briefly returned to the UK to tell her second husband Mike that their marriage was over and then went to live with Daniel and his tribe in the Samburu region of Kenya. Her life involved helping them to hunt and cook while she slept on goatskin and survived on a diet of cow's blood and cabbage. She and Daniel eventually returned to England in 1995 and married on Valentine's Day of that year at Newport Registry Office on the Isle of Wight with both wearing traditional Masai clothing. Now, more than 30 years later Cheryl revealed that she has chosen to speak for the first time in honest detail about her relationship with Daniel because she remains tormented by it and is at an age where she is reflecting on her life. Speaking to MailOnline, she cried: 'I made a huge mistake, it was very wrong of me, and I have a lot of regrets, especially about how it damaged my children. Now I just want to make peace with it all. 'My relationship with Daniel was crazy, it became a media circus, the whole country was fascinated by us and I'm now trying to make sense of it. Would I do it all again? No, I wouldn't. I paid a very high price for being with him.' Cheryl is now aged 65 and lives alone in a seaside town in Somerset after splitting from Daniel in 1999, a year after their daughter Misti was born. She is well known in her local community, where she has been living for the past decade but revealed that none of her friends know about her controversial past and the notoriety she acquired. She said: 'I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I did, all the hurt I have suffered and caused and all the things that happened. It's quite a lot to take on and talking honestly about it now helps me. But I'm sure that a lot of people who've got to know me over recent years will be very shocked to find out about it all.' Cheryl revealed that what attracted her most to Daniel when she met him at the Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa was that he was the first man who she felt truly listened to her and that he was not obsessed by money and material things. She said: 'We became inseparable soon after meeting. He would speak about the Masai way of life, their culture and how they weren't obsessed by materialism, and he was also a very sincere. Something very deep changed in me, and I fell in love not just with him but all that the Masai stood for.' But what still shocks her to this day is how quickly Daniel changed after arriving in the UK as he became obsessed with money and material things and constantly complained about life. Speaking from her neatly maintained semi-detached home, Cheryl broke into laughter as she described him as a Masai version of Victor Meldrew-the perpetually miserable and sullen character from BBC comedy One Foot In The Grave. The couple lived in Newport with Cheryl and her three children at the time; two boys called Steve and Tommy, who she had with her first husband Robert; and her daughter Chloe, who was born during her second marriage to Mike. Cheryl recalled: 'He came to the UK and became a different person. I thought I had a met a spiritual Masai warrior, but I ended up with a miserable old sod who became more like Victor Meldrew. 'He was always moody and complained a lot and we started fighting all the time. All his spiritualism quickly went out of the window. He became obsessed by money, so that he could send it to his relatives in Kenya, designer clothes and wanting a bigger home.' As a smile spread across her face, she recalled: 'The only time when he was really happy was when he was jumping up and down in the garden doing his traditional Masai warrior dance. He would say that he was getting ready for battle and wanted to jump as high as an elephant. The kids loved it, but it got on my nerves after a while.' Cheryl revealed that Daniel's transformation and obsession with money caused her to question his motives as to why he wanted to be with her. She said: 'I doubted if he loved me and felt that he just used me as a meal ticket to escape his life in Kenya. Once he was in the UK it all became about him and what he wanted, and he just wanted more and more. 'He didn't seem to care about me. He started driving me nuts and I realised that this was just a marriage of convenience for him. I moved a mountain for him, but I knew that he wouldn't move a molehill for me.' Cheryl said that she started feeling these doubts soon after the couple married but felt compelled to stay in the relationship because she wanted to prove that they could be happy, despite public opinion that they could not and that she was a bad wife and mother. She said: 'Things became very toxic between us, I realised that I had made a big mistake, but I had to continue putting the effort into the relationship.' In recent years she said she has been thinking more and more about what went wrong in her relationship with Daniel. She added: 'There was just too much pressure on both of us and too many cultural differences. I think it was all too much for him in particular. Combine that with the doubts that I had over why he wanted to marry me and if he really loved me and things were never going to end well between us.' Cheryl broke into tears as she recalled her childhood revealing that she suffered years of sexual abuse and was raised in a dysfunctional household in London by parents who were alcoholics. At the time she met Daniel she was contemplating suicide and battling depression and was urged to go on holiday to Kenya by a friend who was in the same church choir as her. The two went on the break that changed Cheryl's life together. Cheryl said: 'I suffered a lot of trauma in my childhood and that's something I'm still dealing with. When I went to Kenya I was at a really low point in my life; trapped in an unhappy marriage and suffering from mental health problems. 'In Daniel, I was looking for healing, inner peace and spirituality and thought that I had found all of that in him because in Kenya, he had all of those qualities. But sadly, that didn't last. 'I thought I was in love with him but really I was just trying to escape my unhappy life and cope with my trauma.' Cheryl is still undergoing therapy for her childhood trauma and has also been diagnosed with PTSD. She does not have any contact with Daniel, who remained on the Isle of Wight after they split and works in a supermarket. Asked about what she regrets the most about her time with him, Cheryl is quick to point out: 'The impact all this had on my children. Having a Masai warrior as a father was not easy for them. Daniel was trying his best, but he could never understand the Western ways and couldn't be the dad that they needed. 'The children missed out on having a proper father, not just with Daniel but also my other two husbands. All of them were useless, bad fathers and I was too mentally unwell to be a good mother and made a lot of bad life decisions because of this. 'My children deserved stability and love, but I was not able to provide them that, not with any of my marriages. That is my biggest regret, but we all have them and that's just life.' Cheryl added: 'Any parent wants their children to have a loving, stable home but all I gave them was chaos and uncertainty and that still hurts. I went from one disastrous marriage to another.' Despite her regrets over her children, Cheryl maintained that she has good relations with them all and regularly sees them. She refers to her youngest daughter Misti, 27 as the 'one good thing' to have come out of her marriage to Daniel. Her eldest son Steve is now aged 43 while his brother Tommy is 41. Her daughter Chloe is aged 34. She added: 'I love Misti and all my other children to bits. I'm very proud of them all and they've grown up to be fantastic adults. Misti reminds me that not everything with Daniel was negative. She's grown up to be a very intelligent and articulate woman.' Cheryl insisted that she now loves the quiet life and has no intention of every marrying again following a hattrick of 'disasters.' Asked what advice she would give any woman who goes on a break and finds a 'holiday husband' she warned: 'Be careful what you wish for and be aware of what you're getting into, or you could up regretting it for the rest of your life.'
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
How an idealistic tree-planting project turned into Kenya's toxic, thorny nightmare
For his entire life, John Lmakato has lived in Lerata, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Ololokwe in northern Kenya's Samburu county. 'This used to be a treeless land. Grass covered every inch of the rangelands, and livestock roamed freely,' he says. Lmakato's livestock used to roam freely in search of pasture, but three years ago he lost 193 cattle after they wandered into a conservation area in Laikipia – known for the fight over land access between Indigenous pastoralists and commercial ranchers. 'Some of my cows were shot dead,' he says. 'People were killed.' Of the 200 cattle Lmakato once owned, only seven remain. One of the main reasons the livestock of Lmakato, 48, crossed over into the conservation area was the mathenge, as the mesquite shrub (Neltuma juliflora, formerly classified as Prosopis juliflora) is known in Kenya. The grassland landscape is so dominated by inedible mathenge trees that cattle have to wander further to graze. Introduced in 1948, mathenge – a plant native to South America – became widespread throughout east Africa in the 1970s. It was seen as a remedy for creeping desertification, providing tree cover and preventing soil erosion in drylands, as well as a source of fuel and animal fodder. In Kenya, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and the government actively encouraged its planting. As the shrub spread, it quickly became a nightmare. A closely related species is now considered one of the world's worst invasive floral species. Since its introduction, mathenge has spread across the country, and nearly three-quarters of Kenya is at risk of being invaded. It has colonised large swaths of the country's arid and semi-arid regions, choking vast rangelands and drawing moisture from the soil with its deep roots. The Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri) estimates it has encroached on 2 million hectares (7,700 sq miles). According to Kefri scientists, it is spreading at a rate of up to 15% a year. In 2006, its harmful effects led to a court case against the Kenyan government, when people in Baringo – one of the country's hardest-hit regions – filed a petition seeking compensation for the impact of the introduced mathenge trees. The court ruled against the government. 'The spread is so fast that it has caused entire communities to be displaced, schools to close, and even disrupted river flows, as the plant blocks watercourses – contributing to flooding and displacement,' says Davis Ikiror, Kenya-Somalia country director for Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF) Suisse, an organisation that has worked in Kenya for more than two decades. In Samburu county, where more than 60% of the population are pastoralists and 30% mix herding with small-scale farming, livestock is a lifeline. Some animals die from mathenge toxicity after ingesting it in large amounts. While grazing, the plant's tough thorns injure the animals by lodging in their feet and its sweet pods – high in sugar – cause dental decay and the loss of teeth among the animals. Livestock have become unwitting vectors in mathenge's dissemination: as animals graze, they eat the pods and deposit the seeds with their dung. In 2008, Kenya declared mathenge to be a noxious weed and passed laws requiring people to clear invasions of the plant or report them if the infestation was unmanageable. 'There's no way we're going to eliminate the plant. That's why we need to control it,' says Ramadhan Golicha, an environmental officer with the Isiolo county government. But with resources yet to be allocated for a national action plan on clearing the plant, some projects are exploring the possibility of turning it into raw material. By making mathenge a commodity to be exploited, they hope to keep its spread under control. Lmakato was among 25 community members taking part in one such project, run by VSF Suisse along with the University of Nairobi and the regional governments of Samburu and Isiolo. 'We've learned how to use it to our advantage,' he says. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion One of the first techniques they adopted was turning mathenge pods into livestock feed by grinding and mixing the seeds with straw, bean husks and acacia pods. 'That allows us to produce fodder, which we then store for the entire dry season,' says Martina Lenanyangerra, another community leader involved in the project. A study of this combination of feed is being carried out nearly 180 miles (300km) away, at the University of Nairobi. In June last year, Edward Musya, a vet and master's student studying animal nutrition, travelled to Merti – one of the worst-affected areas in the country – to collect more than 20 types of local plants to combine with mathenge. 'The goal is to formulate a feed that is high in nutrients and easily digestible for livestock,' says Musya. 'When mixed, the sugar content in the pods decreases, making it a safe feed while also helping to contain the plant's spread.' The training in Samburu also introduced briquette production as a fuel source, using barrel-shaped kilns to turn mathenge wood into charcoal. In Samburu – where more than 95% of people rely on firewood or charcoal for cooking – this has helped ease pressure on native trees while also offering a new source of income. But to rein in the plant's spread, larger interventions will probably be required. Mathenge's deep root system, reported to go as down as far as 35 metres below ground, siphons off precious water that other species require. Its branches grow so thickly and its roots are so deep that an incursion can even alter the course of rivers. In some parts of Isiolo, such as Ires a'Boru, displacement of water beyond the banks caused flooding that forced communities to relocate. The slowed water flow and dark canopies create ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes – which worsen the spread of malaria and Rift Valley fever, and kala-azar, or leishmaniasis, which is carried by sandflies. The plant's chokehold has wrought havoc on biodiversity. Once seeded, it forms a dense canopy that stops other plants growing by blocking out light, says Douglas Machuchu, project manager at VSF Suisse. To protect entire ecosystems, the shrub must be kept in check. 'Where mathenge grows properly, nothing grows underneath,' he says. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage
Forbes
02-04-2025
- Forbes
This New Safari Camp Will Take You Beyond Kenya's Maasai Mara
Suyian Lodge andBeyond Kenya has long been a dream destination for safari lovers with its sweeping savannahs and abundant wildlife, but the country's Maasai Mara—site of the great migration—is suffering from over-development and high game drive traffic with a seemingly unending stream of big-brand international hotels breaking ground. This July, Suyian Lodge—andBeyond's most exclusive opening to date—will give travellers a good reason to look beyond the Mara and head to northern Kenya's Laikipia Plateau. While the Maasai Mara is often the first name that comes to mind when thinking of a Kenyan safari, Laikipia offers a different and arguably more exclusive experience with not only the Big Five but also rare fauna like the black (melanistic) leopard. Stretching from the foothills of Mount Kenya to the edge of the Great Rift Valley, this plateau is made up of rolling grasslands, rugged escarpments and acacia-lined rivers. Laikipia has already cemented itself as a hub for luxury safaris, with high-end lodges like Segera Retreat, Ol Jogi and Loisaba offering world-class experiences. However, the 14-suite Suyian Lodge is set to take luxury and sustainability to new heights. Suyian Lodge is situated within the 44,000-acre, fence-free Suyian Conservancy, an untouched private reserve. The entire lodge is designed to have a minimal environmental footprint, employing solar energy, rainwater harvesting and a sophisticated waste management system. Beyond its green initiatives, the camp plays an active role in local conservation efforts, working alongside the Suyian Conservancy to protect endangered species, and guests staying at the lodge will have the privilege of participating in conservation projects, like tracking collared elephants with researchers to joining anti-poaching units on patrol. Guests will also have the chance to visit nearby villages to meet local Samburu and Maasai people. Lastly, because it's an andBeyond camp, it will also be extremely luxurious: Expect Spacious suites, each with private pools and decks, soaking tubs, four-poster beds, and outdoor showers; while public spaces will include a chic bar and dramatic infinity pool. Suyian Lodge's bar area andBeyond The pool at Suyian Lodge andBeyond Bathroom's in the suites andBeyond Guest suites andBeyond
