A brief Overview of Lewa Downs
Established in the early 80’s by the Craig/Douglas family as a black rhino sanctuary, the Conservancy has gone from strength to strength, adding new species over the years to include the near extinct Grevy’s zebra, the Sitatunga antelope, cheetah, lion, elephant and Reticulated giraffe.
As it is private land, and not a national park, the added benefit is that it is possible to walk, night drive, horse and camel ride. Similar to the Laikipia Plateau, Lewa offers a great alternative or compliment to a safari in the Mara. Very simple to get to with flights up from Nairobi or the Mara, we would probably recommend the area to those looking for a little extra safari time as it has great game, but not quite as many activity options as the nearby Laikipia lodges.
Do see our best camps & lodges in Lewa Downs picks for 2026/27 on this page.
Mount Kenya
The second highest mountain in Africa has been somewhat overshadowed by its Tanzanian counterpart these days. Once considered alongside Kilimanjaro as one of the peaks to climb in Africa, due to the fact that it is a technical climb rather than a hike, it has really fallen out of favour.
It is still possible to hike up the lower slopes, but to get up to the actual summit is a much harder prospect. With this in mind, similar to the Abadares, it is not necessarily somewhere that we overly recommend visiting due to the lack of guiding and operations being up to standard.
Do see our best camps & lodges in Lewa Downs picks for 2026/27 on this page.
Best time to visit Lewa Downs
It is generally held that the best time to visit the Downs is in the main dry season, from June to November, when the animals congragate around the water sources.
The next best period would be the drier months, in between the rains, of January and February but, with such stunning scenery and good game concentrations, a visit at any time through the year is highly rewarding.
Do see our interactive best time to visit Lewa Downs guide on this page as well as on our parent guide to kenya page for more in-depth information on when to go.
Or call us on +44 1525 840 149. That’s what we’re here for.
Need more help?
As much as AI has changed the way we all approach our lives, there is still no substitute for picking up the phone and having a chat through the options with one of us on USA +1-917-336-2937
This allows us to completely tailor the property choices, costs and itinerary length to your needs…but we also understand that this is not always possible with the busy lives we all lead.
With this in mind, we have also put together a safari finder tool that should help you to narrow down the initial stages at which point we can jump in to “round off the edges” as it were.
Alternatively please feel free to › send us an email with your timings, group size and rough likes and dislikes and we can get the ball rolling.
Get help with a Safari to Lewa Downs
As much as AI has changed the way we all approach our lives, there is still no substitute for picking up the phone and having a chat through the options with one of us on USA +1-917-336-2937
This allows us to completely tailor the property choices, costs and itinerary length to your needs…but we also understand that this is not always possible with the busy lives we all lead.
With this in mind, we have also put together a safari finder tool that should help you to narrow down the initial stages at which point we can jump in to “round off the edges” as it were.
Alternatively please feel free to › send us an email with your timings, group size and rough likes and dislikes and we can get the ball rolling.
Where is Lewa Downs?
Lewa Downs
