Suyian Lodge and the Call of Kenya’s Wild North
There are two kinds of travelers: those who chase Wi-Fi, and those who chase horizons. I belong firmly in the latter camp — the sort of man who would trade a Michelin star for a star-studded African sky and the low, melodic grunt of a lion beyond the firelight. Which brings me to Suyian Lodge, the new &Beyond outpost in Kenya’s Laikipia region — a place so impossibly beautiful and self-assured it makes even seasoned safari die-hards rethink what “remote luxury” means.
Where the Wild Things Still Roam
Suyian sits on 44,000 acres of private wilderness, a landscape that feels as if it’s been left to dream itself into existence. Here, elephants share space with herders, and the air tastes faintly of dust, acacia, and freedom. The conservancy’s name — Suyian, meaning wild dog in the Samburu language — is a nod to its totemic resident, but the supporting cast includes Grevy’s zebra, Laikipia hartebeest, reticulated giraffe, and, if fortune smiles on you, that elusive black leopard whispered about in campfire conversations.
The beauty of this sanctuary isn’t just what you see — it’s how you experience it. This isn’t your “checklist safari” of endless drives and too many sundowners (although both remain temptingly available). Here, you can walk with herders, ride out on horseback, track nocturnal predators, or simply sit so still that the land itself begins to reveal its secrets. Helicopter over the Ewaso Narok River one morning, practice yoga atop an ancient granite outcrop the next. Here, the wilderness dictates the rhythm, not your itinerary.
A Lodge That Grew From Stone and Story
If Hemingway had hired a Japanese minimalist and an African artisan to design a hideout together, they might have come up with something resembling Suyian Lodge. Created in collaboration with Nicholas Plewman Architects, Michaelis Boyd, and Fox Browne Creative, the lodge channels an Afro-Wabi-Sabi aesthetic — raw stone, bronze, weathered timber, and the kind of imperfections that feel like they belong. The 14 suites (including a family villa) come with private plunge pools, rock-hewn tubs, and views that make even the most cynical traveller pause mid-sentence.
The Rock Sanctuary forms the heart of the property, a natural amphitheater of ancient boulders that guards the escarpment edge. Each villa feels folded into this terrain, half structure, half sculpture. Green roofs blur the line between architecture and landscape; interiors echo Kenya’s textures and tones — Samburu beadwork, polished concrete, wild-dog-mottled finishes. It’s equal parts primal and poetic.
A Philosophy of Wild Wellness
Between game drives and deep wilderness musings, the wellness centre beckons—carved discreetly into the rock, with steam room, cold plunge, and a view that could lower anyone’s blood pressure. There’s also a gym for the disciplined (or guilt-ridden) and a shaded yoga deck for those of us who prefer our enlightenment with a side of birdsong. Treatments borrow from local botanicals and age-old techniques, grounding you in a rhythm older than the notion of stress. And then, of course, there’s the food—mercifully unpretentious. Think farm-to-fire cooking with ingredients from the lodge’s own shamba herb garden and the fertile Laikipia highlands. Everything tastes of provenance and intention: fresh, rustic, and occasionally sublime.
Conservation With Teeth (and Tusks)
This isn’t a vanity project in the bush. The lodge operates under the Suyian Conservancy Trust, a Kenyan non-profit, in partnership with Space for Giants, one of Africa’s leading conservation charities. Once a cattle ranch, the land has been painstakingly rewilded into a thriving biodiversity corridor, where pastoralists, elephants, and predators coexist.
With &Beyond holding sole tourism rights, guests enjoy absolute exclusivity — no other lodges, no convoys of vehicles, no chatter on the radio. Just you, the wilderness, and the occasional inquisitive giraffe. Dr. Max Graham of Space for Giants puts it best: “When guests stay here, they directly support the protection of wildlife and the wellbeing of the people who share this landscape.” It’s a rare luxury — to indulge your wanderlust while tangibly contributing to the future of Africa’s wild north.
Kenya, Reimagined
Less a destination and more a manifesto. It’s what happens when design, conservation, and authenticity collide — proof that luxury doesn’t need chandeliers when it has constellations. For the traveller who would rather swap boardrooms for boulders and espresso machines for elephant herds, this is the safari you tell your grandchildren about.
I’ve seen lodges from Botswana to Bhutan, but few have managed to balance elegance with elemental truth quite like Suyian. It’s wild, it’s refined, and it’s utterly unapologetic about both. In other words: if paradise had an off-grid address, this might be it.
For more information visit www.andbeyond.com to discover more.
For more on the latest in lifestyle, culture and travel reads, click here.
The post Suyian Lodge and the Call of Kenya’s Wild North appeared first on LUXUO.
