Saruni Rhino: Our Personal Experience

June 2021

An Oasis in the Heart of Northern Kenya

Our short video from our stay at Saruni Rhino

After a relaxing couple of days at Saruni Samburu, it was time to set off for Saruni Rhino, in the Sera Community Conservancy in Northern Samburu Land. Saruni Rhino offers the first rhino tracking experience in East Africa: an amazing walking safari that provides a uniquely thrilling adventure, and I was very excited to try this unique experience.

The drive further north took us through more stunning landscapes with lovely views of Mt. Ololokwe, continuing through dry scrub land with deep, rich red soil and dry river beds. As we crossed the dry river bed flanked by beautiful doum palms we caught our first sight of Saruni Rhino. The beautiful swimming pool was set under the doum palms overlooking the sand river bed and the big smiles and enthusiastic waving of the staff warmly welcomed us in the true spirit of Kenyan hospitality. The staff are all employed from the local community, a wonderful way to empower the local communities. Sammy, the manager, led us through to the main area, which is known in the safari world as the ‘mess area’ for our welcome briefing, and then we settled into our banda’s – our home for the next 2 nights.

Saruni Rhino

#ahnasadreams

Saruni Rhino is an intimate property with three bandas of which 2 are double occupancy and one family banda consisting of 2 bedrooms and a common living area. Each banda is set amongst the beautiful doum palms with views of the sand river bed – my beach! Saruni had taken over the property from the community and the structures had been built back in 2003 as a joint partnership between Sera & Mission Africa Project & the BBC. The pool and family villa were added on. The location is simply STUNNING!!! It’s my ideal beach holiday – Small, secluded and intimate (and with the wildlife)!

Black Rhino Tracking

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Our plan for the afternoon/evening was the Black Rhino tracking experience. The Rhino conservation protected area is approximately 30 minutes drive from Saruni Rhino. The Conservancy is the first community-owned Rhino Conservancy, assisted by the Northern Rangeland Trust and donors. This is where the first black Rhino was introduced in Northern Kenya, the terrain and environment is perfect for black rhinos. Many years ago, the area was teeming with Black Rhinos, but poaching wiped them out completely. At the beginning 10 Rhinos were introduced but now the population has now almost doubled! When we visited in mid-May there were 18 rhinos, and a few days later we received the wonderful news that there was a newborn baby black Rhino! Population now… 19 Rhinos! At the conservancy we met with the rangers and our Saruni guide, Sambara gave us a short briefing before we set off in a single file – Sambara and one ranger leading and one ranger behind us. Sambara used hand signals to communicate with us as Black Rhinos have very sharp hearing. Suddenly we caught a glimpse of a rhino through the bushes, but he caught wind of us and bolted off. We spent a couple of hours tracking the male rhino and spending time watching him. It’s an incredibly heart-pumping, thrilling and wild experience!

We returned to Saruni Rhino in the dark and a welcoming sight of the lanterns lit under the star studded sky leading into the river bed, where our bonfire and dinner was set up! Simply stunning!

Next morning we went back to the Rhino Sanctuary to meet the orphaned Rhino who was abandoned by his mother at birth. The rangers of Sera and Reteti have been his family for the past four years.

We headed back to Saruni Rhino by late morning to relax by the pool and then took a walk to the water hole and down the dry river bed. The evening concluded with sundowner G&Ts followed by an amazing Italian 3 course meal under the star studded sky. It was the perfect end to our amazing trip

Why I fell in Love with Saruni Rhino

What’s special about Saruni Rhino? Though I could go on and on, let me sum it up in a few short points :

The location! It’s a stunning oasis in the wilderness! It’s the only property for miles!
It’s intimate and exclusive! Only 3 bandas.
The cuisine. Incredibly delicious!
The Bandas – perfectly built in keeping with the serene environment.
The unique experiences: Black Rhino Tracking, visiting the Singing wells, and seeing hundreds of sand grouse. *Singing wells and the Sand Grouse are a seasonal experience though.
A beautiful setting! The sand river bed (my beach) and the doum palms.
The clear night sky – Looking up and seeing the millions and millions of stars – it’s incredible!
The eco-friendly practices – Saruni Rhino operates completely on solar for power and water heating. Each guest receives a stainless steel water bottle as a gift from Saruni in their effort to minimize plastic use, and they employ from the local community. What’s better than empowering and supporting the local communities, while providing a luxury guest experience.

A Few Tips on the Black Rhino Tracking

Only for guests over 16 years of age.
It’s a unique and wild experience, but under the safety of trained rangers and guides. At no time did I ever feel any danger.
You need to wear neutral colors to blend in with the environment (browns, beiges, etc). Avoid black, white, bright colors and bright greens.
Good hiking shoes are a must – remember, you’re walking through the bush, not taking a stroll on the beach (that’s back at the lodge!)

All in all, what an amazing trip! We recommend combining Saruni Rhino with Saruni Samburu. 2 Nights is minimum at each lodge. I would recommend 3 – 4 nights if you want to enjoy the other activities around Northern Kenya, for example, visiting Reteti Sanctuary and climbing Mt. Ololokwe. The whole Saruni Circuit works very well too, covering different parts of Kenya, different environments, different wildlife and different experiences.

Saruni Rhino: Our Personal Experience