Borana Conservancy, Kenya

Insider's Review of Sirai House

A hidden jewel, Sirai House could have no better home than Borana Conservancy, an unspoilt 35,000-acre land where giants lumber and wild beasts thrive. As your Micato Safari Director charts you through this terrain, he’ll share the remarkable tale of both black and white rhinos living freely here, a feat by the founding Dyer family in their commitment to preserve wildlife in northern Kenya. Here on the Laikipia Plateau, the Big Five rub shoulders with so many others, from endangered cheetahs to Grévy’s zebras, sporting their spots and dizzyingly thin stripes like long-legged models out on the savannah.

Sirai House, with six private, stand-alone cottage suites, lays claim to a secluded 250 acres dedicated solely to its guests. There is, naturally, a club room and a library, a cinema and a pickleball court, spa sessions and a yoga retreat. Even a stud farm, filled with silk-sheened riding ponies, awaits your decision for a morning gallop in the grasslands. Anything, should you wish it, is at your fingertips at Sirai.

Accommodations at Sirai House

Sirai House’s accommodations redefine the art of safari living, offering six exquisitely private suites—all stand-alone cottages—that grace the top of a ridge, set against the soft silhouette of Mount Kenya in the distance. Each suite is elegantly, modernly arranged just so, with stone-laid fireplaces, en-suite bathrooms, private verandas, and outdoor showers.

Suites 3 and 4, as well as suites 5 and 6, are joined by expansive drawing rooms, creating a welcoming home for impromptu cocktails or card-games, late-night discussions gazing at the fire. And yet, each retains a distinct character—perhaps best sampled in the deep, solid-wood bathtub in one, or the king-sized bed facing floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto a private vista in another. The master suite is unequalled in its attention to comfort and lounging, with a large dressing room, private infinity pool, and natural rough-wood furnishings.

Amenities at Sirai House

Activities and Attractions at Sirai House

In a land as rich in wildlife as Borana Conservancy, sightings of the Big Five are just the beginning. Your Micato Safaris Director will carefully coordinate your desires along the conservancy’s state-of-the-art GSP tracking technology, which ensures the area’s rare black and white rhinos stay safe. For guests keen to learn more, your Safari Director can arrange an early-morning stroll with anti-poaching rangers as they scout for these animals, perhaps crossing paths along the way with lions settling down for a snooze, or loping hyenas returning to their den after a thrilling night on the hunt.

The abundance of pursuits here is delightfully lavish. When not out on game drives or photographing wildlife from a hide next to the watering hole, guests can take private yoga sessions, go for a run on a manicured, two-kilometre path, or scour the club room for balls and mallets for a lawnside game of boules or croquet. In the evenings, take in a favourite film in the cinema, which proffers more 500 titles to choose from, or a wine tasting in the cellar, stocked with more than 3,000 wines and champagnes. Meals here are nothing short of mouthwatering; an air of playful grandeur reigns in the dining room, with a long table that can seat up to 20, mismatched velvet chairs, tapered candles, and plentiful crystal and glassware, all facing a roaring fireplace.

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