About Saruni

Saruni was established in early 2003 by Riccardo Orizio and two friends, who had a dream of starting a safari company in Kenya with the purpose of supporting the local community. Over the years Saruni has grown to four properties, starting with: Saruni Mara, the only small, boutique lodge in the Masai Mara, with five elegant cottages, one family villa and one private villa; Saruni Samburu, a six luxury, eco-chic villas lodge heralding spectacular views over Kalama Conservancy and considered by some as the most beautiful and innovative lodge in Kenya; Saruni Wild, a 3-tents only private camp elegantly and comfortably furnished with all the necessary luxuries of a wild yet classic safari. Saruni Rhino; an intimate lodge consisting of three open stone ‘banda’ cottages nestled on the edge of a dry river bed, in Sera Community Conservancy, Northern Kenya.

We believe that Africa needs not only charity and emergency help, but honest, transparent, community-supportive entrepreneurship, where profits are made and used to create jobs and professional opportunities and to provide the people who own the land where wildlife is with equitable income. In total, we employ over 100 people with 90% coming from the local communities, in addition to providing the communities with hundreds of thousands of dollars in income every year. We have been founding members of Mara North Conservancy, the most ambitious conservation project in the Masai Mara ecosystem, and are part of NRT (Northern Rangelands Trust), the most important conservation project in Northern Kenya.

In 2021 Basecamp Explorer Kenya and Saruni, both sharing a similar philosophy, came together combining four decades in pioneering conservation practices and safaris in Kenya, with a total of nine eco-luxury safari camps and lodges across Samburu and the Masai Mara. Together they support community-based approaches where local communities’ income from wildlife conservation leads to more entrepreneurial and educational opportunities in Naboisho Conservancy, Lemek Conservancy, Mara North Conservancy, Kalama Conservancy and Sera Conservancy.