Amboseli Sopa Lodge

Set in 200 acres of private land, and with a rustic charm all of its own, the lodge nestles in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro which, at almost six thousand metres, is Africa’s highest and most famous snowcapped mountain. It was this region of Kenya that, in the 1930’s, inspired Ernest Hemingway’s unforgettable stories ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’ and ‘The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’. They later became successful feature films in the late 1940’s due to their famous actors. All forms of wildlife still abound in this wilderness which continues all the way to the Amboseli National Park, an easy twenty minute drive away from the lodge. While the park conserves over six hundred breeding species of birds as well a host of rare and wonderful wildlife, this is also home to the Maasai people, perhaps the world’s most renowned African tribe.

Features

Amboseli Sopa Lodge is within mature gardens with a wide variety of trees and plants. They include thorn trees, Acacias, fragrant Frangipanis, colourful bougainvillea and giant cacti which all thrive in these surroundings. The gardens are also home to numerous species of birds as well as monkeys, mongooses, squirrels, duikers, the occasional gazelle and, once in a while, even an ever inquisitive leopard.

Reception

We have enclosed the reception area within a dome. Its design is like the curves of a traditional Maasai house. The walls have decorations of Maasai bead necklaces. The theme of the murals uses Maasai tribe inspiration.

Lobby

The lobby is open, spacious and airy. It has a high ceiling with elevated and painted glass forming an atrium above an indoor garden. Both round and tubular calabashes form the suspended chandeliers above walls decorated with a Maasai theme, and comfortable, colourfully cushioned, rough timber furniture above bright, locally woven carpets complete the décor. You encounter a colourful and vibrant Maasai handicraft market here. Maasais manufacture traditional beadwork and woodcarvings. You can even request your own designs. And just beyond this is a well stocked boutique with a wide variety of souvenirs, books, safari clothing, T-shirts and toiletry items. Leading away from the lobby towards Kilimanjaro there is a bridge over the large, split-level fishpond which leads to the Kibo restaurant and the Mawenzi bar.

Accommodation

Rustic, well spaced cottages meander through the vast expanse of our mature gardens and house our eighty three guest rooms. These are all brightly decorated with Maasai themed wall murals, and each room has been purpose built to contain either one or two queen sized beds as well as a veranda. We also have a luxuriously appointed, extremely spacious, two bedroom Presidential suite with a private dining room and an attached kitchenette, and also with a huge lounge and a quite simply vast veranda.

Dining Experience

The Mawenzi Bar is divided into two. Hemingway’s Bar is perched on top of boulders. The pool bar is set in a brightly coloured building. A central, decorated pillar supports the conical thatched roof. The Kibo Restaurant is named after the tallest peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and is a round structure with a thatched palm frond roof following the design of traditional African huts. The glass windows and doors face the mountain, the floor is a mixture of marble shards and clay tiles of different colours, and the side of the mantle of the circular, central fire place has wood carvings of wild life. Panels line the walls. We use small traditional Africa drums as chandeliers for light shades. The Mawenzi Terrace is an outdoor dining area set beside the Mawenzi Bar and named after Kilimanjaro’s second highest peak.

Amboseli national park

Amboseli national park’s ecosystem is mainly savannah grassland across the Kenya-Tanzania border, and also comprises of areas around some of its rivers and lakes. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants among other wildlife species, and its other attractions include opportunities to meet the Maasai tribe’s people, and its spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro. With all this and more to see in the park, you might decide to spend a full day there instead of returning to our lodge for lunch. Should this be the case, and for your convenience, we have a tented luncheon and bar venue within a five minute drive from the park gates.