Get up close and personal with a leopard (Ngulia Safari Lodge (Kenya))

Member Name: shadsybear

Product:	Ngulia Safari Lodge (Kenya)
Date:	06/11/08 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get to see leopards and elephants really close up. Beautiful garden.

Disadvantages: Food is not great. Accommodation is a bit dark and dated.

I visited Kenya in June last year. Staying in Mombasa we took a few days off from our very hectic schedule of lying by the pool getting a tan, to go on safari. We stayed at three different lodges, Ngulia being the second stop.

Located in Tsavo West National Park very near to the rhino park. There are 52 rooms in the lodge all with their own bathroom. The room we stayed in was not fantastic, however the beds were comfy and the bathroom was clean (albeit a bit dark and dingy!). Having said this, you do not spend that long in your room and we were only there for one night so I can't complain!

One of the main attractions at Ngulia is the view from your balcony (which each room has). After lunch I must have spent a good couple of hours sat on our balcony watching the herds of elephants. They came really close to the lodge and then one of the herds with all ages of elephants came really close and started playing in the mud right next to the lodge. We had such a fantastic view of this from our balcony and it was just such an amazing experience.

The facilites at the lodge include a swimming pool, a retaurant, two bars and a lovely garden with lots of exotic flowers and cacti, and a lot of hi-rats running around! The food is OK but not brilliant however there is plenty of choice and you are bound to find at least one thing you will like.

The other main attraction at Ngulia is that they hang meat outside the lodge at dusk to attract the leopards. The meat is placed outside one of the bars and the area is lit up so you have a fantastic view. As you don't know when or even if the leopard will show up, as soon as he arrives to get the meat a member of staff goes and knocks on everyone's doors shouting 'leopard, leopard' so that everyone can run to the bar and see him. Be warned though you need to run quick to get a good view as it gets very busy very quickly!

Whilst we were in the bar at night an elephant came right up to the lodge in front of the bar and we were able to watch him playing and rubbing himself up the tree! The bar has no glass window, it is just open so you feel like you are actually out in the wild with the animals. It really is totally amazing, just thinking about it makes me want to jump on a plane and go back there right now!

In summary, although this is not the best place for accommodation or food it is a great place to stop on safari just to be able to get that up close and personal to the leopards and elephants.

Summary: Fantastic place and a must if you are going on safari in the Tsavo parks.