All the wall murals are designed and painted by Yony Waite. Photo/Qi Lin
From the moment you drive through the gates of Amboseli Serena Lodge, you are met with warm welcome and reassurance that your stay there will be memorable.
After you’ve been handed a warm hand towel to cleanse your hands and face followed by a cool glass of fresh juice as you check into the place, it takes just a moment to realise it isn’t just the friendly staff that‘s the most distinctive feature of the lodge.
Nor is it the oasis-like feeling that one gets once you realise you are entering the only full-fledged forest in the whole of Amboseli National Park. Filled with hundreds of thousands of mainly acacia trees, the ground was barren, volcanic rock back in 1973 when the foundation stone of the lodge was laid.
It wasn’t long after that a major reforestation programme was launched, initiated by a manager of the lodge, Shadrack Karabilo.
It’s the fact that almost everything about the lodge is patterned around the Maasai culture. From the architecture and the layout of the lodge, (which is meant to resemble a Maasai manyatta) to the spears that serve as guest room door handles and the rungus made into key to the typical ochre-coloured décor and even the lodge’s logo which resembles a Maasai woman’s brass earring, this premier hotel is practically a homage to the Maasai way of life.
Secure
It makes sense since the lodge is situated squarely in Maasai-land, right on the Kenya-Tanzania border overlooking Mt Kilimanjaro, which for many guests is the main reason they come to Amboseli: to see the mountain immortalised by Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
The other reason tourists tend to flock to this particular park is for the elephants which are another conspicuous feature of the landscape.
What also seems logical about the construction of this lodge, (the first one built by Serena apart from the Serena Mara which went up around the same time) is that since it’s situated on a big bed of volcanic rock, the whole place has been transformed into a beautiful rock garden with the rocks interspersed with all sorts of indigenous plants, including 800,000 trees which, according to the manager, Herman Mwasaghua, have made it literally the coolest spot in the whole of the park.
“Now our forest attracts all kinds of wildlife, including a pregnant lioness which recently arrived, specifically to deliver her cubs in a place that was both cool and secure,” says Mwasaghua.
However, the forest isn’t the only natural aspect that attracts wildlife to the lodge. There is also the Enkong Narok Spring that runs right outside the veranda and serves as a perennial swamp that serves everyone from Thompson’s Gazelle and wildebeests to water bucks and a multitude of birds - especially when other rivers and streams in the park run dry.
“Our swamp is sourced from an underground spring that gets its water from the snows of Kilimanjaro,” said Mwasaghua.
So whether one remains at the lodge or takes a game drive in the late afternoon or early morning when wildlife come out foraging for food, there are animals to observe all year round.
Surprisingly, Amboseli is one of the most highly populated wildlife sanctuaries in Kenya— I saw no less than 40 elephants at very close range when I went on a game drive recently.
Wildlife conservation is practically a religious tenet for the Serena group, it would seem. For instance, its collaborative relationship with Kenya Wildlife Service goes back many years, but in recent times, the lodge assists the KWS by pumping water out of the park using its generators to provide electricity to fuel the KWS pumps.
“In that way, we are helping to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife since the water outside the park is for domestic animals, while the water that remains inside the park is for the local wildlife,” explains Mwasaghua.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary (on June 12th , the day Kenya’s then Home Affairs minister Daniel arap Moi inaugurated the lodge), one would never suspect that the lodge is that old.
‘It’s something that distinguishes a good hotel from a great one,” said the restaurant manager, John Wagucu.
“Maintenance as well as quality service is what Amboseli Serena offers,” added Wagucu who works closely with Mwasaghua to keep the hotel in tiptop shape.
Wildlife
Apart from all of those qualities, what makes Amboseli Serena unique is the wonderful murals which cover practically all the wall spaces.
All designed and decorated by the co-founder of Gallery Watatu, Yony Waite, the murals are visible from the moment one steps foot in the lodge.
Her imaginative brush work is everywhere from the reception area, the lounges and the bar to the dining rooms, and all 92 guestrooms.
Revealing every type of wildlife that one will find in the Park, the walls literally come alive as her murals introduce guests to everyone from the bush babies, baboons, wildebeests and birds to water buffalo, cheetah, and of course elephants.
Indeed every guest room is inhabited by a different set of creatures delicately drawn to depict the incredible variety of wildlife. During the current low season, the lodge offers special reduced rates for residents and conference groups.
Check out the website http://www.serenahotels.com/serenaamboseli/default-en.html for details.
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