Where Kenya's Wild Heart Meets the Indian Ocean
There's something quietly radical about leaving your phone behind. At Mukima Manor, perched in Kenya's central highlands, that's not a rule—it's just what happens. The pull of the savannah tends to win.
This nine-bedroom manor house operates on a different clock. Days begin with early-morning game drives into Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Solio Rhino Sanctuary, or up to Samburu—tracking lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo across some of East Africa's most biodiverse terrain. The reward? Returning to crackling fires, cedar-wood saunas, and Pimm's served on sprawling lawns as the sun dips low.
Evenings lean into slowness. Farm-to-fork dinners by candlelight. Stars so thick you forget light pollution exists. It's the kind of place where time stretches, and screens feel irrelevant.
Barefoot Luxury on Lamu
Six hours south, The Cabanas flips the script entirely. Seven off-grid beach pods line a 12-kilometre private stretch of Lamu Island, where the Indian Ocean does most of the talking. No shoes required.
The rhythm here is tidal: paddleboarding at dawn, kitesurfing when the wind picks up, snorkelling over coral gardens, dolphin swims, village walks, sunset dhow sails. Between all that, there's a pool, a spa hut for massages, and an open-air yoga shala where the only soundtrack is waves.
It's elegant without trying too hard—barefoot serenity backed by serious intention. Like Mukima, regenerative practices run through everything.
The Woman Behind Both
Anna Campbell's CV reads like adventure fiction. She won a TV survival show. She's a competitive kite-surfer. A wellness coach. Born in Kenya, schooled in the UK, but never tamed by either.
Today, she's poured that restless energy into reimagining these two properties—one in the bush, one on the beach. Together, they form a 12-day "Beach & Bush" itinerary that captures Kenya's full emotional range: raw wilderness, then salt air and stillness.
You can do one. Or both. Either way, you're trading screens for something better.
