Elewana Boosts Sustainable Tourism Footprint with New and Upgraded Lodges in Two Critical Kenyan Wildlife Conservancies

The debut of Little Elephant Pepper Camp in Mara North Conservancy and complete refurbishment of Lewa Safari Camp in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy mark another significant chapter in Elewana’s growth, enhancing one of the most impressive Conservancy footprints of any East African safari accommodation collection.

Elewana is excited to announce the opening of the new Little Elephant Pepper Camp in Mara North Conservancy and the completion of a major refurbishment of Lewa Safari Camp in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. With strict bed night quotas in both areas, the additional camp and upgrade have been carefully managed, so as not to add any tourism pressure on the surrounding environment.

New Little Elephant Pepper Camp

Little Elephant Pepper Camp with just three spacious safari suites and one two-bedroom family suite, each with a private veranda and plunge pool is the first ultra high-end luxury accommodation in the Mara North Conservancy. Located a little more than half a kilometre away from the much-loved Elephant Pepper Camp, the intimate, low-impact camp is sheltered under the African pepper trees that give it its name. With no fences or permanent footprint, Little Elephant Pepper Camp offers guests an experience drawn from the traditions of mobile safari but with all the luxuries that discerning travellers have come to expect from this elevated level of safari.

Designed by Jan Allan of byDesign the camp pays homage to classic safari style through campaign furniture, warm woods, brass detailing and an earthy palette, and a dedicated wellness treatment tent is available for post-safari recovery. Brand new safari vehicles will transport guests as they explore the 72,000-acre conservancy, brimming with wildlife who roam freely between this region and the world-famous Maasai Mara National Park. Guests are also encouraged to explore on foot as walking safaris are available, another advantage of staying in the conservancy. The new Little Elephant Pepper Camp lends itself particularly well to couples, multi-generational families and small groups, with full buyout available given its boutique scale.

Refurbished Lewa Safari Camp

Lewa Safari Camp has reopened this month, following a complete restoration. The project has preserved the camp's warm and authentic character while enhancing the overall guest experience. New features include a redesigned central Dining Tree deck, shaded verandas, and grander guest safari tents. There is also a separate well-stocked bar and comfortable lounge area, as well as an upgraded spa.

Situated within the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which includes 65,000 acres of protected wilderness renowned for its black rhino and Grevy's zebra populations, the camp offers some of East Africa's most compelling conservation-focused safari experiences, with low vehicle density and strong Big Five potential.

Why Conservancies Matter

Both the Mara North Conservancy and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy play a vital role in protecting critical wildlife corridors and providing a safe haven for endangered animals. By working with local communities and ensuring that wildlife preservation has a tangible positive impact on people’s lives, they have managed to bridge many of the areas of human wildlife conflict that have had a negative impact on wildlife historically. Programmes that include education, health and employment opportunities encourage local communities to feel genuinely invested in their surrounding environment.

In an age where overtourism is a legitimate concern, conservancies offer capped bed nights and limits on how many vehicles can be at any one animal sighting at a time, thereby providing a more responsible way to view wildlife in its natural habitat. Karim Wissanji, Group Chairman and CEO comments on the two new openings “Both of these properties sit within key wildlife conservancies - Little Elephant Pepper Camp in the Mara North Conservancy, and the rebuilt Lewa Safari Camp within the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy - and that's exactly what drew us to them. It speaks to something we care about deeply at Elewana: community impact, wildlife conservation, and tourism that's built

on real purpose. We've long admired the work of these conservancies, whose own commitment to protecting these landscapes has shown the world what's possible. The conservancy model is now being looked to across the globe as a genuine way to safeguard wild places for the generations who'll come after us, and we feel privileged to play our small part alongside the people making it happen.”

For more information on both properties visit www.elewana.com

The Elewana Collection

The Elewana Collection is comprised of 17 award-winning boutique lodges and safari camps in iconic locations across Kenya and Tanzania, each of which has been carefully selected for its unique accommodation and ideal setting to provide unparalleled African wildlife-viewing and beach holiday opportunities. Elewana is the Swahili word meaning “harmony,” and the company prides itself on crafting memorable African safari experiences that offer the highest quality of luxury and comfort, embodying the balance between people, wildlife and environment that today’s sophisticated travellers have come to expect.

Mara North Conservancy

Mara North Conservancy is a 29,170-hectare (72,080-acre) privately leased conservation area that forms the north-western flank of the Greater Mara Ecosystem. Mara North is a working conservation partnership between 783 individual Maasai landowners and twelve tourism operators, of whom Elephant Pepper Camp was one of the founding members. The Conservancy was founded to create a viable economic alternative to encourage landowners to work together to ensure that critical wildlife dispersion corridors remained open in order to preserve the Mara ecosystem. The wildebeest migration crosses the reserve boundary in both directions and elephants, lions and most resident game spend a significant part of their year outside the Maasai Mara National Park.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

Lewa serves as a safe refuge for the critically endangered black rhino and the endangered Grevy’s zebra, as well as the elephant, lion, giraffe, wild dog and other iconic wildlife species in Kenya. The Conservancy is also home to more than 490 species of birds. From the outset, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was founded on the principle that the benefits derived from wildlife protection and related tourism should be reinvested in the local communities, ultimately improving their quality of life.