Desert Rose is Kenya’s northernmost outpost, having one of the most spectacular and adventurous settings of all Kenyan lodges. In the middle of dense and hilly jungle close to majestic Mount Nyiru and not far from Lake Turkana.

Desert Rose has just five rooms accommodating a maximum of 12 guests. The five rooms may be small in number but they’re big, spacey cottages of stone and carved wood. Cut into the rock of the hillside, they feature stone walls, slate floors, hand-woven rugs and are furnished with unique and rustic wooden chairs, tables and a four-poster beds. The wood-carving is a particular feature of Desert Rose: even the soap dishes are made of hand-hewn hardwood. Open-air bathrooms and patios with great views play a part in contributing to a comfortable and authentic stay at - what feels like - the end of the world.

The rooms are accessed by paths and steps, all have screens and shutters and can be as private or open as the guests wishes. Two of the rooms are doubles, two twins and a family house sleeping four.

There is a dining room serving home-grown organic meals, a lounge with a fireplace and a small library. Besides the lawn is a curvaceous swimming pool, quite special in its design and location.

Desert Rose is located at 1676m altitude on the verdant cedar forest slopes of Mount Nyiru which towers majestically above the Elbarta plains, between Karisia Mountains and Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya. Probably the most remote lodge in Kenya.

Guests can reach Desert Rose on a very long day’s drive from Nairobi, but we do recommend to charter a plane or a helicopter as the views of the desert and Lake Turkana are simply majestic.

Game in the area is shy and scattered. Desert Rose’s surroundings are home for genet, bushbuck, warthog, ostriche, hyena, cheetah, zebra, gerenuk and soon also elephants which in the past used to live in the cedar forest of Oldonyo Nyiru and now start to migrate back to this area. Baboons and leopard are often heard close-by in the granite rock cliffs.

Desert Rose is a destination in itself, but it also offers a selection of activities. A natural water slide is a few minutes away from camp and is very popular with children. Guests will also enjoy the indigenous plants in Desert Rose’s garden or an interpretive walk with one of the Samburu guides on Mount Nyiru or the open plains.

Bold guests can go fly-camping, camel trekking, paragliding and rock climbing or fishing at Lake Turkana (extra). Or guests can take a helicopter trip through the nearby Sagutu Valley (extra).

But mostly, Desert Rose is known for its interactions with the local Samburu community. Employing 30 local people, as well as building a small primary school and a vital medical clinic, Desert Rose has a close cooperation with the Samburu people, which also means that the guests are invited to local celebrations, grating the guests are rare insight into Samburu life. Game drives are also part of the offered activities, although at Desert Rose its more about local traditions and empty and wild landscapes.

Desert Rose uses only the natural sources of energy, from a gravity fed water system to solar water heating and power.

There is no network and no phone signal at the lodge. For people in need of connections, there is ‚Safaricom Rock‘ not far from the lodge - the best place to pick up mobile signal.

SwissAfrican Travel Service
Dammstrasse 27
8702 Zollikon
Zurich, Switzerland


Telephone: +41 (0)44 451 40 51