Ndarakwai Camp is a permanent luxury tented lodge on the 10,000 acre Ndarakwai Ranch, which lies on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Offering spectacular views of both Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, this intimate 12-tent camp is encircled by a dense forest of traditional fig trees and yellow-barked acacias overlooking the winding curves of the seasonal Ngare Nairobi River. Ecologically designed and run, the camp has been constructed using locally sourced sustainable materials while supplies are sourced from the local community. The privately owned ranch is an experiment in self-sustaining conservation preserving a variety of habitats that are home to over 65 mammal species, and 350 bird species (at last count). Ndarakwai is part of the Amboseli / Ngasurai Basin eco-system and helps to preserve important seasonal elephant routes. Many species are permanent residents, while others use Ndarakwai seasonally.Ranch activities include wildlife viewing - particularly elephant, lesser kudu, gerenuk - over 63 species of mammals. And with more than 340 species of bird, it's a birder's paradise.

Location

West Kilimanjaro. Ndarakwai Ranch is over 11,000 acres in size and located in Siha District, West Kilimanjaro.

Accommodation

There are just 12 spacious tents, each with a thatched roof, ensuite bathroom and private veranda.

Dining and Bars

The central dining area centers on two indoor fireplaces flanked by an outdoor campfire area. Meals are essentially flexible and tailored to the preferences of the guests – they can also be served al fresco or out in the bush.

Activities

Include game drives, guided walks, cultural visits, ornithology, bush dining, horseriding and visits to Arusha National Park and Kilimanjaro National Park. The camp also features its own ‘tree house’ game viewing hide.

History

In 1994 Peter Jones, his son Eric, and wife Margot Kiser-Jones, fell in love with Ndarakwai’s dry savannah beauty as they came across it while looking for a smaller parcel of land outside Arusha as a base. Peter, a British archaeologist who worked as Dr. Mary Leakey’s colleague for eight years (1976-’84) at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti, had eschewed an academic life to live in the wilds of Tanzania. A safari guide fluent in Swahili, Peter had started his own company, Tanganyika Films and Safari Outfitters in 1990 to lead his own specialist safaris. Margot, a writer and from Montana, had packed her Labrador Retriever, Zoë, and moved to Tanzania to start a new life with Peter and Eric. The area, named long ago by the Maasai after cedars native to the area, was a former German (the area saw significant action during WW1 and trenches can still be found on the farm), then British Colonial ranch until Tanzanian Independence in 1961. Ndarakwai was nationalized in 1975. Between 75 and 94 unregulated grazing, tree cutting, and poaching, decimated the ranch’s grasslands and drove out the elephant and other wildlife. The area was turned into a waste-land.
In 1994, the Peter Jones committed himself to restoring the Ranch’s health to support wildlife populations – a bold experiment in self-sustaining conservation. The impact of his efforts have been profound. With protected trees and vegetation, there is now less run-off after the rains, the water table has risen and grass resources improved. Today, elephant, zebra, eland, giraffe, wildebeest, gerenuk, lesser kudu, and mountain reedbuck are among the permanent residents. In 2002, The Kilimanjaro Conservancy, a nonprofit organization was created to help maintain nonprofit activities in the West Kilimanjaro area - a living, working landscape - that integrates and benefits local populations.