I have traveled alot (or so i thought)in Kenya,then I was running out of destinations..until i went to the Sarova Shaba Lodge..This is a story i will tell over and over again.Shaba is incredibly and by far the best lodge to visit.What with the river passing just about 100m from the front of the rooms and streams running from the backside of the rooms,warm staff,beautiful swimming pool.There is always life in shaba whether you are alone or with a loved one.Thank you Sun Age Trails for recommending me to shaba and thank you Shaba for being the best!!

Two nights in a magic place! The lodge is huge, clean and nice. the restaurant super. In may opinion the negative point is where it is placed. shaba reserve has very very few animals, so you must go to samburu to see them and so wasting time in transfers. swimming pool are is very beautiful! A river is nera the lodge and sometimes (if you are luky) you can see crocodiles. We have seen only marabou...

We stayed at the Sarova Shaba for 2 nights as part of a 12 night trip to Kenya. We stayed at other Sarova accomodations as well and found the food at all the locations relatively similar.

The road to this location was good until we got off the main road to go to the reserve. It's quite bumpy and unpaved. But nothing you shouldn't expect if you're driving to various game reserves and parks.

In terms of the lodge/hotel itself - the common areas show very well and are beautiful. The pool is really nice (just wish we had more time to use it) and we actualy had time to get a massage. If you are traveling with a tour group that stays at multiple Sarova locations and are also interested in spa services, Sarova Shaba was the cheapest (esp. when compared to Sarova Mara it was 50% cheaper). The lodge is off the river and you can see crocodiles sleeping during the day. At night, they try to get one of the crocs to come out of the water by enticing it with leftover raw bones and meat. Unfortunately, the croc didn't come out when we watched but a silly turtle did. The turtle then pulled the meat into the water and was eaten by the croc.

The food was good with a good mix of international, local and Indian food but did feel a little repetitive as we moved throughout the tour to other Sarova locations.

The common areas and entrance to the hotel were really nice. The rooms, however, are a bit older feeling and the washrooms need some updating. At night, we found it pretty warm especially since we were hesitant to open the windows at night eventhough they had mosquito nets (our neighbours told us they had left the windows open and light on in the washroom and had many mosquito bites the next morning). But aside from that, we hardly saw any mosquitos.

In terms of game viewing: we did not go to Shaba Reserve but went to Buffalo Springs and Samburu. We had a great experience there and saw many indigenous animals that we were told we wouldn't see when we go to Lake Nakuru or Mara (i.e. gerenuk, reticulated giraffe, grevy's zebra, oryx). The other places thereafter did feel repetitive in terms of what animals we saw but they were doing something different most times.

The lodge itself has lots of monkeys and baboons. It was also very sad to see some children who crossed the river to try to beg for money from guests or get them to toss fruits that had fallen from the trees. The lodge is secured by electric fences so animals aren't able to come in (except the monkeys) and they have Masaii guards patrolling frequently. It is safe to walk at night (but be careful of monkey pee from the trees). Don't leave your windows open while you're away - if the guards aren't around to shoo them, they break into your room and make a bit of a mess.

The staff really try to appease and earn some tip. A little tip goes a long way for them and they always smile and we enjoyed talking and learning lots about their culture from them.

All in all, great location, people and trip.

On a 8 day Kenya Safari, Samburu Shaba Lodge was our first lodge and we were scheduled to stay for 2 nights. What an EXCELLENT 2 nights those were!

First of all, the friendly front desk quickly checked us in and showed us to our room. The spacious and clean rooms are set along the river, where you can see large birds (especially in the mornings), crocs and even elephants across the river right from your window! It was wonderful! One afternoon there were more than 10 elephants hanging out directly across from the lodge, breathtaking.

The food was very good. The open air, tree-house like dining area had a variety of food for every meal. If you left that place hungry, it was your own fault, because whether you love meat, are vegetarian or somewhere in between, you could find plenty of food on the buffet to fulfill your appetite. One day we went for an all-day game drive and the lodge packed our box lunch. The box lunch was full of great food,far beyond what we expected for a box lunch!

The pool area was very relaxing and clean. We were able to stay at the pool one afternoon and met other travelers from several other countries. We enjoyed sun Tusker and soaked up the hot Kenyan sun!

Overall this lodge is top notch for safari travelers. The staff treats you wonderfully and remembers you name each time you come to the dining room, ask to use the internet at the front desk or just see you passing by. I would recommend to families, solo travelers and couples!


The one negative or annoyance of this lodge is the monkey who would sneak up and steal food and drinks. The lodge did have 1 monkey chaser, but on 3 separate occasions our table was raided from under our noses by the sneaky little monkeys. We had to dispose of our food and re-collect food from the buffet. We did not encounter this level or monkey food stealing at any of the other 4 resorts in which we stayed.