Ranch Houses

Ranches and farms, especially in Kenya and South Africa, offer the best of a wide variety of worlds: game viewing including night drives, walking, horse riding, quad and mountain biking, flycamping, fishing, hiking out for a day or three supported by camels and local guides, heli-adventures, ballooning, archery, masses of privacy, enormous comfort, great food…..the list is almost endless.

Our growing conviction is that clients ought to spend longer at each place they visit, so as to more fully appreciate what is on offer, do everything that’s available and make firm friends at the same time. Staying on a ranch achieves all of these objectives. Why move around more than you need to if you have so much at your fingertips?

This sort of property usually consists of a main ranch house and outlying cottages which comprise the guest rooms. There will usually be a pool, stables and perhaps tennis but all will be surrounded by stunning vistas of Africa!

Everything is totally relaxed as to activity and timing so that one’s stay becomes a long continuation of pleasure and fun, combining new experiences around each corner. One might ride one day, go flycamping the next, take a few game drives or walk in the bush – or even just take a day completely “off”! One of our favorite ranch properties in Kenya has the opportunity to launch you off the top of a 40 foot waterfall into the river below; it is all part of the exhilaration.

This is an ideal opportunity to also spend time with interesting, personable third-or fourth-generation families who have lived in the country for years and can gradually imbue a real insight into the country you are visiting. They might take you out flycamping for a night where one can swap stories and experiences around the campfire, overlooking huge vistas of Africa as the sun sets.

The next night you might be back in the main house, playing snooker and yarning over a glass of malt – or just having a quiet evening “in”.

The ranch experience is for everyone but really works fantastically well for families for whom the mixture of fun, adventure, activity and relaxation is almost perfect in terms of a holiday; but it works just as well for couples who simply want to get a more personal safari or perhaps focus on, for example, as specific activity such as riding or walking. And it is often the perfect way to start or end a safari.

Where? Kenya, Zambia, South Africa