It has perhaps the most spectacular view in all of Kenya: From Ol Donyo Wuas Lodge, a casual viewer can see Kilimanjaro, the continent's loftiest peak, stretching a full 100 miles from end to end. Beneath it, elephants lumber through the grasslands; in the other direction, tropical mist forests lie beyond the Chyolo Hills, lava outcroppings studded with succulents.

In business for over 20 years, the lodge was completely revamped in 2008. As part of a new initiative by Great Plains Conservation, a conservation organization that runs tourism programs to fund its projects, the lodge now boasts ten elegant stone, timber, and thatch suites, all with indoor and outdoor showers and decks for sleeping under the stars.

While the accommodations are luxurious, the real attraction lies in the 275,000 acres of surrounding Maasai land, which guests—the only visitors on the property—explore through a dizzying array of activities, arguably the most available at any

It has perhaps the most spectacular view in all of Kenya: From Ol Donyo Wuas Lodge, a casual viewer can see Kilimanjaro, the continent's loftiest peak, stretching a full 100 miles from end to end. Beneath it, elephants lumber through the grasslands; in the other direction, tropical mist forests lie beyond the Chyolo Hills, lava outcroppings studded with succulents.

In business for over 20 years, the lodge was completely revamped in 2008. As part of a new initiative by Great Plains Conservation, a conservation organization that runs tourism programs to fund its projects, the lodge now boasts ten elegant stone, timber, and thatch suites, all with indoor and outdoor showers and decks for sleeping under the stars.

While the accommodations are luxurious, the real attraction lies in the 275,000 acres of surrounding Maasai land, which guests—the only visitors on the property—explore through a dizzying array of activities, arguably the most available at any safari lodge in Kenya. Great Plains Conservation works in conjunction with the local Maasai community to run the lodge, and the tribesmen and women here play an integral role in welcoming guests, who often visit their remote villages and follow them on tracking walks.

Ol Donyo Wuas also offers mountain-biking safaris—a particular rarity amongst classic safari lodges—and horseback rides. While of course there are game drives, there are also more inventive ways of sneaking up on wildlife, such as a woodpile hide, where guests can hide and watch species—sometimes up to eight species of mammal alone—drink from a watering hole. Guests can also go out tracking with two resident bloodhounds, which help in anti-poaching efforts.

The wildlife here is abundant. Think lions, elephants, plentiful herbivores—all in one view, at times. It's in large part thanks to the efforts of the Maasailand Preservation Trust, aided by Great Plains Conservation, which has implemented a predator-compensation scheme, in which Maasai herders are compensated for any loss of cattle to wild predators. In 2009, 70 lions had been sighted in the immediate Ol Donyo Wuas area, up from only seven in the decades before. Now there's a fine fact to savor as you sip mimosas during a brunch set up in the grasslands under Kilimanjaro.