Serian The Nest

Serian The Nest features two soft double beds with pure cotton linen and plenty of space for additional bedrolls if needed. The room is built into a Warburgia tree and is positioned 12 feet off the ground, where guests can safely view game from the comfort of their room.

The Nest has infrared spotlights and a night-vision camera which allows guests the watch nocturnal wildlife around them, without causing any disruption to the creatures. The bedroom also acts as an open viewing deck so that guests are surrounded by the beautiful landscape, and the room is adaptable depending on the weather to keep the rain from putting a dampener on your stay. The treehouse also includes a flush loo, and guests can request bucket showers below.

There is no electricity at The Nest and no light pollution. This means that at night, guests can look up at the stars from the comfort of their soft and snuggly beds and gaze upon the beautiful constellations of the Southern hemisphere in their full splendour.

Serian The Nest is perfect for a one-night retreat for couples or groups staying at Serian The Original or Ngare Serian. There are no kitchen facilities at Serian The Nest, but guests can bring picnics or a delicious soup dinner made by the chefs at the other Serian camps before departing.

Venture out into the wilderness on foot, and explore Serian The Nest’s private conservation area at a pace that allows you to take in the smaller details. Walking safaris enable guests to wander around the conservancy without following a path or specific route and instead immerse themselves in the beautiful landscape.

No vehicles are permitted in the private conservation area, meaning that there are no distracting engine noises, and guests can sneak up to oblivious herds of elephants or buffalo and watch them behave naturally. The early morning walks take place when the animals are most active, giving guests the best game-viewing experience. Your guide will be one of Serian’s scouts who checks the area daily for snares, and has an intimate knowledge of the landscape.

Search for tracks that will lead you to elephant, buffalo, hippo and oribi sightings, and enjoy the tranquil environment of the private conservation area.

Make the most of your safari experience with a fly camping trip. Guests will be able to spend some nights away from camp and sleep out in lightweight tents in the heart of the wilderness. Spend your days exploring the Mara plains on foot and immerse yourself in the natural landscape.

Serian’s guides will be able to pass on a wealth of knowledge about the ecosystem and the creatures that inhabit it as you learn to recognise tracks and the calls of the birds. Wake up in a new location each morning and spend as much time as possible amongst the Maasai Mara’s wildlife.

Alex Walker’s Serian camps believe in equal opportunities and have employed a group of female guides in order to offer equal opportunities for women in the tourism industry. Serian’s female guides Gladys, Judy and Grace, are from local communities, and by becoming guides they are providing other women and girls with positive role models.

Maasai culture usually dictates that a woman’s place is in the home where she can perform chores. However, by having female guides, women are able to provide an income for their families as well as prove they are just as capable as men.

Serian has been working with the Tanzanian Tourist Operators Organisation and Frankfurt Zoological Society in order to support de-snaring teams. Serengeti Mission Possible is a campaign that was launched as a result of the decline in tourism in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With fewer tourists occupying national parks and reserves, jobs within the tourism industry are more at risk and more opportunities have become available for poachers. Serengeti Mission Possible helps to provide law enforcement, additional jobs and extra de-snaring teams within the Serengeti National Park, as well as many of Tanzania’s other protected areas, while budget shortages are in effect.

This helps to support the local community and reduces the risks of wildlife becoming trapped in the thousands of snares illegally set by poachers each year.

Serian The Nest is located within Serian’s own private conservation area. This 1,500-acre piece of protected land is a vital dispersal area for wildlife. This area was previously under threat from high levels of poaching and over-grazing. However, since Serian created their private conservation here, the environment has made huge progress in its recovery, as well as the rising game populations.

Serian continues to protect the conservancy by employing rangers to prevent poaching and protect animals from snares, and by paying a lease to the local landowners which helps support them financially and encourages local communities to coexist with the wildlife.

‘We employ 6 rangers to patrol and keep poaching at bay, and in fact, during the first year of our leasing the land, we encountered almost no game, and most of the rangers’ activity was concerned with picking up snares. Their patrol encompasses 2,500 acres of the Pusinkariak area: a zone that now supports a pride of around 20 lion, 3 leopards, 50 buffalo, and encompasses 4km of river frontage, forming the dispersal area for roughly 400 hippo.

By taking this land under our protection, its landowners are benefiting financially from our conservation efforts, and we have created a car-free cattle-free zone – a safe, tranquil haven that naturally attracts increasing wildlife populations.’

All Alex Walker’s Serian permanent camps are mostly powered by solar energy. The camps do not use air-conditioning units, washing machines, microwaves or a whole range of other appliances which are detrimental to the environment to lighten their carbon footprint. All laundry is done by hand and ironed with a charcoal iron, and most meals are cooked in a traditional charcoal oven.

All organic waste is recycled as compost for the Serian’s vegetable garden. This means that vegetables are sourced in an eco-friendly manner, without the need to import products, further reducing the camps’ carbon emissions.

‘All of our organic waste from our Kenyan camps goes into a compost pit, which in turn nurtures our 100% organic veggie patch, supplemented by cow manure from local Masai bomas. What we can’t grow ourselves, we try to source from as close to home as possible: all fruit and veg is 100% Kenyan produce, as well as many other elements of our menu.’