Angama Amboseli

Photographing an elephant meandering across the African plains may be a safari cornerstone, but glimpsing a “super tusker”—a gargantuan pachyderm hefting ivories that weigh more than 100 pounds apiece—is a rarity. Targeted by poachers for decades, approximately 20 remain at large, most traipsing across southern Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, Tsavo National Park, and the Chyulu Hills. Wedged in there, providing a crucial wildlife corridor, is the 5,700-acre Kimana Sanctuary. It's widely regarded as Kenya’s first community-owned reserve (with 844 local landlords) and the idyllic setting for the new contemporary safari camp Angama Amboseli. The vision of luxury travel company andBeyond alumni Nicky and the late Steve Fitzgerald, along with cofounder Steve Mitchell, it opened in November 2023 and is the sister to the duo’s high-end Angama Mara resort in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Not only is it a launching pad for seeing long-tusked elephants backdropped by Mount Kilimanjaro, the 10-suite luxury lodge has exclusive use of Kimana and, via a key collaboration with southern Kenya-based conservation nonprofit Big Life, is playing an outsized role in alleviating human-wildlife conflict in the area. Angama’s deal with the Kimana landowners partnership (managed by Big Life to the tune of $11 million over 25 years) significantly strengthens the local economy and incentivizes the protection of wildlife long-term. They say It's a level of investment currently unmatched by other existing area accommodation. And the design-minded resort is bringing new attention to the region’s star megafauna. It’s sorely needed: hunting by license is legal in nearby Tanzania, and three large-tusked Amboseli-ecosystem elephants who'd crossed the border were trophy-hunted as recently as March.

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