Lake Naivasha, Great Rift Valley of Kenya
A new safari facility in Naivasha, the Enashipai Resort & Spa takes after a Maasai term meaning ‘happiness'. With a modern spa, heated pool, modern conference centre & complementing facilities, the safari resort offers mind & body rejuvenation. A perfect destination for business or leisure, and just a short drive from the capital city - Nairobi, the lodge is set in extensive grounds, which extend to the shores of the Lake Naivasha, in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya.
Enashipai Resort and Spa - Location
The Enashipai Resort & Spa is a Kenya safari lodge located on the shores of Lake Naivasha and close to Hell's Gate National Park. Lake Naivasha, a famous Kenya safari destination, is an approximate 2 hour drive from Nairobi (approx 100 km) and lies at the heart of the Great Rift Valley on Kenya safari. Nearby are the Lake Elementaita, Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria.
Enigmatic, and dotted with floating islands of Nile cabbage (water hyacinth) and papyrus, Lake Naivasha has no known outlet, and legends abound regarding the vast tunnels that supposedly run beneath its surface. Towered over by the brooding bulk of Mount Longonot (2,776 m), and featuring a submerged volcanic crater known as Crescent Island, beautiful Lake Naivasha is best known for its high numbers of water birds. Also for the haunting cry of the fish eagles, which feed on the black bass and tilapia of its waters.
A freshwater lake, the highest of the string of lakes that glitter down the vast trench of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha is infamous for its rapidly shifting moods. One minute serene and calm, the next it will be whipped by swirling winds, waves and shadowed by storm clouds - hence its name, which means ‘the place of rough water'.
Enashipai Resort and Spa - Accommodation & Facilities
• Lush tropical gardens
• 41 Executive Rooms
• Spacious Cottages offering a total 39 rooms
• 10 standard Rooms
• 1 Main Restaurant
• 1 Coffee Lounge
• 1 Main Bar and 1 Lakeside Bar
• A Fully Equipped Fitness Centre
• Heated Outdoor Swimming Pool
• A Modern Spa (opening Nov. 2011)
• Tennis/Basketball and Volleyball Court
• Modern Conference Center with secretariat facilities
• Outdoor Conference Facilities (tented by the lake)
• Lakeside Events Ground
• Business Centre
• Resort-wide Internet Facilities
• Maasai Museum
• Gift Shop
• About 2 hours drive from Nairobi
Kenya safari wildlife highlights - Lake Naivasha
Best known for its vast birdlife, Lake Naivasha showcases quite a variety of bird species. With over 400 recorded bird kinds, the lake destination flaunts an array of flamingos and pelicans, African fish eagle, kingfisher, weaverbirds, heron and jacana among many others, making it a bird watching paradise.
Wildlife featuring in the area include: waterbuck, hippo, an occasional leopard, zebra, wildebeest, lake Buffalo, impala, gazelle and other grazers, hyrax, colobus monkey, and Rothschild's giraffe, etc.
Enashipai Resort and Spa - Dining and Bar provision
The resort has a central restaurant, coffee lounge, bar and lakeside bar.
Meals are traditionally served buffet style and will include a broad selection of international and local choices. Vegetarian options are always provided by the safari lodge and children's mealtimes and menus can usually be arranged with prior notice.
Family and children on safari
Enashipai Resort & Spa welcomes children and can arrange baby-sitting upon request. Cots and extra beds provided. No age-limit for children at the safari lodge. It offers a Kids' Club with indoor play center and games room and a series of fully supervised activities.
Enashipai Resort and Spa - Conference facilities
The resort offers the Palm Conference Center, which offers event planning services, full audio visual services and teleconferencing and video conferencing. Tented conference facilities are also offered on the lake shore. Lake Naivasha is within easy driving distance of Nairobi (approximately 2 hours) and this safari lodge therefore makes a perfect out of town conference venue.
Enashipai Resort and Spa Activities
The resort offers a heated swimming pool with sundeck. There is also a fitness centre with resident instructor.
Lake Naivasha excursions include: Mountain Climbing, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Biking Bird Watching, Naivasha is home to some of the Country's key attractions e.g. Hells Gate and Mt. Longonot.
Boat trips to Crescent Island are also on offer at the Kenya safari lodge.
Wilderness and wildlife attractions
Lake Naivasha has a large population of hippos, which are regularly to be seen snorting and laughing in the shallow waters. At night, they troop out to feed on the lawns of the safari lodge and the lush grass of the riparian fringes. Vervet monkeys and olive baboons live in the woodland adjoining the south-western shore and the game corridors that run from nearby Hell's Gate NP allow buffaloes, kongonis antelopes and Masai giraffes to access the shores. As for birds, there are plenty of cormorants pelicans, herons, jacanas, long-toed plovers and weavers, while numerous warblers breed in the papyrus reed beds.
Crater Lake, an extinct volcanic crater at the western end of Lake Naivasha is thickly wooded with yellow fever tress in which troops of black and white colobus, vervet monkeys and olive baboons disport themselves. A total of 38 mammal species have been recorded here; buffalos, warthogs, Defassa waterbucks, bush bucks, Thomson's gazelles and impalas can be seen by walking around the crater, while night game drives allow sightings of spring hares, Senegal galagos, common gents, white tailed mongooses and predators such as servals and bat-eared foxes. Antelopes shelter in the dense vegetation (Kirk's dik-dik, steinbucks and elands) while the vivid green water offer sanctuary for lesser flamingos, duck and grebes.
Once the home of Joy Adamson of ‘Born Free' fame, Elsamere Conservation Centre offers a wide range of education facilities while hippos graze on the lawns at night and black and white colobus swing from the yellow fever trees. There are 200 birds species in its grounds alone. Crescent Island, the exposed lip of a submerged volcanic crater, is a good place to view zebra, waterbuck and gazelles. It is also home to the Naivasha Yacht Club. Boats can be hired at Elsamere, Fisherman's Camp and the Lake Naivasha Country Club.
What to see and do on your Kenya safari at Enashipai Resort & Spa
• Relax in the shaded poolside area.
• Walks within the grounds and down to the shores of Lake Naivasha.
• Boat trips on Lake Naivasha
• Range of day trips - Lake Nakuru National Park, Hell's Gate National Park, Lake Bogoria.
• A walk on Crater Island Private Game Sanctuary.
• Fishing for carp, tilapia and black bass
Enashipai Resort and Spa – Lake Naivasha
Kenya Safari Lodges, Tented Camps, Hotels & Resorts