Review: Solio Lodge, Laikipia, Kenya
Sundowner Safaris | January 2026Rating: 4.6 / 5“The closest you’ll get to walking with dinosaurs.”
Introduction
Solio Lodge is one of the most unique safari experiences in East Africa. Situated on the Solio Game Reserve in Laikipia, Kenya — tucked in the valley between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains — this is not your typical Big Five safari camp. Solio exists for one reason above all else: rhinos. And it delivers that experience in a way that nothing else in Africa comes close to matching.
We stayed two nights in the family unit (Cottages 5 and 6) in mid-January 2026, traveling as a group of three — Reza, Samar, and our business partner Benson, a longtime safari guide whose perspective adds a different lens to every property we review. Solio Lodge is a Safari Collection property with just six cottages, making it a small, intimate camp. It is currently the only accommodation on the 45,000-acre Solio Game Reserve, though a JW Marriott property with 20 tented suites is expected to open in July 2026, which will change the exclusivity dynamic on the reserve.
The conservancy is home to an astonishing 600–800 white rhinos and approximately 100 black rhinos, making it one of the largest private rhino populations in the world. Solio holds roughly 85% of Kenya’s white rhino population and 30% of its black rhino population. These are not numbers you will find anywhere else, and they define everything about a stay here.
Getting There
We chartered a Tropic Air flight from &Beyond Suyian, our previous stop in Laikipia. The flight was approximately 30–35 minutes and fairly bumpy in the midday heat. About three-quarters of the way to Solio, a large bird struck the windshield and cracked it. The poor bird did not survive, but the pilot handled the situation with complete composure and continued on to our destination without incident. It was a dramatic start to what would be an unforgettable stay.
The airstrip at Solio is just outside the reserve, approximately 15 minutes from camp. For clients who prefer scheduled flights, Nanyuki Airport is about an hour away by car and operates frequent service to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. Private charters can fly directly to the Solio airstrip.
Upon arrival at the reserve, we stopped at the main gate about two minutes from the airstrip to register. Solio is a private conservancy, so copies of passports are required for registration. Conservancy fees are included in bookings made through Sundowner Safaris. At the gate, we also booked our time slot at the rhino orphanage for the following morning — more on that later.
About 15 minutes later, we arrived at camp and were met by the wonderful staff and management team, including camp manager Tess, who all introduced themselves and welcomed us with refreshing cold towels and beverages. The welcome was warm, genuine, and set the tone for a fantastic stay.
Setting & Location
Solio Lodge Imagery
Despite both being in Laikipia, Solio’s terrain is dramatically different from the drier landscape at &Beyond Suyian. Solio is very green, with rich soils and a mix of grasslands and acacia woodland. The lush setting is immediately striking and provides a beautiful backdrop for wildlife viewing.
The views of Mount Kenya are stunning, particularly in the mornings before the clouds roll in and obscure the summit. You cannot see the mountain from the rooms, but out on the reserve it is a spectacular sight. The conservancy sits at a higher elevation, which keeps temperatures cooler than other parts of Kenya — though during our January visit it was still warm enough that we never needed the in-room fireplace.
The reserve itself is a 19,000-acre core conservancy surrounded by the broader 45,000-acre Solio Ranch. It feels like a good size — not as expansive as some of the larger reserves, but this is intentional. Solio is laser-focused on rhino conservation, and that focus is evident in everything about the property. The conservancy was established in 1970 as Kenya’s first private rhino sanctuary and has been instrumental in breeding and reintroducing rhinos across East Africa.
Because Solio is a reserve, vehicles that are not staying at the lodge can enter for day visits. During our stay, we saw a few other vehicles here and there, but overall it felt private and there were no issues with crowding. Guests can off-road throughout the entire conservancy, which is a significant advantage for getting close to wildlife.
Facilities
Solio Lodge Imagery
Solio Lodge is a small, intimate camp — and that is exactly what we love about it. With only six cottages, it feels exclusive without being pretentious, a refreshing contrast to the larger corporate lodges.
The main lodge area has a warm, inviting feel with plenty of spaces to settle into. Inside, there are fireplaces that are lit for pre-dinner and post-dinner drinks, along with a bar and the dining area where dinner is served. The outside area is used for lunch and daytime relaxation. During the day, we would either spend time in our room or outside in the main area having lunch and unwinding. In the evenings, the rhythm shifted indoors with cocktails by the fire before and after dinner.
There is no pool at Solio Lodge — worth noting for guests who consider that a must-have. There is a sauna on-site, though we didn’t use it during our stay. But honestly, between the game drives, the orphanage visits, and simply watching wildlife from camp, we never missed the pool.
Room
We stayed in the family unit (see video), which is made up of Cottages 5 and 6 interconnected by a shared lounge area. Benson took the attached twin room, and Samar and I took the larger double room. The setup was perfect for the three of us — more space than anyone really needs, with a huge sofa in the shared living area and a huge outdoor deck.
A smart design feature is that each bedroom has both an internal door (through the shared lounge) and an external door with separate outside access. This means you can come and go without disturbing each other — ideal for families or small groups traveling together.
The rooms are spacious with floor-to-ceiling windows, and each has its own fireplace, though we did not use ours given the January warmth. The en-suite bathrooms are large, with double sinks, freestanding bathtubs, and walk-in rain showers — they also include water-conservation buckets for the shower, a thoughtful sustainability touch. Small details landed well: real plants in the room give it a homey, lived-in feel (in a good way), the patio is spacious and genuinely usable, and the big windows make the room feel even larger than it is. The views from the room were beautiful — looking out over the bush, and at times we could see animals walking past on their way to the nearby watering hole. Sitting on the patio allowed for excellent wildlife viewing right from the room.
One small layout note on the family unit: the shared living space isn’t fully separated from the larger of the two bedrooms, which can make it harder for one party to have downtime while the other is using the lounge. Fully partitioning the lounge would make the unit work better for multigenerational groups. As is, it’s still very comfortable — just worth knowing.
The other four cottages (1 through 4) can be configured as doubles or twins, with Cottages 1 and 6 being doubles only. For guests with mobility concerns, Cottage 3 is the best option as it is the most accessible.
Food
Food rating: 8 out of 10, with a strong emphasis on the bush breakfasts and lunches.
The bush breakfast was, without question, the most amazing bush breakfast we have ever had — and it was not just because of the food. Our guide picked a fantastic spot under a tree and cooked for us on the spot: fresh pancakes, eggs, bacon, and everything you would expect, all prepared right there. But what made it truly life-changing was the setting. We sat there for over an hour with 10–12 rhinos grazing just 15–20 feet (5–6 meters) away from us. Watching their behaviors, the way they interacted with each other — it was mesmerizing. We may be Sundowner Safaris, but when there are rhinos at your feet, even we skip the sundowner.
One important caveat worth setting before any guest gets their hopes up: the rhinos are wild, and proximity like that isn’t guaranteed. We got extraordinarily lucky with where we set up and what came through that morning. Solio’s density makes the odds genuinely high — better than anywhere else in Africa — but no lodge can promise wild rhinos in your lap. Your guide’s read of where the herd is moving on any given morning matters as much as the lodge itself.
Lunch was served outside and was a delicious tapas-style spread — light, fresh, and perfect for the warm midday weather. Samar wanted to be in the shade, so they set up a table for us under a tree without hesitation. Dinner was served inside the main lodge as a three-course meal. Worth flagging: dinner is essentially a set menu rather than a choose-your-own, so you eat what the kitchen prepares that night. On our first night the pork was a little fatty — not bad, but not a highlight — and the dinners were overall not our personal favorite meal of the day. That said, there was plenty of wonderful food and the quality was consistently good. Guests with strong dietary preferences should flag them at booking so the kitchen can plan around them.
The lodge is all-inclusive, with a great selection of drinks and beverages included in the rate. They also handled Benson’s low-sugar dietary needs without any issues.
Service
Service was very attentive, with staff always around and available. It is important to set expectations here: although Solio is luxurious, it is not trying to be an over-the-top, ultra-luxury experience like a premier-level Wilderness, &Beyond, or Great Plains property. And that is perfectly fine — it does not pretend to be something it is not, which we respect.
Camp manager Tess was fantastic. She was available, genuinely cared about the guests, and had her finger on the pulse of the entire camp. Her presence and attention to detail made a noticeable difference. She also had a wonderful dog named Bailey who would wander around camp and pay visits to guests — an unexpectedly charming touch that added warmth to the whole experience.
The lodge communicated with us before arrival to learn our preferences, and there were no service hiccups during our stay. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish.
Activities & Guiding
This is where Solio truly shines. Every room at Solio Lodge comes with its own exclusive 4x4 vehicle and professional safari guide for the duration of your stay. This means your schedule is entirely up to you — you decide when to leave, where to go, how long to stay, and what to skip. We loved this flexibility and took full advantage of it.
Our typical day started with an early wake-up around 5:30 AM, out of camp by 6:00–6:30, heading first to the rhino orphanage for our 7:00 AM slot. After about an hour at the orphanage, we would head directly into a game drive and had our incredible bush breakfast out on the reserve. We were typically back at camp by 10:30–11:00, followed by lunch around 1:00 PM, afternoon tea at 4:00 PM, and then back out for an evening game drive.
The rhino viewing on game drives was extraordinary. Being able to see hundreds of white rhinos and over a hundred black rhinos is something most people never get to experience. The game vehicles at Solio also feature rooftop seating, which provides an amazing elevated perspective for viewing and photography.
One encounter that stands out was watching a mother rhino protecting her baby as a pride of about six lions was nearby. A male and female lion were trying to spend time together, possibly looking to mate, and the rhinos simply walked through and pushed the lions out of the way. These are the kinds of interactions you do not see anywhere else, and they are only possible because of the sheer density of rhinos on this conservancy. Even Benson, who has been guiding for decades across Africa, was genuinely impressed by the behaviors and interactions we witnessed.
One other thing that makes Solio genuinely unusual: because the rhino population is so dense, you see them in actual social groupings rather than the isolated individuals or pairs you find at almost every other reserve. Family dynamics — mothers with calves, juveniles testing each other, bulls keeping a wary distance — play out in front of you the way you would expect with elephant or lion, but almost never get to observe with rhino. For anyone who has been on safari before, that alone is worth the trip.
Beyond rhinos and lions, the conservancy is home to giraffe, zebra, buffalo, hyenas, leopards, and numerous antelope species. Birdlife is also abundant. Elephants and cheetahs are not found on the reserve.
The Rhino Orphanage
The Solio Rhino Orphanage is located just five minutes from the lodge and is a rescue and rehabilitation center for abandoned baby rhinos found on the reserve. You book your time slot separately — we did this at the main gate upon arrival. Feeding times run every two hours from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The Interaction & Feeding experience costs $75 per person (there is also a viewing-only option at $20 per person). We chose the 7:00 AM slot, which was recommended as the most unique because you get to feed the slightly older rhinos (around two years old) before they head out to graze for the day.
The visit was about an hour long. When we booked, it was just our group — a private, exclusive experience. The staff walked us around the entire orphanage and introduced us to every animal individually. We fed approximately 10 rhinos, two young zebras (about seven and eight months old), a Thomson’s gazelle (I was personally thrilled — I love impalas), and saw a kudu that was also being rehabilitated. All of these animals are being cared for with the goal of rewilding them back into the conservancy. We even got to see the area where they perform veterinary surgeries.
The orphanage is a must-do for every client staying at Solio. I would recommend it to any Sundowner client without hesitation. We are always very careful about sending people to activities where you are touching wild animals, but Solio handles this in a responsible, respectful way that supports genuine conservation. The early morning slot also worked perfectly with our schedule, leaving the rest of the day open for game drives.
Solio also offers other activities that we did not personally experience, including horse riding, cycling, guided nature walks, and visits to a nearby rose farm and coffee plantation.
A note on guiding: our guide was competent and knowledgeable about rhinos and the conservancy. While not the most memorable guide we have had on our travels, he got the job done and we had no complaints.
The Good
Unmatched rhino experience — 600–800 white and ~100 black rhinos. Nothing else in Africa comes close.
The rhino orphanage — a must-do, responsibly managed, and deeply moving at $75 per person
Life-changing bush breakfast — freshly cooked by your guide with 10–12 rhinos just 15–20 feet (5–6 meters) away
Private vehicle and guide per group — total flexibility to design your own schedule
Rooftop seating on game vehicles — incredible elevated perspective for viewing and photography
Tess as camp manager — genuinely engaged, attentive, and had her finger on the pulse of the entire camp
Bailey the camp dog — an unexpectedly charming addition to the experience
Intimate size — only six cottages, exclusive and personal without being pretentious
Mount Kenya views — stunning in the mornings before the clouds roll in
Full off-road access throughout the entire conservancy
Conservation story — Kenya’s oldest private rhino sanctuary, established in 1970, with a meaningful mission
The Bad
Not ultra-luxury — Solio is very nice but does not compete with premier-level Wilderness, &Beyond, or Great Plains properties on the luxury scale. If over-the-top luxury is what you are after, there are better options.
No pool — some clients will miss this, especially during warmer months
Day visitors on the reserve — because Solio is a reserve, non-guest vehicles can enter for day visits. We did not find this to be an issue, but it is worth knowing.
JW Marriott opening in 2026 — a 20-tent Marriott property is expected to open on the reserve, which will add more vehicles and may affect the feeling of exclusivity
No elephants or cheetahs — the conservancy does not have these species, so clients seeking a full Big Five experience will need to pair Solio with another destination
Conclusion
Solio Lodge is for anyone who wants a truly interactive wildlife experience centered around conservation. The rhinos here are prehistoric — they are the dinosaurs we still have — and being able to see how they behave, how they interact with each other and with predators, and how the conservancy is working to protect and grow their population is something profoundly special.
If you are interested in rhinos, in conservation, in the rewilding mission, and in having the rare opportunity to touch and feed these incredible creatures at the orphanage in a responsible and ethical way, Solio is the place to go. The bush breakfast with rhinos at your feet is something we will never forget, and the lion-rhino encounter was the kind of moment that reminds you why you do this work.
We would recommend two to three nights, with three being ideal to fully take advantage of the orphanage (we would visit twice), the game drives, and the additional activities on offer. For itinerary pairing, we would suggest combining Solio with a stay in the Masai Mara ecosystem — ideally one of the private concessions like Mara North or Naboisho — and, if possible, ending at Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. That combination creates a once-in-a-lifetime Kenya safari.
We missed the rhinos the second we left. The sounds they make, how close they would get to the vehicle, the time we got to spend with them — Solio delivers an experience that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else.
Best for: Families, first-time safari goers, and anyone who wants to spend real time with rhinos.
Rating4.6 out of 5“The closest you’ll get to walking with dinosaurs.”Sundowner Safarissundownersafaris.comWant to see Solio Lodge in action? Photos can only tell part of the story. We've shared three videos from our stay, including a full look at the lodge experience, a visit to the inspiring Solio Rhino Orphanage, and an unforgettable bush breakfast surrounded by wild rhinos. Watch them below to experience Solio for yourself.
