andBeyond SUYIAN LODGE Suyian means wild dog in the Samburu language. The lodge that borrowed the name opened in July 2025 as the first and only property on the 44,000-acre Suyian Conservancy, high on Kenya's Laikipia Plateau. Laikipia holds a heavier concentration of wildlife than anywhere in the country outside the Maasai Mara yet receives a fraction of its visitors, which makes this a privileged address for those in the know. Guests arrive by a 45-minute flight from Nairobi's Wilson Airport, Mount Kenya silhouetted on the horizon, followed by a 45-minute drive across the plateau.

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Michaelis Boyd and Nicholas Plewman Architects designed the buildings, with interiors by Fox Browne Creative, in a style andBeyond calls Afro Wabi-Sabi: natural materials, earthy textures and a taste for beauty in imperfection. Domed ceilings echo the granite kopjes that punctuate the conservancy. The 14 suites, one of them a family suite, pair floor-to-ceiling glass with private plunge pools and verandas facing Mount Kenya, while inside, pieces by Kenyan makers sit alongside Samburu beadwork and bronze detailing. Green roofs help the buildings recede into the escarpment, and the whole operation runs off-grid on solar power.

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In the kitchen, Chef Oscar, who trained in Cape Town's finest restaurants, changes the menu daily around produce from the lodge garden and the surrounding highlands. Dinner is often served under the stars, and the occasional Swahili night runs late.

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Because the conservancy is private, with andBeyond holding sole tourism rights, activities go well past the standard game drive: night drives, off-road tracking, camel walks, horseback safaris and helicopter excursions, plus mornings spent walking with Samburu herders across the grazing lands. Sightings skew rare, from Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe to the wild dog that gave the place its name and Laikipia's celebrated melanistic leopard. A photo-editing suite off the main lounge, the Black Leopard Room, exists for the day a guest actually gets the shot. More than 70 per cent of the staff come from the four partner communities that ring the conservancy.

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The land itself was a cattle ranch, rewilded over decades and now owned by the Suyian Conservancy Trust with oversight from the conservation charity Space for Giants. With no other lodge on the concession, guests have the 44,000 acres entirely to themselves, black leopard included.