Our History

Established in 2003 by a group of friends (writer and journalist Riccardo Orizio, who had been dreaming of setting up his own Africa dream for 20 years, businessmen Paolo Barberis Canonico and Davide Barberis Canonico, doctor Pia-Sophie Wool) who shared a passion for Africa, Saruni is today a company that own and runs three properties: Saruni, a stunning 6-cottages lodge in the Maasai Mara, with a maximum of 12 guests the only small lodge of the Mara; Saruni Samburu, a 5 villas/16 beds lodge in Samburu, currently considered probably the most beautiful and innovative lodge in Kenya; Saruni Wild, a 3-tents only private camp in the Masai Mara.

In total, we employ 80 people and provide the communities with hundreds of thousands of dollars in income every year. The team is led by Riccardo and by managers Marcus (Masai Mara) and Andrea (Samburu). We believe that Africa needs not only charity and emergency help, but honest, transparent, community-supportive entrepreneurship, where profits are made and used to create jobs and professional opportunities and to provide the people who own the land where wildlife is with equitable income. We have been founding members of Mara North Conservancy, the most ambitious conservation project in the Masai Mara.