Sandai Homestay and Cottages

Sandai Homestay and Cottages is truly a great place to get away from it all and see a beautiful part of Kenya.

I travelled to Nyeri with two friends in November with the intention of visiting Aberdare National Park and chose Sandai as a cheaper option that many of the other hotels advertised and we weren't disappointed!

Sandai is a 45 minute drive from Nyeri and located in the middle of nowhere,

however it is the location which is one of its greatest assets.

It sits nestled in the foothills of Mount Kenya and Aberdare National Park with fantastic views and peace and quiet.

We took a matatu from Nairobi to Nyeri (approx 3 hours), so Petra - the owner of Sandai - arranged for one of her drivers to collect us in their 4WD vehicle at a cost of KSH 2000.

On arrival we received a warm welcome from Petra (and her four dogs!) with tea and coffee in the lounge and lunch on the table.

Tea and coffee was on tap all afternoon with amazing home made cakes. Accommodation is on a full board basis and the food is great - all home made and fresh.

Eating is on a communal basis in the dining room, which I wouldn't ordinarily choose, however it was such a nice friendly and sociable atmosphere that you felt part of the family and had good fun!

The rooms were all lovely and very spacious. There is a choice of rooms in the main house (which I would recommend as they are in the eaves of the house and have great views over the countryside), with a shared bathroom, or individual cottages just outside the main house with a double and single bed (both with mosquito nets) and ensuite bathroom.

Electricity is provided via a generator so is only available in the evenings and we only had cold water, however understand that there is hot water available once the power gets going. Despite this it didn't dampen our stay at all.

There is lots to do from Sandai. A variety of safaris are offered - we went to Sweetwaters Park, which is a 2 hour drive away. Its not the most amazing safari, but we chose it as we wanted to visit the Jane Goodall Chimp Sanctuary.

Sandai arranged all of this for us including a picnic lunch which we had in the bush. Horse riding safaris are also offered -

horses are owned by Sandai and very well looked after. Unfortunately we weren't able to do this as it was raining so hard, but am considering going back again in the future....any excuse!

All in all we really enjoyed our stay at Sandai and would highly recommend it to anybody wanting a peaceful stay off the busy tourist trail!