At last, here’s a resort that is built out of nature

“Olepangi was like our child, a fierce determination for it to succeed,” states Elizabeth Loker. In 2011, she and her husband Clinton Lucy, both keen polo players began looking for a place to call home, and where they could keep their horses and pursue their love of riding. Having played polo often in Timau, they put the word out. “It has the best weather and is not far from Nairobi for weekends,” Loker quips.

“The farmers here, mostly small-scale Kikuyu land-owners thought we were just a crazy mzungu couple wanting to buy land that was mostly rocky and nothing growing. They kept the fertile fields by the river and sold us their unwanted bits of land.”

The original idea was to turn Olepangi into a base for horse-back safaris in the midst of the wildlife-rich Laikipia. 

Loker invited Elizabeth Calabrese, her friend from university days to help think about design. Calabrese is a leading architect and educator in biophilic design, author of several books and her own consultancy, who takes an “eco-system” approach to architecture. Loker explains ‘biophilic design’, a term I am unaware of.

“It is an approach to architecture that seeks to connect building with nature,” she explains. “Inherent in this space is a connection with yourself.”

Biophilic-designed buildings incorporate things like natural landscape features, natural lighting and ventilation and other elements for creating a more productive and healthy built environment for people. 

Olepangi

In a few years, the couple turned Olepangi into a beautiful home, lodge and a working farm with their prized horses nicely settled in. The word Olepangi is the Maa word for the indigenous tree, the beautiful Erythrina abyssinica or the red-hot poker tree, which when in flower fills the skies with vibrant dashes of red and orange.

At breakfast in the open-floor spacious pool house which doubles up as the dining, bar, lounge with a pert paisley infinity pool, the tiny bush across the valley moves. What I thought was a bush turns out to be an elephant. He fades away into the horizon with promise of more in the private wildlife conservancy with the Lolldaiga Hills stretched along.

 Below us, the land flows down the valley to the stream that springs out of the earth nearby, shaded by one of the biggest and oldest mugumo(fig) trees.  

Following the path to it, we stop at the Party House, the glass doors opening to a sun-filled room with a vast collection of arts and books from travels around the world.

Again, it’s built with the ethos of biophylia. “As a species, we evolved from living in caves,” continues Loker. “Safe in a cave, there was a wall against your back, perched high up looking down a valley or along the landscape, you could see into the distance for any danger, it was near water and fire.

“So the Party House follows these principles. It’s a space that connects – the books, the long view, the space, beauty and safety.”

Down at the base of the mugumo by the stream, a cluster of flowering white orchids have taken root up there. The afternoon passes and night arrives. Dinner – a three-course affair – follows by the fire place in the Party House.

The morning is clear and at breakfast that’s a hearty meal of fresh fruits, home-baked breads, eggs and more, the gallery across shows the rare mammals of Laikipia – the Reticulated giraffes, Grevy’s zebra and our erstwhile herd of elephants.

The stairs by the open-window kitchen lead to the upper deck – and it’s an OMG moment. God’s mountain pops up, clear with the three peaks and dashes of white snow on the slopes. It’s Mount Kenya in all her splendour. 

It’s a beautiful day to walk. A path leads to the horse stables, cobbled with fresh hay for the equids. The chestnut-coloured mares and geldings are brought in from the fields by their handlers. They share space with the chickens, while the Jersey cows munch on lush green pastures. They provide fresh milk, cream and butter.

The stables lead to the vegetable farm. It’s Loker’s pride bursting with huge leaves of spinach, kale, strawberries and others in season and then a profusion of colours of the flowers followed by the beehives hanging from the trees.  

“It’s all organic, we don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We want our food to be healthy,” tells Loker. Her plan is now to build an open-air dining room and library in the vegetable farm – first, as a proud farmer to show off her produce and secondly, to connect people with the food they are eating. 

It’s been a journey of love lost and found. When life felt like paradise, Loker lost the love of her life in a tragic end, two years ago. She grieved mightily, yet moved forward with Olepangi, born out of their love.

Now, in recent times, she has found love again. She paraphrases loosely from a poem by John O’Donoghue, “so, we are not moving on, we are moving forward with beautiful memories to act as an invisible cloak of love to mind our lives.”

“Kier is the continuation of the story,” says Loker looking over the horizon.

Read more on: https://www.olepangifarm.com/

The farm has spaciously thatched rooms dotted around the main pool house. It also has a secret bush garden for a massage.  

Loker also lets out her private house. When I write about the 10 most beautiful homes, this will be one of them. It’s a 4-hour drive via Nanyuki from Nairobi. It’s an easy one-hour drive to Lolldaiga Hills, Ol Pejeta, Lewa, Ngare Ndare for day trips.

Look out for Loker’s women empowerment events.

www.rupitheafricantrotter.com

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