Lake Naivasha Crescent Camp

You stay in one of twenty canvas tents on the shore of Lake Naivasha, raised on wooden platforms under acacia trees where birds nest. The tents have wooden floors and en-suite bathrooms with hot water; from your balcony you watch the lake and the cows that graze here, each trailed by white egrets picking ticks from their hides. At dusk the hippos come out to browse along the water's edge.

The camp runs guided walks through the acacia groves and arranges boat trips to Crescent Island, an hour across the water where more wildlife gathers. Back at camp, a swimming pool sits under the trees — birds sometimes dive in to cool off — and there is a bar with a pool table for evenings. Meals come from a kitchen that will cook fish you catch in the lake.

The tents are safari-themed but built for comfort, with four-poster beds and space to move freely inside and out. The camp sits ninety minutes by road from Nairobi, in the Rift Valley where the land drops away to the water.