Our story…

The true inspiration for Punda Milias dates back to when Karoma Kimani was working at the charming Sirocco House in Naivasha, where he was born.  When he started doing guided safaris for the Douglas-Hamilton’s, which strengthened his joy and appreciation of the natural world. It was these intertwined events that planted a seed that would blossom into him becoming a world-class overlanding tour operator, with a new passion for wildlife photography and owning a beautiful safari lodge of his own in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.

In 1997 Karoma broke away from the farm to start guiding overlanding safaris. His “keep-it-real” attitude and the genuine fun and openness he had with his clients quickly gave him a stellar reputation as a top tour guide. During the late 90’s he worked for some of the most renowned overlanding companies in the business, such as Kumuka Overlanding Tours and Absolute Africa. In 2005 he started building his own overlanding trucks for his own tours. Impressively, all the trucks and 4x4’s in his fleet were built under his direction, some even from scratch.  He moved to New Zealand where he founded “The African Touch” and gained clients from New Zealand and Australia.

By 2006 Karoma was ready to put down his roots and bought land which sub-divided by Soysambu and build a permanent camp for himself. The name of the lodge “Punda Milias” means zebra in Ki-Swahili and is owed to the large herds that can be found on the plains that surround the camp. The goal behind the lodge was to create a cool hangout and stopover oasis for his friends, overlanding guests and other travellers on their own adventures. All the buildings you see are Karoma’s own ideas and designs, which gives the lodge a very unique, rustic aesthetic. You are certain to experience nothing like it anywhere else!