The Macfarlane Family
Sophie and Calum Macfarlane and their young family have roots on Lewa which go back over five generations, from Sophie’s great grandfather - Alec Douglas, (their children’s great great grandfather), who was instrumental in conserving wildlife . Before Alec handed over the ranch to Sophie’s grandparents, David and Delia Craig, he made them promise they would always leave space for the wildlife. Sophie's grandparents were innovative in establishing tourism on private land in Kenya with their tented camp, Wilderness Trails, and it was here that Sophie spent every school holidays working with them and watching hospitality in action.
Sophie went to university in Edinburgh where mutual friends introduced her to Calum. Calum had studied Zoology at university and at the time was working at a specialist African tour operator. Since then he has also attained his Field Guide Association of Southern Africa guiding qualification and now leads the majority of the walks at Lewa House. Calum and Sophie moved to Kenya in 2008 and spent four years running a luxury tented camp in the Masai Mara when in 2012 an opportunity arose to take over management of Lewa House. They moved to Lewa where they have been ever since, making it their home.
Sophie and Calum have two children, Seiya and Archie, who have an enviable childhood, growing up amongst the wildlife that their great grandfather made room for.
“Lewa was my family’s cattle ranch. My great grandfather came here in the early part of the century. He left us as a family, a legacy that has become the cutting edge solution spearheading conservation ideas. “Leave space for wildlife”, that was the way he summed up his philosophy and I think it’s just a beautiful summation of how everything is a network and we are just one little spot on that network and what we do has an enormous effect
that ripples out around us. ”
