Colin and Rocky Francombe bought 5,000 acres of overgrazed cattle land on the northern edge of the Laikipia Highlands, and built the first cottages by hand, living out of tents while they worked. The escarpment they chose stands high above the Ewaso Ng’iro River, and they named the place Ol Malo. Days run on horseback, on camels and on foot with Samburu guides who grew up on this land.
Leopards visit the waterhole below the lodge after dark.
A waterhole and salt lick sit directly beneath the cliff, and elephant herds, reticulated giraffe, eland and buffalo come to them in full view of the saltwater infinity pool. Leopards visit the waterhole below the lodge after dark. Guests sleep in the stone hide built beside it, on bunks, and watch what comes and goes through the night.
There are no set departure times here. Each party has its own vehicle, guide and spotter, and decides the shape of the day. Walks follow tracks, not trails, with armed Samburu guides. Horses and camels leave from the stables, and because plains game read them as grazers rather than predators, riders draw closer to Grevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe than any vehicle allows.
Walks follow tracks, not trails, with armed Samburu guides.
Night drives and off-road tracking are permitted because Ol Malo sits on private land rather than inside a national park. Andrew Francombe, Colin and Rocky’s son, flies the ranch’s helicopters, and doors-off flights reach the Suguta Valley dunes and Lake Turkana within a morning. Closer to home, the Ewaso Ng’iro carries tubers down its rapids, and mountain bikes cover the plateau.
Colin Francombe spent five decades ranching cattle, twenty-three of them managing Kuki Gallmann’s land, before he and Rocky bought 5,000 acres of exhausted grazing on the northern edge of the plateau. The domestic stock came off, the indigenous vegetation recovered, and the wildlife followed. Guests arrived into cottages the couple had built themselves. Colin and Rocky host the lodge, Andrew and his wife Chyulu run Ol Malo House and Ol Malo Nomad, and the family runs the wider ranch together, raising a third generation on it.
Ol Malo House came later. Andrew designed it and managed the build, living in a camper van on the escarpment so he could watch the work daily. The walls are local stone, the roofs hand-woven thatch, the posts and beds cut from dead olive and cedar. Inside, thatch vaults over the rooms, stone staircases spiral between floors, and the fireplaces are hand-knapped. Samburu women beaded the light fittings, and a stair climbs to a rooftop deck for the stars.
Samburu women beaded the light fittings, and a stair climbs to a rooftop deck for the stars
Julia Francombe, Colin and Rocky’s daughter, founded the Samburu Trust from the ranch in 2000. A school on Ol Malo’s grounds followed in 2003, its timetable built around families who move with their herds, and a clinic beside it handles basic care and emergencies. Laikipia’s private conservancies protect black rhino, though those sanctuaries neighbour Ol Malo rather than forming part of the ranch itself.
Beisa oryx and gerenuk browse the dry country, and striped hyena, cheetah and African wild dog hunt it, with more than 330 bird species recorded on the ranch. Elephants move through Ol Malo on routes between Mount Kenya and the deserts further north. Meals come largely from the ranch’s own gardens and cattle, eaten wherever suits, beside the pool, on a riverbank, or at a fire after dark. Children of any age are welcome. Scheduled flights from Nairobi land at Loisaba, roughly 50 minutes away by road, and private charters come in to Ol Malo’s own airstrip.
accommodation
Four hand-built stone cottages stand along the cliff edge at Ol Malo Lodge, each with a king bed, an open fireplace, a dressing room, a veranda and a sunken bath, and one set up for families. Ol Malo House, taken on an exclusive-use basis, sleeps up to twelve, three bedrooms in the main house and two further cottages on the escarpment.
activities
Riding and camel safaris leave from the stables, walking is led by Samburu guides, and game drives run by day and after dark on private land rather than under national park rules. Add mountain biking, tubing on the Ewaso Ng'iro, sleepouts in the treehouse or the leopard hide, and helicopter flights north from Ol Malo Lodge towards Lake Turkana.
conservation
The Samburu Trust, founded by Julia Francombe in 2000 and run from the ranch, supports water, health and education across Samburu communities. Its school on Ol Malo's land, opened in 2003, teaches children from pastoralist families, its clinic covers emergencies, and its beading workshop pays Samburu women for their own design work.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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There is a private airstrip at Ol Malo, which is the simplest arrival and takes a charter directly. On the shared scheduled services you fly to Loisaba instead and drive around forty five minutes across the escarpment country.
We cost both at enquiry, and with only four rooms a charter often makes sense for the party as a whole. Soft bags for either, around fifteen kilograms a person.
Officially, yes. Both TravelHealthPro, which carries the UK's official travel health advice, and the CDC put the altitude above which Kenyan malaria risk falls away at 2,500 metres, and Laikipia sits below that line, so both class it as a risk area and recommend antimalarial tablets.
We do not make medical recommendations. That is a conversation between you and your own doctor or a travel clinic, who know your history and can weigh it properly. We are travel planners, not medical professionals, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
Yes, all ages are taken and child-minding can be arranged at extra cost. It is a family ranch run by a third generation, and it is used to families.
With four rooms, a family or a group of friends often takes the whole place, which is the way it works best: no fixed mealtimes, no other guests, and the days shaped around whoever is there. Tell us the ages and the party size and we will tell you whether exclusive use is worth it.
Warm, dry days and cold nights on the escarpment, with strong equatorial sun in the middle of the day. The long rains come around April and May and the short rains in November, with dry months in between.
Bring proper warm layers for the early starts and the evenings, neutral colours, a hat and strong sun protection, and closed shoes with grip for the walking and the camel work. Swimwear for the pool above the Ewaso Ng'iro.
There is, in the lodge and the rooms, but the signal is intermittent and should not be relied on for anything time-critical.
That is normal for this part of Laikipia. If you need to be reachable at a particular time while you are there, tell us before you travel and we will set it up with the lodge rather than leave it to chance.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
