The engines make no noise at Emboo Camp. Every vehicle in the fleet is electric, old Land Rovers and Land Cruisers converted and charged by solar panels ranged across camp, and Emboo was the first in Kenya to do this to its whole fleet. On a game drive the loudest sound is often the wind moving through the grass, then the footfall of a lion crossing in front of the bonnet.
The guides say the silence hands the bush back to you.
Without the diesel rattle that vehicles usually carry across the plains, the animals behave differently. Lions stay settled and cheetahs go on hunting. Elephants graze in close instead of moving off. The guides say the silence hands the bush back to you. Birdcall, the grunt of a hippo, the sound of an animal working through the grass: all of it returns where an engine would have drowned it out.
Fig and ebony trees shade the tents, raised on timber decks along the bank of the Talek, each porch looking straight onto the water. Hippos surface through the day and grunt into the night. Emboo is folded into forest rather than out on the open plains, and a well-known wildebeest crossing point lies a short drive away, busy through the July to October migration.
Hippos surface through the day and grunt into the night.
The kitchen works vegan-first, its menu built entirely around plants, with meat brought out on request. Most produce comes from the camp’s own organic and hydroponic gardens, a few steps from the mess tent, and the food waste feeds a biogas unit that powers the stoves. Meals arrive where you want them, on the riverside deck or out in the savannah, and the fire is lit before dinner.
Emboo calls itself the first carbon-neutral camp in the Maasai Mara, and the claim rests on a closed system instead of offset accounting. The camp runs entirely on solar power with no backup generator. Wastewater is filtered biologically and returned to use, food waste is converted into cooking fuel, and a tree-planting programme covers what is left. Guests can walk the whole system on an eco-tour, from the gardens to the water treatment to the vehicle charging, and see for themselves how little the camp takes and how much of it comes back around into use.
William Partois Ole Santian grew up in the nearby Lemek community. In 2019 he co-founded Emboo with a small group of friends set on building a genuinely sustainable camp from the ground up, and the hiring has followed the same intent. Around half the staff are women, working as guides and managers and in security roles that camps in the Mara rarely fill this way. In December 2025 the camp came under new long-term stewardship, the existing team staying in place, with the same operational systems and training behind them.
Mornings bring mist lifting off the water and birdsong through the canopy.
Emboo lies inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve rather than a private conservancy, on a forested bend of the Talek that gives it a cooler, greener feel than the open-plains lodges elsewhere in the reserve. Mornings bring mist lifting off the water and birdsong through the canopy. The forest shelters more than 100 recorded bird and wildlife species, the Narina Trogon and the double-toothed barbet among them. Elephants and buffalo move through the grounds, and after dark the lions can be heard calling from the far bank.
Game drives keep to the reserve’s designated road network, in keeping with the rules that apply across the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Ranger-led walking safaris run in partnership with the Mara Elephant Project, and visits with the local Maasai community turn on tracking, medicinal plant knowledge and daily life, never staged performance. Hot-air balloon flights and garden sessions with the chefs fill the hours between drives, and back in camp there is a natural pool, and a photography studio with its own editing suite for working through the day’s images.
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accommodation
Eight to twelve tented suites line the Talek on raised timber decks, each with a private porch and canvas and mesh walls that roll up to the river. There are river rooms, larger suites, a family tent with two en-suite bedrooms and a photo studio fitted for editing. The furniture is handmade, the colours drawn from the lilac-breasted roller.
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activities
Game drives at Emboo Camp run inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve in silent, solar-charged electric vehicles, following the reserve's designated roads. Ranger-led walking safaris operate in partnership with the Mara Elephant Project, and visits with the local Maasai community cover tracking and medicinal plant knowledge. Hot-air balloon safaris, hydroponic garden sessions with the chefs, and a natural pool round out the days.
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conservation
Emboo Camp runs entirely on solar power with no backup generator and filters and reuses its wastewater. Organic and hydroponic gardens supply the kitchen, and a biogas unit converts food waste into cooking fuel. The camp partners with the Mara Elephant Project, employs largely local staff with women filling roughly half of all roles, and runs a tree-planting programme to offset carbon.
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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The flight from Nairobi's Wilson airport to Ol Kiombo airstrip takes about forty-five minutes to an hour, and the camp then meets you for a twenty minute transfer to the river, included in the stay. We handle the scheduled bookings, and for complete flexibility we can put you on a private charter instead, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12.
Pack in soft bags of no more than about fifteen kilograms per person, hand luggage included, because that is the rule on the light aircraft. Nairobi is also reachable overland, five to six hours by road.
Yes. At around 1,500 to 1,700 metres the Mara sits below 2,500 metres, the height at which the CDC and the UK's official travel health advice both judge malaria risk to fall right away, so tablets are usually advised for this safari, and the risk strengthens after rain.
Speak to a travel clinic or your doctor close to departure for the current recommendation, then let the tents' mesh and your own repellent handle the evenings.
The forest along the river keeps Emboo a touch cooler and greener than the open plains, with warm days, crisp early mornings, long rains from about March to May and a shorter wet spell around November. The dry months run June to October and again through the turn of the year.
A warm layer and a windproof for dawn drives, neutral colours, serious sun protection and a light waterproof in the rainy months will see you through, all packed soft for the flights. Binoculars repay themselves quickly in a forest with this much birdlife.
Emboo stays open all year, which not every Mara camp does, so the question is really about what you want. July to October is the migration window, when the crossing traffic on this stretch of the Talek is at its busiest, August tends to bring the peak, and those dates need booking well ahead.
November and March to May are the green months, quiet and lush, with newborn plains game, the forest birdlife in full voice, and the resident big cats still working the reserve after the wildebeest have gone.
No. The fleet recharges from the camp's own solar power between outings and does everything a diesel camp offers, including full day drives across the reserve in migration season, so you give up nothing in range and gain the silence.
The same solar array powers the rest of the camp. Worth knowing before you arrive: the wifi is limited, so a stay here suits switching off rather than working through.
Children aged five and older are welcome. The family tent pairs two separate bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, behind a shared entrance, and the pool earns its keep with children between drives.
The camp is unfenced and wildlife moves through it, so children need supervising around camp and nobody walks the paths alone after dark. Tell us the ages when we plan and we will set the pace of the days to match.
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.
