Sue Allan built the first camp on this promontory above the Isupukiai River Valley in July 2005 and ran it herself, with the modest comforts and long views that made Ol Seki’s early name. Conservancy rules cap the vehicles at any sighting. Lions hunt here in front of four vehicles at most. Ten tents now line the ridge, the Koiyaki plains below and the Ngama Hills on the horizon.
Lions hunt here in front of four vehicles at most.
The camp takes its name from the ol seki, the sandpaper tree. Something of that temper survives in the way the days run here. There are no fixed departure times and no convoys, only the choice to walk, to drive after dark, or to watch the giraffes come in to the waterhole below the deck.
Eight Nina tents make up most of the camp, rebuilt in 2022 with folding glass frontages that open the bedroom to the plains. Each has a freestanding bath, indoor and outdoor showers, and a small lobby with a minibar. Morning coffee arrives through a hatch in the wall, without a knock.
In the heat of the day a breeze comes through the lattice screens.
Two private villas, Simba and Chui, each hold two en-suite bedrooms either side of a shared sitting room, with a plunge pool, a private kitchen and chef, and a guide and vehicle of their own. The 2022 renovation reworked the interiors in raffia and hand-carved mango wood. In the heat of the day a breeze comes through the lattice screens. The library tent takes the evening whisky.
The tents have been rebuilt and considerably smartened under Hemingways Collection, who took the camp on from Sue Allan in 2011, and the hilltop footprint of ten tents is no longer hers. Twenty-six guests at most share the ridge and its 270-degree views, which is part of why nothing here runs to a timetable. Dinner can be taken at the communal table, privately on a veranda, or by lantern in the Ndorobo Cave in the rock below camp, and the kitchen rearranges itself without fuss.
Lion densities across Naboisho are high, with resident prides and territorial leopards and cheetahs, so predator sightings hold through the year rather than clustering into one season. Giraffes, zebras and elephants use the waterhole in view of the deck and the pool. Rock hyraxes take the warm boards of the verandas in the middle of the day. Wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti reach the Mara between July and October, while the smaller Loita herds move through from January to March; the river crossings lie inside the National Reserve.
Hyena calls carry up from the valley and bush babies start in the cordia trees.
Guiding falls to Maasai from the surrounding communities, many of them graduates of the Koiyaki Guiding School nearby. Because Naboisho is conservancy land, guides can drive after dark for aardvarks, bat-eared foxes and hunting cats, walk out on foot to read tracks and plants, and set a mobile kitchen down on the plains for breakfast. None of that is permitted inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, where daytime drives on the road network are the rule, though balloons launch over the Reserve at first light and come down to a bush breakfast.
Children’s activities are led by Maasai guides, with spear throwing, bow and arrow making, tracking walks and face painting, while the two villas let a family keep its own timetable without waking anybody else. Other days go to horseback riding, or to a village or school nearby. Evenings gather at the fire on the sunset deck, with kerosene lanterns marking the paths back to the tents. Hyena calls carry up from the valley and bush babies start in the cordia trees. With no light pollution, the stars do the rest.
accommodation
Ten tents in all, with a maximum of twenty-six guests. Eight Nina tents are twelve-sided canvas domes on timber platforms, with folding glass fronts, freestanding baths and outdoor showers. The Simba and Chui villas each hold two bedrooms around a shared living room, with a plunge pool, a private kitchen and a butler.
activities
Game drives by day and after dark inside Naboisho, guided walks with Maasai trackers, and full-day drives into the Maasai Mara National Reserve for the river crossings in season. Dawn balloon flights over the Reserve finish with a bush breakfast. Village and school visits, horseback riding, and dinner in the Ndorobo Cave.
conservation
Lease and bed-night fees from Hemingways Ol Seki Mara reach Maasai landowners under the Naboisho conservancy model. Guides come through the Koiyaki Guiding School, and support for the Maa Trust funds women's enterprise, clean water and clinics.
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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By air. Scheduled flights run from Nairobi's Wilson airport to the Ol Seki airstrip in Naboisho, about forty-five minutes, with a short game drive to camp at the other end. A private charter, usually a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, is the alternative when timings are tight or the group is big enough to justify it.
Mara flights are circuit routes, so an intermediate landing at another strip is normal and the quoted time can stretch. Bags must be soft, at roughly fifteen kilograms a person including hand luggage.
Yes. Naboisho lies well below the 2,500 metre line that both the CDC and TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, use as the point where Kenyan malaria risk drops away, so the conservancy counts as a risk area and both bodies recommend antimalarial tablets for it.
That is a medical decision rather than a travel one, so take it with your doctor or a travel clinic and check the current guidance close to departure. The hilltop position catches the breeze, which helps, but evening cover and repellent are still worth the habit.
It leans older. The camp is unfenced on a rocky promontory and suggests six and up, and some of the tents have carried an age restriction in the past while the two villas have not. We confirm the current position with the camp for your dates rather than rely on a published line.
The two villas, each with two bedrooms round a shared living space, are the natural choice for a family, and there is a children's activity programme. Give us the ages at enquiry and we will tell you plainly whether it is the right camp or whether another in Naboisho suits you better.
Warm days, cool nights and a good deal of wind on the ridge, so the evenings feel sharper here than in camps down in the valleys. The long rains come around March to May and the short rains near November, mostly as afternoon storms. The dry months are clear and dusty.
Bring layers for the early starts and the exposed evenings, neutral colours for the walking, a hat and serious sun protection. Everything travels in soft bags for the flight.
Naboisho holds resident game all year, so this is not a camp you have to time to the migration. That said, July to October puts the wildebeest into the wider ecosystem and the reserve crossings are reachable on a full day out from here.
The quieter months have a real argument. Conservancy rules cap vehicle numbers at sightings in every season, and the green months from November and again from March bring newborn animals, strong birding and the lowest rates of the year.
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.
