Mara Toto Tree Camp holds four canvas suites built into the crowns of ebony trees on a bend of the Ntiakitiak River in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, reached along timber walkways between the trunks. Leopards pass beneath the walkways; lions call at night. Eight guests stay here at most, one of the smallest camps in the region, and only game drives bring anyone back to the ground.
Leopards pass beneath the walkways; lions call at night.
An earlier camp stood on this same bend at ground level, and the Ntiakitiak spilled its banks often enough to close it for parts of the year. Dereck and Beverly Joubert are filmmakers and conservationists. They founded Great Plains Conservation and designed the camp themselves. In 2024 they rebuilt it upward, platforms, walkways and bathrooms lifted clear of the flood line, with no tree cut to do it.
Each suite comes with a professional camera and lenses to use for the stay, along with binoculars, and the images are downloaded for guests to take home at the end. Game drives run in open-sided Land Cruisers built for photographers, with a fold-down windscreen, a raised roof, support bars and an inverter for charging equipment. Fully open sides are unusual in the Mara.
Hippos and giraffes below are framed looking down through the leaves
From the suite decks, weavers, hornbills and vervet monkeys work the branches at eye height. The lens sits level with the canopy, not below it. Hippos and giraffes below are framed looking down through the leaves. Vehicles seat up to four guests, so nobody shoots over a shoulder, and photography lessons can be arranged in advance, using camp cameras or a guest’s own equipment.
Each suite is canvas over hardwood decking, entered through carved doors and hung above the stream. The bed faces a private deck, and the bathroom is built around a living ebony trunk, with double basins, a deep copper bath and a large safari shower. Weaver-nest chairs hang from the rail, alongside director’s chairs, a yoga mat, light weights and an exercise bike. Dappled light through the ebony canopy moves across the canvas through the day. Suites can be configured as triples on request.
The main lounge and dining room look over a wide bend in the river, open-sided and shaded, with a leaf-shaped chandelier running the length of the table and pendant lights made from baobab seed pods brought up from Kilifi on the Kenyan coast. There are no fixed meal times, and the day bends around whatever the wildlife is doing. On one evening of a stay the head chef opens the kitchen doors and guests eat at the counter, watching dinner come together. Askaris walk everyone back along the lantern-lit walkways after dinner.
The days follow the wildebeest and zebra herds that come up from the Serengeti.
Driving rights cover both the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the Mara North Conservancy next door, and the two allow different things. Inside the reserve, everything runs on the tracks, and July and August belong to the migration. The days follow the wildebeest and zebra herds that come up from the Serengeti. In the conservancy, guides can walk, drive after dark and take a vehicle off-road to a sighting. Mara Plains Camp, a sister camp a few kilometres away, splits neatly with a stay here, giving guests a wider stretch of the ecosystem than either camp covers alone.
Platforms twist around trunks, a deck wraps around a branch, and the bathrooms were shaped to leave the ebony standing rather than clear it. Much of the timber is reclaimed, some of it from old dhows off the Kenyan coast, and the details run to the same theme: door handles shaped as woodpeckers, lamp bases as monkeys. Well-behaved children over six are welcome, though the mood suits couples and older families best. Ol Kiombo airstrip lies about thirty minutes away by road, and sunrise balloon flights over the plains can be arranged from camp.
accommodation
Four canvas-and-timber suites, eight guests at most, all raised into the ebony canopy above the Ntiakitiak River and linked by elevated walkways. Each holds a large bed under a suspended net, a lounge, a writing desk, a bathroom built around a living trunk with a copper bath, and a private deck with hanging nest chairs.
activities
Game drives from Mara Toto Tree Camp run in open-sided Land Cruisers across the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Mara North Conservancy. Walking safaris, night drives and off-road tracking are conservancy-side only. Birding walks set out into the riverine forest at dawn, and massages are arranged on the suite decks.
conservation
The Big Cats Initiative, run through the Great Plains Foundation, has funded over 150 projects across 27 countries protecting big cats outside national parks. Building Bridges, a partnership with Bridging the Gap Africa, builds river crossings so Maasai families can reach schools and clinics. The Naboisho Women's Group, which supports healthcare and education for local families, is also backed.
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 scheduled light aircraft from Nairobi's Wilson airport to the Ol Kiombo airstrip, about an hour to an hour and a quarter in the air, then a game drive in to camp. The road transfers at the Mara end are part of the rate.
The flights are included as well, from Wilson or from another camp on the same routing, provided you stay at least two nights; on a single night they are charged separately. The scheduled aircraft can make a stop or two on the way and the times firm up close to the day, so if you would rather fix your own timings we can arrange a private charter instead. Soft bags either way.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, advises antimalarial tablets for travel to the Maasai Mara, and the CDC recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria for travellers to all areas of Kenya below 2,500 metres, which takes in the whole of the Mara.
We plan safaris rather than give medical advice, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it is worth a check close to departure because both sources revise their guidance. The suites are built into the ebony canopy on a river bend, so cover up as the light goes and use repellent through the evening rather than only at bedtime; the nets and the height do the rest.
Yes, from six years old. Be clear eyed about the setting first: four canvas suites built into the crowns of ebony trees, reached along raised timber walkways, with leopards passing beneath them and lions calling at night. Older children find that thrilling and it is not the place for a nervous six year old.
The camp takes eight guests at most, which makes it one of the smallest in the region and a realistic proposition for one family to take entirely, and that is how we would book it for a family with younger children. Otherwise a child of fifteen or under sharing with an adult is charged at a child rate, subject to a suite being free, and from sixteen the adult rate applies. Children stay with an adult on the walkways and are walked back after dinner.
Yes, in the suites. It is deliberately not provided in the public areas or the vehicles, which is the camp's choice rather than a limitation, and in a camp this small it works: messages and photographs go from your own tree, and the fire stays free of screens.
If someone in your party has to be reachable at set times, tell us before you book and we will confirm what is possible for your dates.
July to October is the migration stretch, when the herds are in the reserve and the river crossings are running, and it is the busiest and dearest time. January to March is dry, much quieter and very good for cats, which suits this camp because the leopards along the river are resident rather than seasonal. April and May are the long rains, green and empty. The camp draws on both the national reserve and the Mara North Conservancy, which gives the guides somewhere to go when one side is busy.
Pack layers rather than heat: the Mara sits high, so mornings on an open vehicle run around twelve to fourteen degrees and want a fleece and a windproof, while afternoons reach the middle twenties. Add neutral colours, a wide brimmed hat, strong sun cream, a light waterproof for green season storms, and binoculars. Everything in soft bags for the light aircraft.
Three, and two is the minimum worth booking, because at two nights the flights from Wilson are included and at one they are not. Three gives you full days rather than half of one at each end, and with only eight guests the camp settles into your rhythm quickly.
The rate covers the suite, all meals, all drinks including the premium spirits and the champagne, laundry, the park and conservation fees, the scheduled game viewing in both the national reserve and the Mara North Conservancy, and the airstrip road transfers. Outside it sit the balloon flight, some of the cultural visits, a private vehicle and guide if you want one to yourselves, and a conservation and community contribution charged per person per night for guests of every age. We lay each of those out in the quote so the figure you see is the figure you pay.
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.
