At the far end of Mara Nyika’s raised walkway, lifted into umbrella-thorn canopy above a seasonal stream, the Sambuk Suite stands apart from the rest of camp in the private Naboisho Conservancy. Resident leopards work the riverine valley below the suite. Lions can be heard across it after dark. One party takes the whole of it, two bedrooms, a central lounge and a plunge pool on the deck.
Resident leopards work the riverine valley below the suite.
Booking two tents side by side still means two tents. The Sambuk Suite comes as a household instead, with a private butler, a dedicated guide and an open Land Cruiser used by no other guests. The party arrives through its own entrance and eats at its own table, indoors, on the deck, or out in the bush. The main camp’s wine cellar and boutique are a short walk along the same walkway.
Naboisho is private land, leased from more than 500 Maasai landowning families, and it operates under different rules to the Maasai Mara National Reserve alongside it. Night drives with spotlights are a conservancy privilege. They are not permitted in the reserve. Guides can leave the track to follow a sighting, or walk guests out through the acacia woodland.
Night drives with spotlights are a conservancy privilege.
Four adults fit in the suite’s two bedrooms, or two adults with up to three children aged six and over, a family or two couples travelling together without sharing a vehicle with strangers. Stays of three nights or more open up a full day inside the National Reserve, timed for the Mara River crossings between July and October. Naboisho holds resident game year-round, whatever the migration herds are doing.
Dereck Joubert, one of the National Geographic filmmakers behind Eye of the Leopard, spent three years looking for this valley before building anything in it. It was chosen for what it lacked: no other lights, no engine noise, no neighbours. On scouting visits a male leopard and a lioness with cubs kept turning up. Dereck designed the camp himself, raising it on stilts and timber walkways so that game keeps moving underneath, and dressing the canvas with leather campaign chairs, brass lanterns and carved wooden chests.
Inside, each of the two bedrooms has a bathroom of its own, with double basins, an indoor shower and a freestanding copper tub set beside a mesh window that looks straight into the trees. Beyond the lounge, the deck runs wide enough for an outdoor table, an exercise bike and a plunge pool at its edge. A pair of Swarovski binoculars and a professional Canon camera, with 100-400mm and 24-70mm lenses, stay in the suite for the length of the stay, and whatever is photographed goes home on a memory card.
Storm lanterns mark the walkway back from the fire pit and wildebeest call out on the plains.
Dinner might be a candlelit table on the deck beside the pool, a set menu in the suite’s own dining room, or a seat at the main camp’s communal table a short walk away. Breakfast is cooked to order. Lunch tends towards fresh bread, grain and beetroot salads and a cheeseboard, and the wine cellar can be toured before anything is opened. Because the suite has its own guide and vehicle, drives leave when the party is ready and not when the camp is, which helps with children, or with one early riser and one late sleeper.
Getting in means a light aircraft from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport to the ol Seki airstrip, then a drive of around 40 minutes that doubles as the first game drive. Children from six are welcome, and the Young Explorers programme sends them off tracking spoor, beading with Maasai guides and learning bush survival skills. Spa treatments come to the suite, so nobody has to walk anywhere for them. Storm lanterns mark the walkway back from the fire pit and wildebeest call out on the plains. After dark, the canvas shifts in the breeze.
accommodation
The Sambuk Suite holds two bedrooms, each configurable as double or twin on request, each with an en-suite bathroom of double basins, indoor shower and freestanding copper tub, joined by a central lounge and dining room. The main camp alongside runs to four further suites and a two-bedroom Family Suite. Netted windows, fans and writing desks throughout.
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activities
Morning and afternoon game drives in a private open Land Cruiser, spotlit night drives and guided walks, all permitted in Naboisho Conservancy but not in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Full-day drives into the reserve on stays of three nights or more. Balloon flights, Maasai village visits and in-suite spa treatments are also available.
conservation
Conservancy lease fees reach more than 500 Maasai landowning families in Naboisho. The Big Cats Initiative, founded by Dereck and Beverly Joubert, has funded over 150 projects across 28 countries, including herding workshops that ease conflict between livestock owners and lions. The Naboisho Women's Group makes beadwork, honey and soap, supporting 105 households.
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 Seki airstrip in the Naboisho Conservancy, about an hour to an hour and a quarter in the air, then a short game drive in. 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 may make a stop on the way and the times firm up close to the day, so if you would rather fix your own we can arrange a private charter instead.
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 and its conservancies.
We plan safaris rather than give medical advice, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it deserves a check close to departure because both sources revise their guidance. The suite is lifted into the canopy above a seasonal stream, which helps in the dry months, but cover up once the light goes and use repellent through the evening rather than only at bedtime.
Yes, from six years old, and taking the suite exclusively is what makes it work for a family. Two bedrooms, a central lounge, a plunge pool on the deck, and your own guide and vehicle, so the day runs at your children's pace rather than a shared one.
Because the whole suite is yours, the usual rules about which child may share with which adult and about paying extra for a private vehicle do not apply here: the vehicle is already included. Resident leopards work the valley below and lions call across it after dark, and the walkway back to the suite is done with a guide, so children stay with an adult outside the rooms.
Yes, in the suite. It is deliberately not provided in the public areas or the vehicles, which is the camp's choice rather than a shortcoming, and it works well in practice: messages and photographs go from your own room and the drive stays free of screens.
If someone in your party has to be reachable at particular times, say so before you book and we will confirm what is possible for your dates.
Naboisho holds one of the highest lion densities in East Africa and its game is resident, so the conservancy rewards a visit at any time of year rather than only in the migration months. July to October brings the herds and the crossings, and the crowds and the peak rates with them. January to March is dry, quiet and very good for cats. April and May are the long rains, green and empty.
Pack layers rather than heat: 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. Soft bags for the light aircraft.
Three, and there is a specific reason here rather than a general one. A stay of three nights or more includes a day's game viewing in the Maasai Mara National Reserve itself; at one or two nights it does not, and the reserve entry is charged separately. Two nights is also the point at which the flights from Wilson are included.
The rate covers the suite, all meals, all drinks including premium spirits and champagne, laundry, the conservancy and park fees, the scheduled game viewing in Naboisho, the airstrip road transfers, and your own vehicle and guide. Outside it sit the balloon flight, spa treatments, some cultural visits, and a conservation and community contribution charged per person per night for guests of every age. Each of those is laid out in the quote.
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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.
