Opened in 2024, the camp is taken whole by a single party of four to eight. Two en-suite double tents and a two-bedroom family tent gather around a shared sitting and dining area, all of it looking down on the Olotulo-Murt salt lick, with the Mara River beyond. Elephants, buffalo and giraffes feed on the minerals below camp.
Elephants, buffalo and giraffes feed on the minerals below camp
The land is private, bordering the reserve rather than lying inside it, which changes what a day can hold. Spotlights are permitted after dark, and so are walks with a Maasai tracker, neither of which is possible within the National Reserve. One guide, one chef and one open-sided vehicle belong to the party for the length of the stay, and the deck, the mess tent and the fire pit are used by no one else.
Jackson Looseyia was born in the Mara in 1967. He started work as a night guard, followed his father into tracking, and became a Maasai guide here. Later years put him on camera, in the BBC’s Big Cat Live, and behind the scenes on Disney’s African Cats. He owns and runs Tangulia Ndogo with Dominic Nchoe, a board member of Lemek Conservancy, and the main camp next door, Tangulia Mara.
He started work as a night guard, followed his father into tracking
Drives run into the reserve through the Musiara gate, working the marsh lions and the short-grass plains around Rhino Ridge. Wildebeest and zebra mass on the riverbanks from July to September. The bridge crosses into the Mara Triangle, quieter country where black rhino are sometimes found. For a larger party, Tangulia Mara, a short walk away, can be booked alongside Ndogo.
Tangulia Ndogo was built for a family travelling across three generations. Stone paths run level and step-free between the tents, the mess and the deck, which matters as much for grandparents as for small children. The family tent puts two en-suite rooms either side of a small sitting room, so parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren, can share a space without sharing a bedroom. Wifi reaches every tent, useful on a longer stay when someone cannot switch off entirely.
Furniture is made on site from indigenous trees that have fallen on the land, and the beaded details on cushions and hangers come from a women’s group. The tents stand on raised wooden decks under thatch, each with a shaded verandah facing the mineral springs, and the mess tent is open at the front to the salt lick and the river. Meals are cooked to the party’s own preferences and taken wherever the day suggests, on the deck, out in the field at a bush breakfast, or by the fire.
Scops owls call through the stories, and hyenas sound somewhere out in the dark.
Jackson’s son Morris has joined the guiding team. Around eighty percent of the staff come from the surrounding Maasai community, so a visit to a nearby homestead is a call on neighbours, not a scheduled stop. Evenings gather at the fire pit, given over to stories from hosts who grew up on this land. Scops owls call through the stories, and hyenas sound somewhere out in the dark. Maasai askaris walk guests back to their tents by lamplight, and children of five and up settle in easily.
The lions the guides know as the Tangulia pride hold ground nearby, and Musiara Marsh, long-established lion country in this corner of Kenya, lies a short drive to the south. Two male giraffes have sparred over territory on the open ground directly below the mess veranda. Musiara airstrip is around twenty minutes away by road, and the drive from Nairobi through Narok takes five to six hours. Power comes from the sun, with a generator for backup.
accommodation
Three tents sleep a maximum of eight: two en-suite doubles and a two-bedroom family tent with its own sitting room between the rooms. All are raised on wooden decks under thatch, with hot and cold running water and flush loos. Cotton linen carries hand-beaded detail from a local women's group, and each shaded verandah faces the salt lick.
activities
Drives head into the Maasai Mara National Reserve for Musiara Marsh and Rhino Ridge, and cross the river bridge into the Mara Triangle. On the private land at camp, night drives and walks with a tracker are permitted; balloon flights and visits to Maasai homesteads can be arranged. Full days take a packed breakfast out.
conservation
Dominic Nchoe helped establish the neighbouring Lemek Conservancy and sits on its management board, and camp revenue supports the private land bordering the reserve and the Mara River. Support goes to Mara Rianta School; a women's beading group and guide training are also funded.
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 camp is taken by one party only, never shared, and the published floor is four guests for two nights. Above that the same tents take up to eight: two double tents, and a family tent of two en-suite bedrooms with a sitting area between them. A party of four therefore has a camp built for eight to itself, which is the whole point, and the arithmetic starts to look easy at six.
The camp's vehicle is an open-sided six-seater, so a full party of eight should tell us at the outset and we will settle the vehicle arrangement with the camp before anything is confirmed.
Fly from Nairobi's Wilson airport to the Musiara airstrip on a scheduled light aircraft, about 45 minutes direct and up to an hour when it calls at other Mara strips first, and the camp's transfer from the strip is a drive of around twenty minutes. It is a road transfer, close enough that the drive in is the first game drive, and the bags travel in the vehicle with you.
Soft bags only on the aircraft, fifteen kilograms a person including hand luggage and cameras. For a party taking a whole camp a private charter often makes better sense than the scheduled run, because the aircraft is then yours as well: a Cessna Caravan for a bigger group or a Pilatus PC-12 where speed matters, routed from wherever you are, whether Nairobi, the coast or Laikipia, and timed to land when the light is good.
Yes, and the whole of the Mara is. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Kenya as high risk for malaria and recommends antimalarial tablets for it, with only the city of Nairobi and the highlands above 2,500 metres, where it rates the risk as very low; the American CDC lists every part of Kenya below 2,500 metres, game parks included. Ndogo stands at about 1,617 metres, well below that line, and neither source draws a seasonal distinction, so the advice does not change with the month.
We do not make medical recommendations; we plan travel and we are not doctors. Which tablets are right for you, for anyone else in the party and for a child are questions for your own doctor or a travel clinic, best asked with the dates in front of you. On the practical, non-medical side, an exclusive camp lets the day run to your own clock, so plan the evening so that everyone is covered up before dusk, and keep repellent within reach in the tents.
Scale, and who else is there. Tangulia Mara is the larger camp, run on shared game drives unless you book a private vehicle, with other guests at the fire and at dinner. Ndogo is three tents and one party, with its own guide, vehicle, chef and mess, so there is no one else's breakfast time to wait for and no reason to leave a sighting because another couple is ready to go. Everything else is common to both: the same two owner-guides, Jackson Looseyia and Dominic Nchoe, the same hill, the same private ground after dark and the same drives into the reserve and over the bridge.
The honest steer: a couple, or a family of four who like company in the evening, are better at the main camp, where the guiding is the same; a party of six to eight, or three generations who want the paths and the family tent, are better at Ndogo. Both camps take children of any age.
For a whole camp the calendar is usually the party's rather than the wildlife's, so start there. School holidays in July and August fall inside the migration window, when the herds are usually in the Mara from about July to October and the camp has the river-crossing sites within reach; they also fall in the busiest weeks on the eastern bank, which is one more argument for a camp of your own. October is still dry and warm with the last of the herds; the long rains come from about March to May, heaviest in April, and the short rains in mid November and December. The camp is open all year.
Days sit in the mid to high twenties, mornings drop to about twelve at this altitude, and the open vehicle at dawn is colder than that sounds. Layers, a warm jacket for the first drive, a hat, rain cover in the wet months, and everything in a soft bag under fifteen kilograms, cameras included.
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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.
