Ndoto House is a family’s private home, cut into the Nguruman Escarpment, one wall of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya’s Rift Valley Lakes region. The whole house goes to a single party of up to six, looked after by its own spotter-guide, chef and manager. From the deck the Shompole plains run out to Mount Shompole, to Gelai and Lengai, and in certain months Lake Natron shows to the south.
The guides search as hard for caracal and aardwolf as for the cats.
Very few other vehicles work the Shompole plains, and the house keeps its own, so a sighting is usually shared with nobody. Lions, cheetahs, elephants and giraffes move through this country. The guides search as hard for caracal and aardwolf as for the cats. Bat-eared foxes and striped hyenas are on the same list, and a morning can turn on one line of tracks in the dust.
The house is built along the escarpment edge in stone, thatch and wood, its roofs raised on polished tree trunks above white concrete floors and steps. The furniture is kept plain so the eye goes outwards. Through the day the light moves across the plains and the whole scene shifts with it.
Mount Shompole goes black against the stars as the fire is lit.
Mornings begin with birdsong carrying off the escarpment walls, and midday belongs to the pools and the long view to the valley floor. Meals are served in the main area on the platform, with the valley floor below. Mount Shompole goes black against the stars as the fire is lit. Evenings end around it, with the plains dark below.
Down on the Shompole plains, below the escarpment, the Ndoto hide opened in 2024 with six seats set low to the ground. At that height a lens looks across at an animal rather than down on it. Six seats is the whole house party, so nobody waits for a turn, and when the last light leaves the plains, lighting rigged for night photography keeps the session going. The hide is usually at its best in the drier months, around September and October and again in February and March.
Two soda lakes bracket the conservancy, Lake Magadi to the north and Lake Natron to the south. Both are alkaline, and Natron is a breeding site for lesser flamingos, which is reason enough to leave before dawn. The sunrise trip goes down to the water with breakfast packed, to find the flamingos in the first light. From a helicopter the salt lakes take on another scale entirely, and the volcanic peaks of Gelai and Lengai rise out of the valley, both on the Tanzanian side of the border.
By day the herds graze the plain below the house, and after dark the wildlife takes its turn.
Because Shompole is a community conservancy, guests can leave the vehicle and go out on foot. Tracking walks follow spoor across the plains with a guide reading the ground. Sunrise hikes set out before the heat builds, and longer hikes cover proper distance. After dark, night drives can be arranged on request, the spotlight beam picking out eyeshine in the grass. With guide and vehicle answering to one group, each day is planned around the party and around whatever the morning’s tracks suggest.
Shompole Conservancy covers part of a group ranch owned by the Maasai community, who set this land aside for wildlife while keeping their herds. By day the herds graze the plain below the house, and after dark the wildlife takes its turn. The cultural visits are led by the house’s Maasai guides, on land that is their own. Most of the team at Ndoto House is drawn from the surrounding community, so the people looking after guests are, for the most part, neighbours.
accommodation
Three bedrooms run along the ridge on either side of the main platform, each turned to the view across the plains. Each room has a double bed, an en-suite bathroom and a seating area. The house is let whole to a single party of up to six, sharing one table and the same guiding team.
activities
Tracking walks, sunrise hikes and longer hikes, possible because Shompole is a community conservancy. Day drives in the house's vehicle, spotlit night drives on request, the Ndoto hide, a sunrise flamingo trip with packed breakfast, helicopter flights over the salt lakes and Maasai cultural visits.
conservation
Shompole Conservancy is community-run and was set aside for wildlife by the Maasai community, whose group ranch it covers in part. Most of the Ndoto House team comes from the surrounding community, and its Maasai guides lead walks and cultural visits on their own land.
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.
Most guests fly. There is no scheduled service into Shompole, so we book a private light-aircraft charter from Nairobi's Wilson airport to Shompole Airstrip, which lies on the valley floor below the house. From the strip it is only a few minutes' drive up to the house, and the flight itself is short.
Two other ways in suit different trips. A helicopter can land on the house's own helipad, which makes sense if you are already flying over the soda lakes. By road it is about four and a half to five hours from the Karen side of Nairobi, down into the Rift and past Lake Magadi; we arrange the vehicle and driver, but on a short stay the charter gives you back most of a day.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Kenya as high risk for malaria, setting apart only the city of Nairobi and the highlands above 2,500 metres. The American CDC lists every part of Kenya below 2,500 metres, game parks and conservancies included. The Rift floor at Shompole sits at around 900 metres, and even the crest of the Nguruman Escarpment, at about 2,300 metres, stays below that line.
We are travel planners, not doctors, so we make no recommendations about tablets; that choice belongs to you and your own doctor or travel clinic, ideally with your travel dates in front of you. Long sleeves and trousers after sunset are worth packing all the same.
It is a low-set photographic hide out on the Shompole Plains below the house, opened in 2024, with Mount Shompole behind the waterhole. Up to six people sit at eye level with the animals as they come in to drink, which gives the low, close angle that is impossible from a vehicle, and a lighting set-up lets you keep shooting after dark.
Herds of zebra and wildebeest crowd in to drink, predators tend to appear at dusk, and the night brings out the nocturnal animals. The hide gets busy once the plains dry out and the natural pools vanish, so it is worth building a stay around those weeks if photography is the main reason for coming. The house also offers a dawn drive to the lake shore to photograph the flamingos, with breakfast packed for the morning.
Plenty, because Shompole is Maasai community land rather than a national park. The house's Maasai guides lead walks from the door, from a slow stroll to a sundowner spot to sunrise hikes and longer outings of three or four hours, reading tracks and explaining the plants as they go. You never walk alone. Night drives can be arranged too, for animals such as aardwolf and striped hyena.
When rain and river levels allow, there is a walk up the stream that feeds the house to a clear spring pool, and tubing on the Ewaso Ng'iro. Visits to Maasai families are led by the guides themselves, who come from the community. For the soda lakes from above, the house arranges helicopter flights over Lake Magadi and the north end of Lake Natron, flown with the doors off for photographers and priced separately.
Only from the age of sixteen. The house is built into the face of the escarpment, with open platforms, staircases between the rooms and sheer drops all round, so it is not designed for younger children. For a family with younger ones we would look at a lodge on the valley floor instead.
For a group of adults or older teenagers it works very well, because it is always taken on an exclusive basis: three en-suite rooms, each with its own plunge pool, for up to six guests, with a private guide, a chef, a manager and a small crew looking after nobody else. Rooms can be set up as twins, so friends travelling together are easily housed.
January and February, then July to September, are the strongest months, when the ground is dry and game gathers at the remaining water. March, June and October to December are good months on either side. April and May bring the long rains, and the short rains usually arrive in November.
The drier months are also the hottest on the Rift floor, while June to August is the most comfortable for walking. After the rains the plains turn green and the light is soft, which suits landscape photographers, and there are fewer people about. Pack light cotton for the day, a light layer for the evenings, a hat, and sturdy shoes for the stairs between the rooms and the walks.
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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.
