From
$6,519
Tented Camp · Maasai Mara, Kenya
Naboisho Camp
Nine tented suites in a 60,000-acre private conservancy where the lion density is among the highest in Africa and the only vehicle at a sighting is yours
In March 2010, more than 500 Maasai families in the greater Mara ecosystem made a collective decision that has since become one of the most studied and cited examples of community-led conservation in Africa. They pooled their land into a single conservancy, committed to a 25-year lease to tourism operators, and named it Naboisho — the Maa word for “coming together.” The result is 60,000 acres of managed wilderness bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve, carrying some of its strongest wildlife and none of its congestion.
The conservancy’s architecture is deliberate: a fixed ceiling on the number of camps permitted inside it, a daily limit on the number of vehicles at any wildlife sighting, and a mandatory minimum distance from animals that applies to every operator equally. These are not administrative niceties. They are the mechanism by which Naboisho has built and maintained a wildlife density — particularly a lion population of between 70 and 100 individuals, among the highest concentration in the entire Mara-Serengeti ecosystem — that the national reserve, with its open access and volume of vehicles, cannot replicate. When guests at Naboisho Camp stop at a lion pride on their morning drive, there is typically one vehicle at the sighting. Possibly two. It is a categorically different experience from the equivalent moment in the reserve.
Naboisho Camp is operated by Asilia Africa and holds nine fully refurbished tented suites on a hilltop position with commanding views across the conservancy plains to the Maasai Mara National Reserve beyond. The main area — thatched lounge, stone fireplace, swimming pool, and a dining room that opens entirely to the view — sits above a waterhole where elephant, buffalo, and plains game arrive on the daily schedule that a permanent water source in semi-arid country produces. The camp’s activity programme extends the standard Mara offering in every direction that the conservancy’s private status makes possible: night drives, walking safaris into areas where dangerous wildlife may be encountered, fly camping overnight in the bush, and a dedicated photographic safari vehicle with rotating chairs and drop sides for the guests whose primary purpose in the Mara is to return with images rather than memories.
60,000 acres, hard limits on camps and vehicles, nine tented suites. One of the highest lion densities in Africa, night drives and fly camping the national reserve does not permit, and a conservancy where the Maasai relationship is built into the land title itself.
Why Stay Here
- One of the highest lion densities in Africa. 70 to 100 lions within and adjacent to the conservancy.
- Private conservancy with vehicle limits at sightings. The opposite of national reserve congestion at peak season.
- Night drives, walking safaris, and off-road driving. Three activities the Maasai Mara National Reserve does not permit.
- Fly camping: overnight in the bush in a simple dome tent, with a full BBQ under the Mara sky.
- Dedicated photographic vehicle with rotating chairs and drop sides. Purpose-built for serious wildlife photography.
- 500+ Maasai landowners as equity partners, 95% local workforce, direct lease payments into six community programmes
Our Commitment to Conservation
All tourism fees channelled directly into conservancy management and monthly lease payments to 500-plus Maasai landowners under a 25-year agreement. 95% local workforce. Asilia's conservation commitment funds anti-poaching, Smithsonian-partnered wildlife monitoring, and community programmes covering clean water, renewable energy, education, and women's economic empowerment.
Rooms & Accommodation
Nine tented suites are distributed along the camp’s hilltop position, each refurbished to a standard that Asilia describes as luxurious and spacious — the interiors carry natural textures, considered symmetry, and the kind of restraint in material choices that reads as intentional rather than minimal. Each suite has a private veranda with a daybed, positioned to face the conservancy plains and the Maasai Mara National Reserve visible on the horizon. En-suite bathrooms run to both indoor and outdoor showers — the outdoor option is not a token gesture but a fully functional alternative, positioned relative to the veranda view in a way that makes it the obvious choice on clear mornings. Two of the nine suites are configured as family suites: a full suite with an annexed sleeping area for children, maintaining the privacy and sightline of the adult space while keeping the family group within a single contained footprint. The swimming pool is positioned adjacent to the main lounge area, with the waterhole and the plains beyond it as the constant backdrop.
Tented Suite
Seven suites along the hilltop, each with unimpeded sightlines across the Naboisho plains to the Maasai Mara. Natural textures, considered lighting, locally made furnishings. Private veranda daybed, indoor and outdoor showers, the latter open to the sky.
King bed · Private veranda with daybed · Indoor and outdoor showers · En-suite bathroom · Natural texture furnishings · Conservancy views · In-room safe · Mosquito netting
Family Suite
Two suites configured as family suites: a full tented suite with a connected children's annex providing separate sleeping space. The adult suite retains its full specification; the annex adds beds and a small sitting area adjusted to the group's needs. Children above five welcomed, with Maasai bow-and-arrow making and guided wildlife tracking through the camp grounds.
King bed in main suite · Children's annex with beds · Private veranda and daybed · Indoor and outdoor showers · Conservancy views · In-room safe · Children's activities programme
Experiences & Activities
Every moment at Naboisho Camp is crafted to immerse you deeper in the wild.
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Dining
Meals at Naboisho Camp are served across several settings, and the kitchen operates with enough confidence in what it produces to vary the location rather than defaulting to the same dining room at every sitting. Breakfast is typically taken in the open air — either in the camp’s main dining area overlooking the waterhole, or in the bush as a full spread laid out beside the vehicle at a position the guide has chosen for the morning light and the animal activity around it. Lunch in camp is a lighter, buffet-style affair under the acacia shade; dinner returns to the main mess tent, where the open-sided structure and the fireplace between them make a long evening meal the natural anchor of the day. Freshly baked breads, biscuits, and muffins are a consistent detail that guests note because they are genuinely good rather than because they are a novelty. The traditional afternoon tea at four o’clock — a deliberate old-East Africa rhythm — is the signal that the bush day is about to resume for the late drive. Sundowners are taken in the conservancy, at a position and time selected by the guide for maximum effect.
Gallery
Best Time to Visit
The Naboisho Conservancy delivers exceptional game viewing in every month of the year, which is not a marketing claim but a structural consequence of its conservancy model: resident wildlife density that does not depend on the Great Migration, and an activity programme — night drives, walking safaris, fly camping — that performs regardless of season. The distinction between seasons is one of character rather than quality. July through October is the peak of the Great Migration, when the wildebeest herds move north from the Serengeti into the greater Mara ecosystem and the conservancy fills with the energy that the crossing zones produce. During this period, a full-day drive into the Maasai Mara National Reserve gives access to the river crossings while the conservancy itself continues to offer its private and uncongested alternative. January and February deliver the Mara’s dry-season predator viewing at its most reliable, with lower visitor volumes across all camps. November and December bring migratory birds in exceptional numbers and photography conditions — clean air, green landscapes, golden light — that make the post-rains period specifically sought after by photographers and guests with flexible timing. The long rains of April and May are the quietest period, with the conservancy at its most lush and the least visited.
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Location & Getting Here
Destination
Maasai Mara, Kenya
Conservation Area
Mara Naboisho Conservancy
Nearest Airstrip
Mara Ol Seki Airstrip (approx. 40–45 minutes by road from camp)
Transfer Time
40–45 minutes from Mara Ol Seki Airstrip / 45-minute flight from Nairobi's Wilson Airport
Getting Here
Accessed by daily scheduled flights from Wilson Airport to Mara Ol Seki Airstrip, 45 minutes by air and 40 to 45 minutes by road through the conservancy to camp. Bordering the national reserve, Olare Motorogi, and Ol Kinyei conservancies, Naboisho is a natural anchor for multi-conservancy Mara itineraries or a standalone base for the greater Mara ecosystem.
Safaris That Include This Lodge
Explore handcrafted itineraries where Naboisho Camp forms part of the journey.
