Style

Feline frontier

Setting

Community-knit Naboisho

Explore

More hotels in Mara Naboisho Conservancy More hotels in Kenya

Skirting the Maasai Mara Reserve in southwestern Kenya, Asilia Africa's Naboisho Camp has its game face firmly on. Cross-seasonal sightings include predators in residence, and cultural visits to the land’s native owners shed important light on its community-led conservation. Equally inimitable scenes can be found back at camp, too, with spa treatments and pool dips set under encompassing acacia trees, and upscale tented suites a soothing antidote to Earth-kind adventures. 

Once you’ve booked your safari stays, the Asilia team will be in touch within 48 hours to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A souvenir glass animal, handmade in Tanzania or Kenya

Facilities

Photos Naboisho Camp facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Nine tents, including two family tents.

Check–Out

10am. Check-in is at 2pm. If you opt for late check-out, you’ll be charged for an additional day’s park fees, as well as meals and private transfers.

Also

Unfortunately, this remote camp is not suitable if you have limited mobility.

At the hotel

Boutique, gym equipment (yoga mats, weights, ab rollers, resistance bands and skipping ropes) to borrow, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: radio, torch, coffee-making kit, free bottled water, laundry detergent, bathrobes, slippers and organic Jani bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Naboisho Camp has two outfitted options to choose from: the Tented Suites set the scene for more romantic rendezvous with an outdoor shower for two and a private veranda, hugged by vast plain prospects. The Family Tented Suites have similarly enticing views, as well as a duo of rooms for bigger groups.

Poolside

Dozing wildlife aren’t the only ones able to cool off with a dip between ventures: Naboisho Camp has its own outdoor swimming pool (open from sunrise till sunset) that frames the conservancy’s cinematic landscapes and weaves between the camp’s calming communal spaces.

Spa

There’s no formal spa at Naboisho Camp, but staff are happy to arrange treatments — ranging from ancient reflexology and lavender-infused aromatherapies to deep tissue massages that deknot with an oil-coated Maasai rungu — in your tent or anywhere around camp.

Packing tips

Go for khakis, browns and beiges to blend with your surroundings and secure sightings. A layer or two will come in handy for chillier evenings, too.

Also

Once you’ve booked your safari stays, the Asilia team will be in touch within 48 hours to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.

Children

Over-fives are welcome. With under-12s in tow, you’ll need to book a private vehicle for game drives at additional cost. For some activities, the minimum age is 12 years old; younger Smiths will need to stay at camp, supervised by one of their adults.

Sustainability efforts

Asilia is a B Corp business and sustainability sits at the core of their safari offering, with camps designed to have minimal impact, and every operational choice rooted in reducing harm. This starts with the camp build itself, using locally sourced, natural materials.  Across all safari operations they minimise waste, prioritise renewable energy and respect the wilderness. The primary power source in their camps is solar, waste is weighed, segregated, and recycled, emissions are tracked, and Scope 1 carbon is offset via REDD+ projects. Asilia invests in initiatives that enhance sustainability and your experience at their camps, such as farm-to-fork projects that ensure the freshest produce and reduce the need for supply runs across the fragile landscapes where they operate. As part of the Nawiri Group, Asilia contributes over $10m annually to nature protection and impact funding, providing long-term stable funding to partners across Africa. Their impact approach is community-led and includes a focus on expanding access to quality education in rural areas, funding programmes that benefit over 20,000 primary school students and over 200 vocational scholarships annually.

Food and Drink

Photos Naboisho Camp food and drink

Top Table

In a camp embraced by such dramatic landscapes, there’s no wrong choice.

Dress Code

Come as you are in this remote, outdoorsy stay.

Hotel restaurant

Expect farm-to-fork dining that showcases seasonality and is proudly low on food miles. A commitment to sustainability and a celebration of local, indigenous ingredients underpin Asilia Africa’s approach to cuisine across all camps. Breads, cakes and even ice-creams are made freshly in-house, and dishes are always paired with South African wines. 

At Naboisho Camp, breakfast might be a picnic in the bush consisting of fresh fruits, yoghurt, muesli, freshly squeezed juices, baked pastries, breakfast sandwiches and wraps. But if you're staying in camp, you also have an option to start your day with hot dishes à la carte. 

Across all Asilia Africa camps, the menu changes by the day; at each meal, there’ll be a choice of starters, mains, sides and desserts, with vegetarians as well served as meat eaters. Lunch on Wednesdays and dinner on Sundays are a distinctly Swahili affair, spotlighting local culinary traditions. If you have food preferences or dietary requirements, the camp’s kitchen team will be happy to adapt dishes to suit. 

Hotel bar

There’s no formal bar, but drinks of all varieties are available round-the-clock in the camp’s communal area.

Last orders

Rather than working to scheduled hours, meals fit around your plans and staff are happy to flex to meet your wishes.

Room service

Available 24 hours: you can order drinks and snacks to your suite; meals, too, can be arranged chez vous.

Location

Photos Naboisho Camp location
Address
Naboisho Camp
Mara Naboisho Conservancy
Maasai Mara National Reserve
Kenya

Bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Naboisho Camp sits in southwestern Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, in the non-profit and community-run Mara Naboisho Conservancy.

Planes

From Nairobi Wilson Airport, connecting flights touch down at Ol Seki Airstrip, where you’ll be met by Asilia staff for the 45-minute transfer, included with your stay.

Automobiles

All the driving at Naboisho Camp is taken care of by trained staff using Asilia vehicles.

Worth getting out of bed for

Naboisho Camp’s enviable setting in its eponymous, lesser-known conservancy means fewer crowds and a higher concentration of wildlife. Game drives (both day and night), hot-air ballooning and walking safaris are your best bet for prime sightings, and photography vehicle set-ups make capturing these natural wonders all the easier. More intimate animal meetings come courtesy of trips to Ol Chorro Rhino Sanctuary, or a secluded night in the bush fly camping. There’s equal emphasis on community engagement, too, with visits to local Maasai villages encouraged during your stay. 

Naboisho Camp makes an ideal launchpad for a Kenya-to-Tanzania adventure: after three nights at Naboisho, head over the Tanzanian border to Namiri Plains in Serengeti big-cat country for three nights. Then travel to riverine Ruaha in the Iringa region, home to Asilia’s Jabali Ridge camp — two luxurious Tanzanian outposts to complement your Kenyan stay; three prime game-viewing destinations.  

Local restaurants

You’ll feast on the spectacular scenery of this Kenyan conservancy and enjoy your fill of safari adventures, but other than this, you can expect all your dining to take place either in camp or arranged by your hosts out in the bush. 

Reviews

Photos Naboisho Camp reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this kitted-out camp in Kenya and regaled their Big Five encounters, a full account of their in-the-bush break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Naboisho Camp in the Mara Naboisho Conservancy … 

With a name that means ‘coming together’ in the Maasai language, it feels fitting that Asilia Africa’s Naboisho Camp unites in a multitude of ways. 

This sustainable camp’s prime location in the Mara Naboisho Conservancy means year-round wildlife encounters (featuring roaming lions, leopards and elephants) are married with the storied spectacle of the park’s nocturnal residents on fly camping excursions and after-dark drives. Your duo of daily game drives — and hot-air ballooning extras — are led by incredibly knowledgeable local guides; and you’re encouraged to connect with their fellow villagers, whose bomas edge this community-led conservancy.  

Asilia’s low-impact, land-first ethos is showcased beautifully back at base, too, where vast plains make for soothing, acacia-freckled accompaniments to post-safari spa treatments, refreshing swims and fire-warmed living areas. And in your fully fitted tent, cushy king-size beds and private view-blessed verandas are a match made in heaven... 

Book now