Ol Seki Mara

Insider’s Review of Ol Seki Mara

Like a scattering of handsome beads, these tents blush atop the escarpment with the beauty of Africa. The animal-rich, 50,000-acre Naboisho Conservancy, northeast of Kenya’s Maasai Mara Reserve, is restricted to guests of Ol Seki alone—guaranteeing exclusive game-watching indeed. An ever-rewarding prospect, to be sure: the density of lions here is among the highest in Africa. These august big cats move through the grasslands amongst healthy gaggles of elephants, giraffes, wild dogs, wildebeest and more, lithe beneath the storied skies of “a paradise caressed by light and air in their most special forms,” as Peter Beard once wrote.

Accommodations at Ol Seki Mara

Ten two-person tents are furnished with tactile richness and muted Bedouin tones: woven rugs underfoot, custom local-made furniture, hand-dyed fabrics, even a writing desk oriented inspiringly onto the quartz-rich Ngama Hills. In addition, one villas with en-suite bedrooms welcome families and groups with a private chef and attentive personal team whose presence is felt as desired. Each tent occupies its own rocky perch, affording 270-degree panoramas of verdant acacia and the Mara plains beyond. From your bed, observe the theatre of the bush unfold—elephants grazing in cool morning shadows and great clouds moving like “frothy mountain ranges…that looked like you could have scooped them up with a spoon,” as Elspeth Huxley once wrote.

Activities at Ol Seki Mara

Thrilling game drives—certainly the most beguiling bookends of any safari day—are just the beginning. Should the spirit move: perhaps a walk with a wise Maasai guide, a visit to the local village, or a bit of optional hot-air ballooning—the rhythm of the day is yours to shape. Birders find themselves in paradise, as do amblers and idlers: tea in the afternoon, a splash in your personal plunge pool, an icy sundowner as the sun dips beneath the horizon. Before long, dinner is served—whether on your secluded deck, in the lodge’s dining room, or beneath the twinkling stars of a languorous African night where “the air” as Isak Dinesen mused, “is the chief feature of your life… you are struck by the feeling of having lived for a time up in the air.”

A Note for Families & Children

Young guests are joyfully welcomed at Ol Seki. The two private villas are ideal for safari-ing families, a fine base to learn to identify animals by their tracks, listen to Maasai storytelling, and loll about in the infinity pool with a few giraffes in attendance.