Hidden away in a secluded valley in the Naboisho Conservancy, Saruni Leopard Hill is close to a site of special significance in Maasai culture – the landmark Double Fig Tree, a survivor of a long-ago lightning strike. The tree’s distinctive shape provides the perfect frame for some of Kenya’s best sunsets and sunrises, making Saruni Leopard Hill the ideal place to start and end each day on safari.

The wildlife in the Naboisho area is especially prolific – the night echoes to the calls of predators, while the birdsong at dawn is all the inspiration you’ll need to leap out of bed and begin another day on your Masai Mara wildlife safari.

It is an important community-owned wildlife area in the Masai Mara ecosystem whose success has helped changing the story of tourism and conservation in the Masai Mara, improving the livelihoods of people and extending the size of protected land where fauna and flora thrive.

Tourism directly supports conservation through daily fees. This means that by visiting Saruni Basecamp, our guests are directly giving back to the community who protects this beautiful land, improving their quality of life, whilst at the same time encouraging the purpose for conservation.

For Saruni Leopard Hill sustainability starts at home: more than 80% of the staff come from the community of landowners. They proudly wear the traditional Maasai attire and they share their culture and heritage with our guests. To provide jobs, income, training and guidance for the local Maasai people is one of our main missions. We encourage the training of senior female staff, too.

Our guests are encouraged to participate in our reforestation work. The way it works is simple: we throw the seedballs into degraded areas during our game drive. A seed, encased in a fertile charcoal crust, will germinate and soon these areas will be covered once again with indigenous trees and shrubs. We have partnered with a company called Seedballs Kenya to help re- green our parts of the country.
Our day-to-day practices reflect our ethos. We harvest rain water, we compost the kitchen waste, we generate electricity mostly by solar panels, we recycle 96% of our general waste, we use biodegradable detergents and source supplies locally as much as we can.

All this is why Ecotourism Kenya has awarded Saruni Leopard Hill its coveted Gold eco-rating, a recognition that makes us very proud.