Campsites
A Growing Network of Wild Camps
Wild camping is where Ajabu Wild feels most at home. Since 2015, we have been on more than eighty wild camping trips throughout Kenya, which has given us deep insights in the best places to set up your camp. With this knowledge, we now partner with communities to establish new campsites in places without any tourism infrastructure, and promote existing campsites in locations that are also far from the map.
Every campsite below is completely wild and largely self-sufficient: a private tent, meals cooked over the fire, and, more often than not, no one else for miles. You are a guest in the bush rather than a resort, so we arrange logistics, permissions, water, firewood, and trusted local contacts around you, while the land and its communities provide everything else: a river to camp beside, a mountain to climb, a story told around the fire.
The list spans five regions (Isiolo, Baringo, Turkana, Samburu, and West Pokot) and continues to grow as we open new ground with the communities we partner with. Get in touch and we will help you build a route between the sites that match your sense of adventure.
Isiolo
Isiolo Campsites
Shaba
Wild camping on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River beneath Shaba's volcanic hills and doum palm groves, in the same rugged country that inspired Joy Adamson's Born Free.
Facilities A true bush camp with no permanent structures: your own private tent pitched riverside, meals cooked over the fire, and simple long-drop facilities set up just for your stay.
Activities Game drives and walks across Shaba's lava-strewn plains in search of elephant, lion, leopard, oryx and reticulated giraffe, river-side sundowners, and some of the darkest night skies in the north.
Why it's special Shaba is one of the wildest and least-visited reserves on Kenya's northern circuit: dramatic, almost otherworldly scenery that very few travellers ever get to see, with the Ewaso Nyiro giving camp a constant, soothing soundtrack.
Goji Dera
A remote camp along the Ewaso Nyiro River, in Isiolo's Borana heartland, where herders still move goats and camels along paths worn smooth over generations.
Facilities A simple, fully wild camp with no infrastructure: bring full self-sufficient kit, with water and firewood arranged locally with the Borana community.
Activities Game drives, visits to natural springs, waterfalls and craters. Walking the gorge with local herders, watching the daily rhythm of livestock moving to water, and exploring the surrounding volcanic hills on foot.
Why it's special Goji Dera is raw, untouched Borana country: a landscape shaped as much by pastoral life as by geology, and a rare chance to walk alongside a community that still lives entirely by the old ways.
Baringo
Baringo Campsites
Island of Love – Lake Baringo
Lake Baringo offers amazing experiences, from natural saunas, amazing bird and wildlife (hippos, giraffes, monitor lizards, crocodiles) to experiencing the Ilchamus community's life in harmony with their watery surroundings.
Facilities An all-inclusive campsite, with showers, good toilets, a chef and local cuisine, with amazing views of the surrounding islands and mainland.
Activities Boat tours where you will see amazing birdlife (480 recorded bird species), visits to Ruko conservancy for a nature walk, dancing with the Ilchamus, a natural sauna and fish-feed massage, walks and sundowners on the main island of Kokwe, and storytelling around the campfire, where you learn everything about Ilchamus culture.
Why it's special Lake Baringo offers a completely different experience of Kenya, an area where long pastoral traditions have mixed with lake culture. Because of the ever-present breeze, it has a very lovely climate and it is a great place to unwind, especially at the end of a camping trip. Especially for birders, this is a little slice of heaven.
Silale Caldera
Camping on the flanks of Mount Silali, the largest caldera volcano in the Gregory Rift, where steaming fumaroles and highland pastures sit high above the vast, dry expanse of the Suguta Valley.
Facilities Fully wild camping with no fixed facilities: a self-sufficient set-up with the crew cooking over an open fire.
Activities Hiking the caldera rim, visiting ground that still steams at temperatures up to 90°C, and taking in sweeping views across the Loyamoruk Plains towards Lake Baringo.
Why it's special Silali is dormant rather than extinct: camping here feels like standing on the edge of something still quietly alive, with a sense of scale and solitude that's hard to find anywhere else in Kenya.
Lower Malaso
A lower-altitude camp on the approach to the Malaso escarpment, where the thornbush plains of East Baringo begin their dramatic climb towards the Rift Valley wall.
Facilities Wild camping with no fixed infrastructure: a private tent, fire-cooked meals, and total quiet.
Activities Acclimatising walks before the climb up to Malaso's World's End viewpoint, birdwatching in the surrounding bush, and evenings around the fire under some of the darkest skies in the region.
Why it's special Lower Malaso is the gateway to one of Kenya's great, little-known viewpoints: camping here gives you a slower, quieter build-up to the drama that waits above.
Mount Tiaty
Camping in the shadow of the Tiaty Hills, a rugged volcanic range in East Baringo that is home to the Pokot community and marks the wild country between Lake Baringo and the Suguta Valley.
Facilities A basic wild camp: self-sufficient tents and fire-cooked meals, arranged together with the local Pokot community.
Activities Hikes into the hills, visits to Pokot homesteads, and long views over the Rift Valley floor from the upper slopes.
Why it's special Tiaty is one of the last truly remote corners of Baringo County: dramatic volcanic country, and a chance to meet a community whose pastoral traditions remain very much intact.
Ruko Conservancy
Camping inside a community-run conservancy on the shores of Lake Baringo, home to Kenya's only population of Rothschild's (Nubian) giraffe and a pioneering story of cross-community conservation.
Facilities An established conservancy campsite with basic amenities, run in partnership with the local community.
Activities Giraffe tracking on foot and by vehicle, guided walks with Ruko's community rangers, and boat access to the lake's islands and birdlife.
Why it's special Ruko is a genuine conservation success story: Samburu and Pokot communities, once at odds, now jointly protect giraffe that were once stranded on a shrinking island and rescued by barge; camping here supports that work directly.
Turkana
Turkana Campsites
Kapedo Falls
A wild camp beside the hot waterfalls of Kapedo, where geothermal springs tumble over a rock face into the Suguta River at the head of one of Africa's most dramatic rift valleys.
Facilities Fully wild camping with no infrastructure: a self-sufficient set-up, with water available from the springs themselves.
Activities Bathing in the naturally heated pools beneath the falls, walks along the Suguta riverbed, and time in the border country shared by the Turkana and Pokot communities.
Why it's special Few places combine a genuine waterfall with naturally hot water in this kind of raw, empty desert setting: Kapedo is as strange and beautiful as northern Kenya gets.
Samburu
Samburu Campsites
Ndoto Mountains – Sliding Rocks
Camping beside natural rock slides and pools carved into the Ndoto Mountains, where forested peaks rise abruptly out of the Samburu lowlands.
Facilities Wild camping with no fixed infrastructure: self-sufficient tents and fire-cooked meals, pitched beside the pools.
Activities Sliding down the smooth natural rock chutes into cool pools, swimming, and short hikes into the surrounding forest.
Why it's special The contrast is what makes it: arid plains giving way, within a short climb, to cool forest, running water and natural rock slides that feel like nowhere else in northern Kenya.
Ndoto Mountains – Cow Bedroom
A riverside camp where local Samburu cattle come each evening to drink, deep in the forested heart of the Ndoto Mountains.
Facilities Wild camping, fully self-sufficient, pitched beside the river pools.
Activities Watching Samburu herders bring their cattle down to water at dusk, forest walks, and swimming in the river pools.
Why it's special It's a front-row seat to the daily rhythm of Samburu pastoral life, set against a backdrop of forest and rock that feels completely removed from the modern world.
Ndoto Mountains – Elephant Bedroom
A forest camp deep within the Ndoto range, named for the elephant that pass through this stretch of highland forest.
Facilities Wild camping with no infrastructure, fully self-sufficient.
Activities Forest walks in search of elephant sign, birdwatching in the highland canopy, and quiet evenings by the fire.
Why it's special Camping in genuine elephant country, in a forest that feels a world away from the semi-desert just below, is a rare and humbling experience.
Ndoto Mountains – Aldera
A high camp on Aldera Hill, with sweeping panoramic views across the full length of the Ndoto range.
Facilities Wild camping, fully self-sufficient, pitched on the open hillside.
Activities Hiking and light scrambling up to the viewpoint, sundowners looking out over the mountains, and watching the first light hit the range at dawn.
Why it's special Aldera delivers one of the best viewpoints in the Ndotos for the effort required: a proper wilderness panorama without a technical climb.
Sera Conservancy – Kisima Hansini Campsite
Camping beside a luggah (a seasonal sand river) inside Sera, Kenya's first community-owned black rhino sanctuary, jointly protected by the Samburu, Rendille and Turkana.
Facilities Established conservancy camping with basic facilities, arranged through Sera's community rangers.
Activities Rhino tracking on foot with armed rangers, game drives through mixed bush and grassland, and cultural exchange with the three communities who run the sanctuary together.
Why it's special Sera is a landmark reconciliation project (former rivals turned joint custodians of one of Africa's rarest animals), and tracking black rhino on foot here is a genuinely rare privilege.
Nyiro Mountains
Camping in the montane forest of Mount Nyiro, a sacred mountain for the Samburu that rises abruptly above the plains near Baragoi.
Facilities Wild camping, fully self-sufficient.
Activities Forest hiking, birdwatching, and visits to Samburu manyattas on the mountain's lower slopes.
Why it's special Nyiro is one of the most important cultural landmarks in Samburu country, and its forest (cool, green and largely untouched) is a striking contrast to the desert below.
Malaso Escarpment
Camping on the rim of the Malaso escarpment, at a viewpoint known locally as World's End, where the ground falls away hundreds of metres into the Suguta Valley below.
Facilities Wild camping with no infrastructure.
Activities Sundowners on the escarpment edge, short walks along the rim, and photography of one of the Rift Valley's most dramatic views.
Why it's special Few viewpoints in Kenya match this sense of scale: camping right on the edge, with the entire Suguta Valley spread out below, is unforgettable.
Suguta Valley – Parkati
Camping deep in the Suguta Valley, one of the hottest, driest and most remote corners of Kenya, in the shadow of the Barrier volcanic complex.
Facilities Fully wild camping: completely self-sufficient, with all water and supplies brought in.
Activities Exploring the ancient bed of what was once Lake Suguta, walking among volcanic formations, and stargazing in one of the darkest, most remote places in the country.
Why it's special The Suguta Valley is genuinely one of Kenya's last frontiers (for decades considered too remote to visit), and camping here is a rare way into a landscape almost nobody sees.
Suguta Valley – Kalumudong (Nachola)
A remote camp near Nachola in the northern reaches of the Suguta Valley, close to the seasonal flamingo lake of Logipi.
Facilities Fully wild camping, self-sufficient.
Activities Walks across the valley floor, visits to nearby Lake Logipi to see flamingos, and exploring the volcanic geology of the Barrier complex.
Why it's special This is about as remote as camping gets in Kenya: a genuine expedition into the Suguta's northern reaches, with a good chance of having the entire landscape to yourselves.
Baragoi Plains – Tuum
Camping on the plains near Tuum village, at the foot of Mount Nyiro, in the heart of Samburu North.
Facilities Wild camping, fully self-sufficient, arranged in coordination with the local Samburu community.
Activities Village visits, walks onto the lower slopes of Mount Nyiro, and cultural time with the Samburu community of Tuum.
Why it's special Tuum is a genuine, working Samburu settlement rather than a tourist stop: camping here offers an honest window into daily life at the foot of one of Samburu's most sacred mountains.
West Pokot
West Pokot Campsites
Lake Turkwel
Camping beside the still waters of Lake Turkwel, the reservoir behind the Turkwel Gorge Dam, ringed by hills on the edge of Pokot country.
Facilities Wild camping with no fixed infrastructure, self-sufficient.
Activities Boat trips on the lake, sport fishing, birdwatching, and short hikes into the surrounding hills.
Why it's special It's an unexpected body of water in an otherwise dry and rugged landscape: calm, scenic, and a good place to slow down between the more demanding legs of a West Pokot trip.
Mount Mtelo Base Camp
Camping at the base of Mount Mtelo, Kenya's fifth-highest peak and, according to Pokot oral tradition, the cradle of the pastoral Pokot people.
Facilities A base camp with vehicle access via the Sekerr escarpment; wild camping, self-sufficient.
Activities The multi-day hike to Mtelo's 3,336m summit, shorter acclimatisation walks, and time with the Pokot communities who farm its lower slopes.
Why it's special Mtelo is spiritually significant to the Pokot and rarely climbed by outsiders: reaching its moorland summit, past forest and bamboo, is one of the great under-the-radar treks in Kenya.
Calabash – Orwa
A community camp near Orwa which can be your staging ground into West Pokot and Turkana.
Facilities Very simple rooms and dormitories, with toilets and simple bush showers.
Activities There are loads of activities that can be organised from here, including climbing Mount Mtelo, motorcycle tours through the area, seeing traditional ways of gold mining, and learning everything about this region's journey from conflict to peace.
Why it's special This location played a central role in peacebuilding processes in the north rift. It is run by the Network for Peace, Social Cohesion and Heritage, and an important peace treaty was signed in this location.
Mount Nasolot
Camping on the edge of Nasolot National Reserve, a rugged, little-visited reserve on the Turkwel River known for its large elephant herds.
Facilities Wild camping with no fixed infrastructure, self-sufficient.
Activities Game viewing on foot and by vehicle in search of elephant, buffalo and kudu, birdwatching, and short hikes into the reserve's rocky terrain.
Why it's special Nasolot sees a fraction of the visitors of Kenya's better-known parks, so wildlife encounters here feel genuinely wild and unscripted.
Jerusalem
A camp in a remote pocket of West Pokot known locally as Jerusalem, in the hill country beyond Kapenguria.
Facilities Wild camping, fully self-sufficient, arranged with the local Pokot community.
Activities Walking in the surrounding hills, time with local Pokot communities, and exploring one of the least-documented corners of the county.
Why it's special Even by West Pokot's standards this is off the map: a place named half in local legend, that very few outsiders have ever camped in.
What to Expect
True Wilderness, On Its Own Terms
Self-Sufficiency With Local Guides
You have your own transport and your own equipment, but we organise your local guides who show you the campsite, facilitate activities and arrange rangers for your security. Some campsites are not reachable by vehicle and require guides, porters and security to reach, with your vehicle looked after too. All this will be arranged by Ajabu Wild.
Seamless Logistics
Northern Kenya's vast, remote terrain can be difficult to navigate without local knowledge. We handle the route planning, permissions, and provide you with the latest weather and security updates, so you can focus on the wilderness rather than the logistics of reaching it.
Culture Woven In
Every site sits within land cared for by a community conservancy or homestead. Along the way there is usually a manyatta to visit, a market day to catch, or a craft tradition to learn firsthand from the people who call this country home.
Plan Your Route Between the Wild Places
Whether you want us to facilitate the whole journey or simply need route notes, bookings and local contacts for a self-drive trip, get in touch and we will help you build an itinerary around the campsites that speak to you most.