Elewana Tortilis Camp

Tortilis takes its name from the flat-topped Acacia tortilis that shade the camp, which sits on the Kitirua Conservancy adjoining Amboseli National Park. The reason to come is the view: on a clear morning Kilimanjaro rises straight out of the plain in front of the mess tent, snow on the summit and elephant in the middle distance.

The camp is comparatively modest in scale - sixteen tents plus a private house - and the mood is relaxed rather than formal. Much of the produce comes from an on-site organic garden, and the kitchen leans Italian, a legacy of the camp's founders. A pool sits beneath the acacias with the mountain framed beyond it.

Being on a private conservancy rather than inside the park allows night drives, guided walks with Maasai guides and sundowners in places the park does not permit, while the park itself is a short drive away for its famously large and relaxed elephant herds. Amboseli's shallow swamps, fed by snowmelt from Kilimanjaro, concentrate game in a way that makes sightings reliable.