Ongeri Expeditions  /  Private Villas

Luxury Private Villas

Exclusive Use · Africa and the Indian Ocean

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A private beachfront villa with its own pool, staff and chef
The Collection

A house, not a room.

There comes a point where another beautiful suite stops being the answer. What you actually want is the front door, the kitchen, the pool and the view, with nobody else attached to any of it.

The whole property, one party, for as long as you have it.

These seventeen houses are the ones we take our own families to and the ones we put our closest guests in. Some sit on conservancies the size of small countries. Some sit on the sand. All of them are booked whole.

Rates are quoted per property rather than per person, which changes the maths completely once a party reaches six or eight. For a family travelling together it is often the better value, not the extravagance.

Why Exclusive Use

What a whole house gives you.

Six things a hotel cannot offer at any price, however good the hotel is.

I.

Nobody else checks in

The house is yours for the length of your stay. No other guests, no shared lounge, no waiting for a table or a sun lounger, and no adjusting your day around strangers.

II.

Your own chef, and your own hours

Meals happen when you are hungry rather than when a dining room opens. The chef cooks to your brief, from the family who want supper at six to the party who eat at ten.

III.

A private guide and vehicle

On the safari houses, the vehicle is yours alone. You stay with a sighting as long as you like, leave when you like, and never share a radio channel with four other cars.

IV.

Space for the whole party

Three generations, two families or a group of friends can travel together and still find corners to be alone in. That is the thing hotels cannot give you at any price.

V.

Genuinely private land

Most of these houses sit on conservancies rather than in national parks, which means off road driving, night drives, walking and horses, none of it possible in a park.

VI.

Discretion as standard

Staff are briefed, arrivals are quiet, and nothing about your stay is discussed elsewhere. For the guests who need it, that matters more than any of the above.

Kenya

The Maasai Mara

Houses and camps held for one party alone, on private land inside the Mara ecosystem, each with its own guide and vehicle.

Exclusive Use Lorien Mara, an exclusive use private villa in Maasai Mara in Kenya
Private House
Maasai Mara · Kenya

Lorien Mara

A private house in the Mara, taken by your party alone, with staff, guiding and a vehicle that answer to nobody else.

Exclusive Use Zamara, an exclusive use private villa in Maasai Mara in Kenya
Private Camp
Maasai Mara · Kenya

Zamara

An exclusive use camp in the Mara. No other guests, no fixed mealtimes, and game drives that run to your rhythm rather than a lodge timetable.

Exclusive Use Wild Hill, an exclusive use private villa in Maasai Mara in Kenya
Private House
Maasai Mara · Kenya

Wild Hill

A private house set high above the Mara, with long views over the plains and the whole property held for one party at a time.

Kenya

Laikipia

Some of the finest private houses in Africa sit on these conservancies, on land measured in tens of thousands of acres and shared with almost nobody.

Exclusive Use Arijiju, an exclusive use private villa in Borana Conservancy in Laikipia
Private House
Borana Conservancy · Laikipia

Arijiju

Carved into the hillside on Borana, with the stillness of a monastery and the comfort of a private home. One of the most admired houses on the continent.

Exclusive Use Sirai House, an exclusive use private villa in Laikipia in Kenya
Private House
Laikipia · Kenya

Sirai House

A private house on the Laikipia plateau, with long views, a full staff team and the run of the conservancy around it.

Exclusive Use Lengishu House, an exclusive use private villa in Borana Conservancy in Laikipia
Private House
Borana Conservancy · Laikipia

Lengishu House

Set high on Borana with Mount Kenya on the horizon, taken exclusively, with a chef, a guide and horses at the door.

Exclusive Use Suyian, an exclusive use private villa in Laikipia in Kenya
Private Estate
Laikipia · Kenya

Suyian

A working conservation estate in Laikipia, wild and unpolished in the best sense, held privately for the guests staying on it.

Kenya

The Kenyan Coast

White sand, Swahili architecture and a staff team who cook, pour and disappear at exactly the right moment.

Exclusive Use Alfajiri Villas, an exclusive use private villa in Diani Beach in Kenya
Three Villas
Diani Beach · Kenya

Alfajiri Villas

Three houses on the cliff and the sand at Diani, each booked exclusively, each with its own chef, butler, housekeeper and pool.

Exclusive Use Sirai Beach, an exclusive use private villa in Kenyan Coast
Private Villa
Kenyan Coast

Sirai Beach

The coastal sister to Sirai House. A private beachfront villa with its own staff, its own pool and the Indian Ocean at the foot of the garden.

Exclusive Use Cardamom House, an exclusive use private villa in Kenyan Coast
Private Villa
Kenyan Coast

Cardamom House

A private house on the Kenyan coast where the cooking is the point as much as the beach, taken by one party at a time.

Serengeti

Tanzania

Private houses inside the Serengeti ecosystem, with a vehicle, a guide and a chef reserved for your party for the length of the stay.

Exclusive Use Serengeti House, an exclusive use private villa in Grumeti in Serengeti
Private House
Grumeti · Serengeti

Serengeti House

A four bedroom house on the hill above the Grumeti plains, with a private chef, pool and tennis court, and the Serengeti moving below it.

Exclusive Use Four Seasons Villas, Serengeti, an exclusive use private villa in Central Serengeti in Tanzania
Private Villas
Central Serengeti · Tanzania

Four Seasons Villas, Serengeti

Standalone villas within the Four Seasons Safari Lodge, with private pools overlooking the waterhole the elephants come to at dusk.

Gorillas and the Cape

Rwanda & South Africa

One house on the rim of the volcanoes, one above the Atlantic. Both taken whole, and both natural bookends to a longer African journey.

Exclusive Use Singita Kataza House, an exclusive use private villa in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda
Private House
Volcanoes National Park · Rwanda

Singita Kataza House

A private house on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, taken exclusively, with gorilla trekking from the door and Singita's kitchen and guiding behind it.

Exclusive Use Ellerman House, an exclusive use private villa in Bantry Bay in Cape Town
Private Villas
Bantry Bay · Cape Town

Ellerman House

An Edwardian mansion above the Atlantic with one of the great private collections of South African art, and two villas taken exclusively.

Mauritius & the Seychelles

The Indian Ocean

Where a safari usually ends. Private villas on the islands, with the staff, the boat and the kitchen at your disposal.

Exclusive Use One&Only Villas, Mauritius, an exclusive use private villa in Mauritius
Private Villas
Mauritius

One&Only Villas, Mauritius

Beachfront villas with private pools, a dedicated host and a kitchen brigade, on one of the most established addresses in the Indian Ocean.

Exclusive Use Four Seasons Villas, Mauritius, an exclusive use private villa in Anahita in Mauritius
Private Villas
Anahita · Mauritius

Four Seasons Villas, Mauritius

Two and three bedroom villas set in tropical gardens, each with a pool, a private garden and a golf course over the water.

Exclusive Use Four Seasons Villas, Seychelles, an exclusive use private villa in Petite Anse in Mahe
Private Villas
Petite Anse · Mahe

Four Seasons Villas, Seychelles

Hillside villas above a private bay on Mahe, with infinity pools, granite boulders and reef a short swim from the sand.

Who Takes a House

The reasons people book the lot.

i.

Multigenerational Travel

Grandparents, parents and children under one roof, with the flexibility for each generation to have a different sort of day and still eat together in the evening.

ii.

Milestone Birthdays and Anniversaries

A house taken for a week, a chef briefed on the menu, and a party of twelve who never have to book a restaurant or negotiate a schedule.

iii.

Weddings and Honeymoons

Small ceremonies on private land, and honeymoons where the whole property belongs to two people. We handle the licensing, the flowers and the flights.

iv.

Groups Who Value Privacy

Boards, families in the public eye, and anyone who would simply rather not be seen. Exclusive use is the only arrangement that reliably delivers it.

How It Works

Three steps, and the house is held.

Exclusive use properties can only be sold once. Moving early is not a sales line here, it is simply how the arithmetic works.

i.

Tell us the shape of the party

How many adults, how many children and their ages, and whether you want everyone under one roof or spread across two houses. That decides most of the shortlist.

ii.

We hold the houses

Exclusive use properties are single bookings, so they go early and they go completely. We hold two or three on option while you decide, rather than losing all of them.

iii.

The journey is built around the house

Flights, transfers, guiding, the chef's brief, the wine, the horses, the balloon, the boat. Once the house is held, everything else is arranged around it.

Good to Know

Questions, answered plainly.

The whole property is booked by one party. No other guests stay while you are there, the staff work only for you, and on the safari houses the guide and vehicle are yours alone. It is the difference between having a suite in a hotel and having the hotel.

It varies widely across the collection, from houses suited to a couple through to properties that take twelve or more. Tell us the size and shape of your party and we will send the ones that genuinely fit rather than the whole list.

Exclusive use properties are quoted per property per night rather than per person, and rates move considerably by season. Ongeri Expeditions quotes on enquiry, with the whole journey costed together, including flights, guiding and transfers.

Further than you think. A house can only be sold once, so the best properties in the Maasai Mara and Laikipia are often taken twelve to eighteen months out for peak dates, and longer still over Christmas and New Year.

Yes, and it is how most of these journeys are built. A house in Laikipia, a house in the Maasai Mara and a villa on the coast, linked by private light aircraft rather than long road transfers.

On most of them, yes. Exclusive use rates at the safari properties usually include a private guide, a private vehicle and conservancy activities. The island and coastal villas are quoted differently. Each proposal states exactly what is included.

Many of them are ideal, precisely because there is nobody else to disturb. Some sit on unfenced land and are better suited to older children. We are direct about which is which when we send the shortlist.

Yes. Small weddings, milestone birthdays and anniversary parties are among the commonest reasons people take a house. We handle licensing, catering, flowers, photography and the flights for everyone attending.

Begin

Plan your private villa journey.

Tell us the shape of your party and roughly when. We will come back with the two or three houses that genuinely fit, and hold them while you decide.

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