On top of the Western Wall of the Great Rift Valley, on the border between Kenya and Tanzania, lies the Naimina Enkiyio Forest, clothing the hills, ridges and valleys of this superb area in the heart of Maasailand.

It is high here – 7,000 ft above sealevel or higher – and the afromontane forest surrounding one is often swathed in mist in the crisp mornings.

Deep in the forest, in the valley of the eye-spring of the Kanunka river, is a simple, comfortable and discreet tented camp – Africa Expeditions Loita Hills Camp. Tents overlook a salt-lick frequented by the elusive elephant, buffalo & bushbuck who inhabit the extraordinary forest landscape in this wild frontier.

The heart of camp is a thatched dining area where a large fireplace warms convivial evenings where guests can unwind after days of exploring the forest in the company of it’s custodians, the Maasai. The Maasai emerge from their distinctive thatched huts swathed in blankets to keep out the cold ,as the herds of buffalo who have grazed the forest glades in the night melt back into the depths of the forest. Custodians of “The Forest of the Lost Child,” they will take you trekking through the forest looking for leopard, lion, buffalo and elephant.

Usually signs of these species are more easy to see than the denizens of the forest themselves, although visitors will undoubtedly catch a glimpse of the spectacular black and white colobus monkeys and hear their distinctive sounds. The dramatic black and white colobus monkeys, whose loud choruses serenade the beginning and end of each day, are common in the canopy, as are predators such as leopard and the monkey-eating crowned eagle.

For those more interested in learning about the Maasai way of life, a trip to a nearby homestead may be arranged. The Loita Hills is the last bastion of the “laibonok” – Maasai ritual experts holding the deepest cultural secrets.