Manzili Mara and the Dawa Cocktail
This season, we find ourselves inspired by the sweetness of honey and the many stories, like Larry Boyd’s at the beginning of this newsletter, that are woven into this special ingredient. In our effort to find the best honey cocktail, we reached out to our dear friend and designer, Tom Bossard. Tom has built a home in Kenya that has quickly become one of the country’s premier destinations.
Perched high on the Siria Escarpment with sweeping views over the Maasai Mara and Northern Serengeti, Tom’s home, called Manzili Mara, is a private, exclusive-use retreat for those seeking a safari at their rhythm.
Once known as Siriatom House, the property has been thoughtfully reimagined by Tom and his partner Vanessa Roumeguere, honoring the original vision of the late, remarkable Anthony Russell. Built in traditional Maasai style using mud walls, stilts, timber, and thatch, the house was shaped by the hands and hearts of the local community.
The five-bedroom home offers year- round comfort and soul with two expansive luxury suites and three smaller en-suite cottages. Inside, you’ll find cozy lounge areas with fireplaces, treetop terraces, an indoor dining room, and forest-shaded decks perfect for long, lazy lunches.
What best defines this creative collaboration is a shared philosophy: crafting small-scale, story-rich spaces rooted in culture, design, ecology, and community. This is more than a place to stay—it’s a place to gather, to breathe, to return to yourself.
Located just 20 minutes from the Mara Triangle, with front-row views of big game country, Manzili Mara offers one of the most intimate, elevated safari experiences in East Africa—including the rare chance to walk with rhinos next door at the Partakilat Rhino Conservancy.
To book your stay at Manzili Mara, please contact reservations@manzilihouse.com. Until then, Tom has shared this traditional Kenyan cocktail with us, which will be available at The Willcox all summer long.
Follow Manzila Mara on Instagram at @manzilimara.
- 1⁄2 fresh lime chopped wedges
- 2 oz Ketel One Vodka
- 1 barspoon Honey
- 1⁄3 oz Demerara / Muscovado / brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)
- 1) Select and pre-chill a Double old-fashioned glass.
- 2) Prepare garnish of honey-coated dipper stick stirrer (honey stick).
- 3) Cut a ripe lime in half (from pole to pole) and remove the core from each half by cutting a V-shape grove. (You’ll need one-half of the lime per cocktail).
- 4) Chop a cored half into 3 wedges, then slice each wedge in half to produce 6 chunks of lime and drop these into the serving glass.
- 5) MUDDLE lime chunks in the base of the glass.
- 6) Add vodka and honey-loaded honey dipper stick (or bar spoon of honey) and use the dipper stick (or spoon) to STIR until the honey is dissolved.
- 7) Add sugar syrup and fill the glass with crushed ice leaving the dipper stick as a garnish for the drinker to continue stirring.
