Small, stylish and personal in a great game area
Guide Price: From: $460 To: $685
In the bush, size matters. Richard's camp has only seven double tents tucked away in a patch of woodland close to the Mara River, and this is what makes it special. Being so small means guests get truly individual attention and it's how you'd like your home to feel if you lived in the Mara.
It's a second home for Richard and his partner Liz and their one year old son Willoughby, who spend a lot of their time here. It's full of their personalities and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. You'll get absolutely no sense of being processed, and the kind of homely hospitality can make you feel very much part of the whole scene.
Evenings by the fireplace with meals on your laps, or at the big table just outside can be very entertaining, if not deeply funny. It's set in a great game area in the Mara Conservation Area, and particularly in the dry season from March to October, you can expect a lot going on right around camp. Elephants wandering past while you're having your dinner, for instance. One of the sacrifices of being in a great game area, right down by the plains, is the camps has to tuck away in the woodland to get the shade, and that means there are no views to speak of.
Richard, still does quite a lot of guiding, though he always has another guide around to help him out. He comes from a well known safari tribe and white Kenyan clan, the Roberts family, who can boast a few generations of serious bush experience. Hints of a possibly eccentric past are in evidence around the camp. It's the only one we've seen with a full suit of armour in it for instance. Liz is an intrepid Canadian, and when she's there, which is not so much these days with the growing family, great company.
Their part of the Mara is in the Ol Choro conservation area - basically a Maasai group ranch leant over primarily to wildlife and tourism. As Maasai cattle are allowed to graze roundabouts, the grass is kept short, this actually means a lot of game is attracted to the area especially in the dry season from March to August - on the whole, herd animals don't like long grass as it hides predators and makes un-nutritious eating.
7 tents
From: 460 To: 685
Small, stylish and personal in a great game area
Incl. FB, soft drinks, beer, house wine & spirits, laundry, game & night drives, bush walks, airstrip transfer, cultural visits, bush meals. Excl. Balloon trips, champagne & premium spirits, Maasai fees for cultural visits.
The Mara Conservation Area surrounds the main Masai Mara Reserve. This land is owned by a series of different Maasai communities (although mmuch of it falls under conservation partnership ageements with the private camp-owners), and differs from the main reserve in a couple of important ways. First, the Maasai to whom this is home are allowed to use this area to graze their cattle. Second, because it lies outside the main reserve, walking is allowed in this area. While many of the camps located here - the likes of Kicheche Mara Camp, Ol Seki Mara Camp, Richards Camp and Elephant Pepper Camp are within relatively easy reach of the main reserve, we would council against using this area simply as a dormitory for visiting the main park. Like Loliondo in northern Tanzania the Conservation Area really offers another side of the Mara ecosystem. It's probably worth recognising that the game viewing may not be quite on the scale of the main park - and that for the major river crossings you'll need to make the journey. However, in our experience, game viewing here rarely disappoints and the added dimension of the Maasai involvement makes this an excellent place to spend a few days. Read more?
Kenya is the most established safari country, and consequently you have to step a little off the conventional route to find real wilderness, but it’s certainly there. Kenya also has much going for it as a family destination, and also a good number of very individual safari camps and lodges with a personal approach that makes your experience very special. Kenya also has a particularly diverse ecology which ranges from snowy mountains to true desert, rolling grassy plains filled with wildlife to craggy scrub intersected with dry riverbeds, sparkling beaches and volcanic ranges. Read more?
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Vanessa's 16 years in travel has seen her knowledge develop from sub-Saharan Africa into North Africa, Central and Southern America and the Galapagos. Consequently, she’s a veritable encyclopaedia of travel information and exceptionally cool, calm and collected in the face of the greatest planning demands.
At Natural High, we've had long experience putting together trips in Africa that really work. Whether it's intimate bushcamps in out of the way places, or a private lodge in one of Africa's top-billing wildlife areas, light mobile camping or remote island escapes, we know there is a lot to choose from. We're absolutely confident that we can recommend the right places for you.
