Small (3 tents, one of which is a large family tent), intimate, charming camp, unfenced, ideally located, in the north conservancy, just 5 minutes from the Maasai Mara’s Musiara gate entrance, 15 minutes from the air strip.
Completely local ownership and management, which we highly value and one of the reasons we chose this, together with the location and the small size.
We had tent 3, high on stilts, large, private, wooden floors, huge netted windows, outside deck all around, unobstructed views on the savannah. Big comfortable bed with good mattress, en-suite bathroom with toilet and huge shower, running water. Electricity and hot water are solar - electricity is around the clock, so maybe the camp tops it up at night with a generator, but we never heard one. Large, charming traditional mess tent, with bar area, and extra lounge, wonderful outdoor deck with fire pit, small plunge pool with deck chairs. Food was excellent, they will apparently cater to dietary needs but have a fixed menu. Most meals in the mess tent, some scenically set in the bush.
All drinks were included as was daily laundry. Highly knowledgeable and dedicated guides (William the owner, and Alex), game drives were mostly inside the park and arranged as and when we wished, with picnic breakfast and/or lunch, or not, as we wished.
Park fees were included which made the offer we got superb value for money.
We had been on safari several times almost 4 decades ago when luxury safaris were mobile or semi-permanent tented camps, small, unfenced, only with simple drop toilets and hot bucket showers, communication only via radio, bush cooking, communal mess tent and fire pit… but with an abundance of local staff delivering perfect, exclusive service. That’s the feeling we were looking for again and this is the closest we found on our trip to Kenya: very similar traditional, exclusive safari feeling , experience and charm, with great service, modern comforts, but no excesses and low imprint.
It should be clear that the following points are NOT negatives to us, but positives! But they might be negatives to someone, and we would be sad if anyone were to give negative reviews because of this, so better read and be informed than disappointed. This is an unfenced safari tented camp, so animals will walk by camp and occasionally it might be predators. You will see animals in daytime and hear them at night - from our tent we saw and heard giraffes chewing and elephants walking close by day, and heard hyenas howling and lions grunting in the distance by night.... However we were always accompanied by 2 Maasais after sunset and before sunrise, and they were on guard all night.
Hot water is solar, so if you take a hot shower in the evening, you probably won’t have hot water early in the morning. Electricity is around the clock, but you won’t have a blow dryer and the lighting might not be quite enough to apply makeup after sunset and before sunrise. You’ll have wi-fi in the mess tent but probably not in your guest tent. There are no spa treatments, no large swimming pools, no big menus, no long wine lists. But the staff will fulfill any wish within their means, at any time.
This is a true safari experience, if you are looking for excesses that go beyond what safari ever was, better go elsewhere.
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