An article by Robert Muhoho published by www.luxuryvillafinder.com
1. Maasai Mara Safari Club
The Maasai Mara Safari Club is
located on an oxbow of the Maasai Mara River at the foot of the Aitong
Hills and bordering the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. The club is
approximately 4 hours drive from Nairobi or 45 minutes by air.
The
accommodation is in 50 luxurious ensuite tents all with river frontage
allowing guests to watch wildlife. These are 45 standard tents, five
premium tents, all with netted four poster beds, electricity and
permanent bathrooms. Main building has the dining room, lounge and bar
and is cantilevered over the river.
A free-form swimming pool and game drives by land cruisers are also offered including nightly entertainment.
2. Maasai Mara Serena Safari Lodge
The
wildlife park lodge is set on a high ridge in the Maasai Mara National
Reserve; the Maasai Mara Serena Safari Lodge has one of the most
spectacular views in the whole of Kenya. It's breath taking. The lodge
is an interpretation of a traditional Maasai Mara village of domed huts;
these are spaced apart to allow guests an uninterrupted view of the
Maasai Mara Landscape.
Accommodation consists of 74 guest rooms, two-twin with double bed and the rest with twin beds.
The
main dining room, with its attractive multi-domed ceiling, offers
international menus, buffets and barbecue and authentic African dishes.
The Maasai Mara lodge has a vantage outdoor pool as well as a full
service lounge and bar.
3. Fig Tree Camp in Maasai Mara
The
fig tree camp lies on the banks of the Talek River in the famous Maasai
Mara National Reserve with good access to all areas of the reserve for
game drives.
Guests here can choose to stay in either a tent or a
cabin. There is a total of 75 spacious rooms and tents, all en-suite
with private balconies. There are 38 tents with twin beds; 22 cabins
with double and single beds; and five twin-bedded cabins.
Latest
additions are 10 executive tents suites with luxury four poster beds,
butler services and spectacular views of the Maasai Mara.
Facilities include; two bars, main dining room, an open air dining
area, a tree house/coffee deck, a swimming pool and guest lecture
facilities, curio shop, video room, and a medical clinic and resident
nurse. Local naturalist gives lectures on and slide projections on the
Maasai Mara eco-system. Evening Maasai entertainment also included.
4. Governor's Camp in Maasai Mara
Set
up in 1972, governor's camp has 36 luxurious tents on the bank of
Maasai Mara River with views across the sweeping Maasai Mara plains. The
camp sets standards in luxury accommodation in the Maasai Mara and is
Africa's best under canvas.
Guests stay in well appointed tents,
each with their own bathroom. Evenings are devoted to cock tails around a
bon fire and dinner by candle light. Each morning breakfast is prepared
over blazing coals; mountains of bacon and eggs, fresh milk (flown in
daily), hot -baked croissants, exotic fruits and freshly brewed priced
Kenyan coffee.
Both breakfast and lunch are served on the shady
river bank with views across the Maasai Mara. Governor's camp is for the
tourist in need of that intimate interaction with nature under canvas.
5. Governors' Il Moran Camp in Maasai Mara
Governors il Moran camp is small but has added touches that make this top-of-the-range tented accommodation in Maasai Mara.
Secluded in the forest, there are just 10 tents that line the winding banks of the Maasai Mara River.
Each
tent has a very private location and is furnished to a superior
standard. Beds are hand made from specially selected wood taken from
ancient olive trees. Large en-suite bathrooms have flush toilets, a big
shower with piping-hot water and a Victorian bath.
The tents have
an extended verandah so that guest can take dinner in private in their
tent. Or visitors can just relax and enjoy the sights and sounds. Birds
will be heard singing, elephants walk through the camp and at night
leopard call nearby. Game drives and walks are included in the rate and
complimentary wine is served with dinner.
In the day meals are
served under the shady trees to include fresh fruits, cereals, hot-baked
breads and a cooked breakfast. Deep in the Maasai Mara bush,
cordon-bleu dinners by candle light are truly unforgettable experience.
The camp is a big favourite for honeymooners due the extremes they have
gone to ensure privacy.
6. Governors' Private Camp in Maasai Mara
Governor's
private camp is for those that want some-thing exclusive. Private Camp
can only be booked by one family or group at a time. As its name
suggests, it's private. It means up to 16 people have a beautiful bend
of the Maasai Mara river all to themselves.
The camp is located at
a spot where animals come to drink, hippo laze in the shallows and
elephant bring their calves for wallowing. The surrounding forest is
home to many birds too.
The tents are luxurious with hand made
furniture. Private bathrooms have flush toilets, hot showers, with
crystal clear water. Guests are allowed to even tailor their own menus
and drinks are all free besides champagne.
The camp must be booked by a minimum of four guests staying for at least three nights.
7. Maasai Mara Explorer
Located
on a thickly forested bend of the Talek River and opened in 2000, the
Maasai Mara Explorer is widely regarded as one of the Maasai Mara most
luxurious and well appointed camps.
Maasai Mara Explorer consists
of 10 luxurious tents each with a butler on call 24 hours a day. Guests
can enjoy morning and evening game drives, walking safaris, bush
breakfasts and dinners or romantic sundowners in selected river side or
hill top locations.
Maasai Mara explorer is an eco friendly camp
with all non-degradable waste sent to Nairobi and water is heated using
coffee husks.
8. Maasai Mara Intrepids
Only a 45-minute
flight from Nairobi is the Maasai Mara Intrepids, located near the
Maasai Mara River, where over a million wildebeest and zebra make the
crossing during their migration in July and august.
There are 30
luxury tent and these are spread over a large riverside site to ensure
privacy and peace for each guest. Tents are furnished in classic safari
style, with four-poster beds and reproduction furniture and modern
en-suite bathrooms.
Each tent sits on a shady raised platform with views over the river banks where a wide variety of animals come to drink.
Activities
include three guided game drives each day; escorted walking safaris
outside the reserve; bush breakfasts and dinners under the stars; and
visits to neighbouring Maasai Mara communities.
Guests can also arrange a dawn balloon safari or a fishing trip to Lake Victoria.
9. Olonana Camp in Maasai Mara
Olonana
is a luxury camp idyllically located in the heart of the Maasai Mara
big game country. The camp features 12 spacious tented pavilions each
tastefully appointed with two queen-size beds, ensuite bathrooms and
river view verandahs where guests can relax and watch the hippos
wallowing.
A wide range of activities includes bush walks, visits
to the adjacent Maasai Mara cultural village, sundowners and day and
night game viewing drives.
Olonana is at the fore front of in
Kenya with solar power, a tree planting project and a wetlands project
which allows for used water to be totally recycled before being released
to the natural environment. In addition Olonana supports various
projects to assist the local Maasai Mara community.
The Olonana
Maasai Mara camp received a bronze rating award from the Ecotourism
society of Kenya Eco-rating scheme and has also been selected as one of
the top 15 safari camps in the world by 'Conde Nast Traveller' magazine.
10. Sarova Maasai Mara
Sarova
Maasai Mara offers an opportunity to experience a tented safari. There
are 75 luxurious tents, with permanent floors and roofs and their own
bathroom set amid rush gardens an exotic flowers.
The resort has
its own large pool with poolside bar. There is also a good restaurant, a
second bar and a permanent barbecue. Guests can also book hot air
balloons and see wildlife awakening in the savannah before landing to a
sumptuous breakfast with champagne.
A variety of dinning
experiences are on offer including bush, boma, garden, pool barbeque and
salt lick. Walking safaris can also be arranged.
