A Masai Mara Luxury Safari

Masai Mara luxury safaris hold a soft spot in our hearts, although the Mara has a reputation for being over crowded we believe it still holds the absolute best game viewing in the world – and our luxury safaris in the Masai Mara are always in locations where there are no people, and no over crowding at all. The Masai Mara’s luxury private conservancies are unfenced and border the Mara reserve are exclusive and full of wildlife. There is a reason many people return over and over again to this amazing part of Africa.

On of our favourite Masai Mara luxury safari options is Offbeat Mara. Offbeat Mara in the Masai Mara Kenya is a lovely little safari camp offering a relaxed and intimate atmosphere in a remote and exclusive game rich area of the Mara. Our friends at Offbeat recently wrote to us with updates on the camp. They have waved a fond farewell to Miia, their excellent manager who has done a fantastic job this season in making sure guests are well looked after.

Game in the luxury Offbeat Mara Conservancy and the valley, which the camp sits in, is as abundant as ever and this little camp still remains on the hit list for many visiting Kenya on safari. Numerous lions have been seen in the area, and two different sets of cheetah cubs, which is incredibly exciting and they really are adorable to see playing, and relaxing with their mother.

Excitingly this month luxury Masai Mara safari guests at Offbeat Mara have also seen black rhino, which are incredibly rare and endangered. Huge elephants with enormous tusks have also been seen as well as a herd of over forty buffalo moving through the area. A beautiful sight recently was a herd of over thirty five eland, these shy antelopes are the largest antelopes in Africa and are absolutely gorgeous in colour and look – they are very shy and often run from vehicles but this group was incredibly relaxed and guests were able to get some lovely photographs.

Piers Winkworth, who is the owner of the luxury Masai Mara safari camp Offbeat Mara Camp recently spotted an exciting new addition whilst on his own Kenya safari – a tiny week old lion cub. We hope all our guests in the Masai Mara on safari see as much wildlife as the guests at Offbeat Mara have been seeing. The wildebeest are once again moving towards the Masai Mara with thousands of animals about to cross the Talek and Mara Rivers (much to the delight of hungry crocs) – guests, managers and guides wait with great anticipation for the moment the first wildebeest cross the border from the Serengeti.

Clients always ask us about the chances of seeing a crossing and in fact they are very very slim. The wildebeest often reach a river and can take three days to build up the courage to cross it. Often the clients miss it by an hour or two as is so often the way. We only deal with the best guides for our luxury Masai Mara safaris so they are always in the correct position if the wildebeest do decide to cross but a new unwritten rule in guiding has been passed through the top end safari fraternity recently which is responsible viewing of the migration, often less experienced guides crowd around the exits of the river so making it very hard for the wildebeest to get out, often causing unnecessary drowning and damage to these docile creatures. So we are confident in the fact that our guides will never behave like that, and also trust our wonderful clients to know when game viewing becomes unfair and unnatural to the animal.

Another of our favourite luxury Masai Mara safari camps is Richard’s River Camp – it is just heaven, everything about it is unique and quirky and the staff are some of the warmest and most charismatic Masai we have ever met. The tents are done with beautiful fabrics and furnishings and the location on a small stream is quite magical. Here the emphasis is on freedom in the bush so luxury sundowners and bush meals are a highlight. Richard’s River Camp also has some of the best guides in the whole of the Mara and their eyesight for spotting those elusive big cats and other smaller animals is quite exceptional. You will also enjoy gourmet food and a truly spoiling time in the bush.