Four nights in the Mara.
One conservancy, one guide, and permission to do the three things the reserve forbids: drive off-road, walk, and go out after dark.
Six nights on Mara conservancy land with a private guide and vehicle throughout — the flagship journey, and the one we build most often for a first safari.
- From
- $6,400 pp
- Duration
- 4 nights
- Best months
- Jul–Oct, Jan–Mar
- Party size
- 2 – 8 guests
The shortest safari worth taking, and the one we sell most
Most first-time visitors are sold two nights in the Masai Mara, which — once flights and a mid-morning arrival are counted — is one full day of game viewing. Four changes the character of the trip entirely. It buys a day inside the national reserve, two unhurried days on the conservancy, one night drive and one morning on foot, and it gives your guide time to learn how you like to travel.
You stay on a private conservancy on the reserve’s northern boundary, where vehicle numbers are capped by lease at one car per 700 acres. There is no crowding at sightings, off-road driving is permitted for photography, and the same lions, leopards and cheetah move freely between the conservancy and the reserve below it — the fence exists on paper only.
It works as a stand-alone journey, and it is the leg we most often attach to Amboseli, Laikipia, or four nights on the Kenyan coast.
- Night drives — genets, aardvark, and cats hunting in the dark
- A morning on foot with an armed Maasai guide, reading the night’s tracks
- Off-road positioning for photography, permitted on conservancy land
- One full day inside the national reserve, breakfast in the vehicle
- Optional dawn balloon flight over the plains
- An evening at a Maasai homestead, arranged through people we know
Ideal traveller
First safaris, short trips, and anyone adding a wildlife leg to a longer journey. Suitable for children from six; excellent for photographers on a budget of time.
The itinerary
Nairobi to the conservancy
Met at the airbridge, transferred to Wilson and flown west — 45 minutes, landing on the camp’s own strip before lunch. An afternoon drive to find the resident pride, and dinner under the fig.
The conservancy
Out at first light while the cats are still moving, back for a late breakfast, and the middle of the day at leisure. A night drive after dinner, which is the thing guests write to us about.
Into the reserve
A long day south into the national reserve — the Mara river, the open plains, and in season the crossing points. Breakfast and lunch in the vehicle; back to camp by dark.
On foot, and the Maasai evening
Walking at dawn with an armed Maasai guide: tracks, dung, medicinal plants and the small things a vehicle drives past. The afternoon free, then an evening at a nearby homestead.
Homeward
A last dawn drive if you want one, then the late-morning flight to Nairobi. Day rooms at a private club near the airport, and our concierge with you until you fly.
Six tents, one lugga, twelve guests at most
The camp we use as standard is six tents on a seasonal watercourse, built on Maasai-owned land under a conservancy lease that pays 340 households whether or not you come. Hardwood floors, proper plumbing, a plunge pool, a cook who trained in Nairobi and a bar nobody bothers to staff because you pour your own.
Two alternatives, at your specialist’s suggestion: a four-suite house with its own vehicle and chef for families and groups of six or more, and a smaller mobile camp in the Loita hills for guests who would rather have the walking than the plunge pool.
All three are on our list because we have slept in them. Ask your specialist which one they would choose for the month you are travelling — they will have an opinion, and it will not always be the most expensive.
What the price covers
- Four nights as described, all meals and house drinks
- A private guide and vehicle throughout, yours alone
- Return flights Nairobi–conservancy, on the camp strip
- Conservancy and reserve fees, and the conservancy levy
- Night drives, guided walking, and the Maasai homestead evening
- Airport meet-and-greet, fast-track, transfers and day rooms
- 24-hour Nairobi concierge, answered by a person
What it does not
- International flights and visas
- Travel insurance — required; we will help you compare
- Balloon flight ($540 pp), spa treatments, premium wines
- Gratuities, at your discretion
July to October for dry conditions and, from late July, the crossings. January to March is greener, quieter, better for cats with cubs and roughly a third cheaper. We would avoid the last week of April and most of May.
Shall we hold the dates while you think?
Tell us the month and we will send a costed draft of these four nights costed to the night, with the camps held provisionally at no charge. A written reply within one working day, from the specialist who will run your journey.
On the Mara
Is four nights enough?
For the Mara alone, yes — comfortably. Four buys a reserve day, two conservancy days, a night drive and a morning walking, which is the full range of what this landscape offers. Guests who stay six tend to be photographers, and they are right to.
Conservancy or national reserve?
Stay on the conservancy, visit the reserve. The conservancy gives you capped vehicle numbers, off-road driving, walking and night drives; the reserve gives you volume of game and the river. This package does both, which is the only reason to choose it over a cheaper reserve lodge.
Can we add the beach?
Constantly done. Four nights here and four on the Lamu archipelago is our most-sold combination, and the flying is short. Say the word and your specialist will cost the join in the same draft.
Will we see the big cats?
Lion, near-certainly — the conservancy prides are habituated to vehicles and generally findable. Cheetah, likely. Leopard, a matter of hours and patience in the riverine forest, which is exactly what a private guide and four nights buys you.