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Safari Lodges
and Safari Camps in Kenya
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Mara Sopa Lodge
The Mara Sopa Lodge is a fairly modern place and has a commanding
view.It has been attractively designed and built
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Keekorok Lodge
The Keekorok Lodge is one of the Block
Hotels and is an older but well maintained lodge on a grassy
plain.Keekorok is one of the two lodges which operates ballon
flights
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Mara Sarova
Lodge
The Mara Sarova
Lodge is part of the Sarova Hotel chain and is not far from the
Sekenani Gate and has the works,including a swimming
pool |
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Fig Tree Camp
Along the northern banks of the Talek
River is the Fig Tree Camp.It is attractively designed,has a
swimmingpool,and is approached across a wooden bridge from the car
park on the opposite bank.It is a tented Camp with full board in the
high season.This is the other lodge from which you can take a
balloon safari.It is wise to book them in advance at the Nairobi
office though you can also do this at the camp.Game drives,game
walks and even horse safaris are
available. |
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Mara Intrepids Club
The Mara Intrpids Club is like the Fig
Tree Camp along the northern banks of the Talek River and is
considerably more expensive but does include fullboard and game
drives.The views over the river from the bar are excellent,as are
the sunset views over the plains. |
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Mara Serena Lodge
In the centre of the reserve is the
Mara Serena Lodge on a superb site overlooking the Mara River.It
blends in beautifully with the surrounding countryside and was built
to resemble a modern Maasai village.It is an interpretation of a
traditional Masai Manyatta village of connected domed huts,located
on the saddle of the hill.Views vary, however most of the 74 rooms
overlook vast rolling plains,woodlands and rivers that make up the
Masai Mara triangle.The dining room terrace overlooks a waterhole
and the swimming pool faces the vast plains
below. |
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Mara Safari Club
More expensive again is the Mara
Safari Club,part of the Lonrho chain of Hotels.It is actually
outside the reserve,so you do not pay the high park entry fees for
just staying here.The camp is built on a bend in the Mara River,and
the main building is cantilevered right out over the bank.All prices
include three game drives per day. |
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Governor's Camp and Little Governor's
Camp
In the northern section of the park is
another group of tented camps including Governor's Camp and Little
Governor's Camp,owned by the same people.These are both beautiful
places little places where service is very personalised and
excellent.Both places offer full board and game
drives. |
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Kichwa Tembo Camp
Just outside the northern boundary of
Masai Mara,is the Kichwa Tembo Camp which has spectacular savannah
views. |
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Mara River Camp
Other accommodation outside the park
north of Oloololo Gate includes the Mara River Camp which offers
game drives and game walks. |
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Siana Springs
About 15 km from Sekenani Gate is
another tented lodge,Siana Springs.The cottages are dotted around a
beutiful green clearing with shady trees,sweeping lawns and
flowers.There is an open bar and dining room and a roaring log fire
at nightAlthough it is not actually in the reserve there is a lot of
game around the camp itself.There is a baited hide nearby and you
have a good chance of seeing leopards.Dawn walks and night time
spotting game drives are also organised from the
camp. |
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Sekenani Camp
Sekenani Camp is a small place with
just 15 tents.They are offering full board and game
drives. |
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Oseur Tented Camp
The Oseur Tented Camp is another in
this area.Even if you cannot afford to stay in one of these
camps,they are usually great places to drop in for a cleansing ale
and perhaps a snack although,not surprisingly,prices are relatively
high.The Mara Sarova Camp,Keekorok Lodge and Mara Serena Lodge all
sell petrol and will usually part it to non guests,though prices are
higher than in Narok or Nairobi |
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Oloolaimutiek Campsite
The Maasai run the Oloolaimutiek
Campsite between the gate of the same name and the Mara Sopa Lodge
at the eastern extremity of the park.This place is very popular with
the budget safari outfits and is usually pretty lively.For a small
fee the Maasai provide firewood and an askari(watchman) at night.The
water supply here is very limited and if you need any water you will
have to buy it from the Masai.The staff canteen of the nearby Mara
Sopa Lodge is usually a lively place and you can get cheap meals and
warm beer. |
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Shimba Hills Lodge
A beautiful rainforest setting
provides the backdrop for Shimba Hills Lodge.Full of old world
charm,the lodge is part of a tree house design perched on stilts
above the floodlit watering hole.All rooms are comfortable and
uniquely furnished and overlook the watering hole.Rooms have access
to shared toilet and shower
facilities. |
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Treetops
Perhaps Kenya's most famous
hotel,Treetops was where Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth
II,on the death of her father GeorgeVI ,while she was staying in the
original Treetops on the other side of the water hole.The original
tree house was looted and burned down in 1955 by Mau Mau freedom
fighters,the present ,much larger building is built on stilts among
the trees.The lodge itself is tremendous fun,with growing branches
of Cape chestnut twisting through the public rooms,and a dining room
with trestle tables and polished benches.Intentionally like an
officers' mess,it has something the creaking atmosphere of a wooden
ship.Last renovated 1996,the bedrooms and shared facilities are
nonetheless cramped.What you are paying for is the experience of
Treetops,the opportunity to breathe the same air like the rich and
famous.Photographs and letters framed on the varnished walls hark as
far back as the 1930s and various royal and state visits.During
daylight hours reality is never far below the surface.Through the
forest,Kikuyu shambas and homesteads are visible in every direction
and the main Nyeri road passes by just 3 km away.The lodge is
no longer in the forest either.Down by the water hole,a large area
is now virtually bare,red dust and dead wood,the result of foliage
destruction by elephants.One patch has even been fenced in to
protect new plant growth.The problem,as always,is balancing tourist
receipts with the needs of wildlife,which themselves conflict with
those of farmers on the slopes nearby.Many of the animals which come
to Treetops are lured by the salt which is spread beneath the
viewing platform every afternoon before the visitors arrive .This
draws large herds of elephant and buffalo,but only very few
rhino,and in the long term it would seem to ensure the ruination of
the environment around the lodge.It certainly discourages those
animals who need plenty of cover.The curious giant forest hog
sometimes turns up,but leopards are rarely seen and the large
bongo,that shy and elusive forest antelope has not been seen for
years. |
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The Ark
The Ark is set at a higher
altitude,actually in the mountain forest.Here,they do on occasion
see leopards and perhaps once a year bongos.There are almost
guaranteed nightly sightings of elephant,rhino and buffalo.Transport
from the Aberdare Country Club leaves daily at 2.30pm and
5pm,returning at 8am .You should try to get an afternoon nap as you
will be woken by buzzers through the night announcing the arrival of
one of the big five.The attraction for wildlife is the muddy pool
and saltlick at the prow of the hotel,under the viewing terrace and
next to the ground level photographic hide.There is usually an
animated scene here as the animals jostle for salt,and fights
sometimes break out especially when new born calves are
around. |
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The Aberdare Country Club
Situated 11 km out of Nyahururu road
near Mweiga,then 3 km along a passable signposted murram road,the
luxuriously rural Aberdare Country Club is the base for The Ark.The
Aberdare Country Club is an exceptionally nice and atmospheric
place,dating from 1938,with rooms in stone cottages,and a wealth of
things to do.For non guests,there is a temporary membership
fee,which includes the use of the pool,nine hole golf course,tennis
courts and a visit on foot to their game sanctuary with its
warthogs,reticulates giraffe,zebra,eland,waterbuck,impala and
others.They also organize very reasonable Aberdare game drives,horse
riding and trips to Solio Game Ranch. Despite its popularity,it
remains classy,and visitors are rarely
disappointed. |
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The Outspan Hotel
Two kilometres west of the clocktower
on Kanisa Road,off the Kiandongoro Gate Road,The Outspan Hotel,built
in 1927,is the stately base for visits to Treetops,where you check
in for lunch and are driven up in the afternoon.It was here Nyeri
that Lord Baden-Powell retired and it is not difficult to understand
why.Set in beautiful gardens,with Mount Kenya rising behind,it
offers more than enough reasons for staying here.The rooms vary in
size,the larger ones being huge,with wonderful old baths,as well as
more modern facilities including satellite TV in the new Chania
Wing.There is a pool and some good walks along the Chania riverbank
down on the fringes of the lovely gardens,though you have to go with
a guard from the hotel.Adjacent to the hotel is Njeri Sports Club
with a 3316 yard nine hole golf course,the second oldest in
Kenya,founded in 1910. |
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Solio Game Ranch
Privately run,the Solio Game Ranch
more or less single handedly saved the Kenyan rhino poulation from
extinction,by breeding them here for them to be subsequently
translocated into the National Parks and other Reserves.The figures
speak for themselves.From an original population of 23 black
rhino,there are now over 50,of the original 16 white rhino,imported
from South Africa,the population stands at over 70. All of the
relocated black rhinos and most of the white,at Nakurus National
Park Rhino Sanctury were bred here.They have four basic Camp
sites,but you will need a 4WD to get there or you need to hire a
vehicle to get there.There are organized trips from the Aberdare
Country Club. |
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Sangare Ranch
Near Mweiga ,you will find Kenya's
possibly most charming luxury tented camp,Sangare Ranch.Access is
via the Aberdare Country Club.The Sangare Ranch will pick you up in
their own 4WD from the Club.Located some 5 km north of the club,the
landscape and atmosphere could hardly be more different,the track
winds up and down precarious forested ravines before emerging onto a
fresh high plateau of scrub and meadow with a good view of Mount
Kenyawhen the air is clear.There are only six tents,each with
wood-heated showers and solar-powered light,sited on the east side
of a small freshwater lake.The birdlife is the main draw,with
black-headed herons squawking loudly in the trees over the
tents,some migratory pelican,and glimpses of crowned
eagle,accompanied by a fantastic chorus of frogs and toads
throughout the night . | |
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