Top 10 Maasai Mara Wildlife Safari Lodges, Camps and Rentals

1. Mara Safari Club

The Mara Safari Club is located on an oxbow of the 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. Mara Serena Safari Lodge

The wildlife park lodge is set on a high ridge in the Maasai Mara National Reserve; the 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 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 lodge has a vantage outdoor pool as well as a full service lounge and bar.

3. Fig Tree Camp in 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 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 Mara eco-system. Evening Maasai entertainment also included.

4. Governor?s Camp in Mara

Set up in 1972, governor?s camp has 36 luxurious tents on the bank of Mara River with views across the sweeping Mara plains. The camp sets standards in luxury accommodation in the 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 Mara. Governor?s camp is for the tourist in need of that intimate interaction with nature under canvas.

5. Governors? Il Moran Camp in 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 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 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 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 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. Mara Explorer

Located on a thickly forested bend of the Talek River and opened in 2000, the Mara Explorer is widely regarded as one of the Maasai Mara most luxurious and well appointed camps.

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.

Mara explorer is an eco friendly camp with all non-degradable waste sent to Nairobi and water is heated using coffee husks.

8. Mara Intrepids

Only a 45-minute flight from Nairobi is the Mara Intrepids, located near the 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 communities.

Guests can also arrange a dawn balloon safari or a fishing trip to Lake Victoria.

9. Olonana Camp in 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 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 community.

The 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 Mara

Sarova 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.

Robert is a tour consultant and co-owner of Landmark Safaris Ltd in Kenya. He is degreed in Tourism management and conservation. More information: http://www.landmarksafaris.com/tours/wildlife.php Grab your relevant and free safari info: http://www.eastafricasafari.blogspot.com