Safari to Mara Naboisho

a good sized reserve with diverse scenery

Mara Naboisho is a prime private conservancy which lies immediately to the northeast of the main Maasai Mara reserve in southwest Kenya.

This area contains 145 square kilometres of pretty scenery, with the elevated flat grasslands being punctuated by a network of shallow forested valleys, very scenic in parts and quite different from the main reserve.

There’s a good deal of resident wildlife, including at least two prides of lions and as many as a dozen leopards. A good range of animals also use this area as a part of their home ranges, notably cheetahs and elephants.

Being a private conservancy means that vehicle traffic is strictly limited. Only guests of the dozen or so small camps here are permitted to explore this significant tract of prime land. Vehicle clusters of any type are very rare.

It also means that camp operators are free to offer off-road driving, walking safari, bush meals and some limited night vehicle safari, which helps to produce a much more rounded experience.

There are also significant opportunities for cultural interaction with the local Maasai people, who are shareholders in the conservancy and therefore tend to be very welcoming.

Mara Naboisho is a little bit too far north for the main migration herds during the Jul-Oct dry season, although the Loita herds should pass through during May-Jun and Nov-Dec.

The Maasai Mara tends to feature in almost all safari trips to Kenya. As well as being the best known reserve, it is also the most productive for wildlife.

The usual stay duration is 4-8 nights split between two camps, less frequently 3-4 nights in just one camp.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit is generally considered to be the Jul-Oct dry season, when the weather should be reliably good and the wildlife concentrated around the permanent water sources.

The Nov-Jun green season may be much less dependable for weather, but remains really strong for wildlife viewing.

Visitor traffic is less of an issue in this private area, but you can expect the camps to be fully booked during the Jul-Oct and Dec-Jan high seasons. So there can be slight advantages to visiting during quieter periods.

Getting around

You’re most likely to arrive into the Maasai Mara area via the regular light aircraft services that operate from Nairobi, which means that you will travel around the area with a guide and vehicle from the camp in which you are staying.

If you’re staying in more than one camp in the greater Maasai Mara then inter-camp transfers are usually operated by the departing camp and generally pass through wildlife areas for most if not all of their routes.

It’s also possible to travel down from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara by road, which is quite a long and tiresome journey, but not without interest. The trouble is that the better lodges in the Mara will offer you no discount for having your own guide and vehicle along, so you end up paying for both, which works out more expensive than flying down.

Where to stay

The Mara Naboisho area contains several accommodation options, the majority of which are decent camps owned by high quality safari operators.

The most upmarket property is the reassuringly (eye-wateringly) pricey Mara Nyika. Then we have two really strong upper-mid range properties, Naboisho Camp and Ol Seki Mara Camp, followed by the slightly simpler Encounter Mara Camp and Kicheche Valley Camp.

an unusually good selection of lodge options