Mara Expedition

a gorgeous camp, but a slightly lesser location

Mara Expedition is located in the Mara North Conservancy area of the Maasai Mara in southwest Kenya.

Set amidst light acacia forest, the camp is centred on a comfortable tented mess.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Mara Expedition is in six tented suites, each with an indoor bathroom and private verandah …

• Tented Suite : x5
• Family Suite : x1 : With two bedrooms

Activities

Mara Expedition provides the following guided activities, not all of which are necessarily included in the room rate …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Bush meals
• Cultural interaction
• Night vehicle safari

Although Mara Expedition is classified under the Mara North conservancy, it is actually located a 30 minute drive to the southeast. However, most safari activities take place on the conservancy, where traffic issues are much reduced.

However, the separation of the camp from its safari areas does mean that walking safari and night vehicle safari may not be so readily available here.

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.

one of the three best private concessions in the Mara