Offbeat Ndoto

relatively well priced for this prime area

Offbeat Ndoto Camp is located in the Mara Confluence sector of the Maasai Mara of southwest Kenya.

This camp is privately owned and often personally hosted by the lovely Piers Winkworth, an English expat who really is good company, a very relaxed and easy-going fellow.

We have always found the camp to be unusually intimate. This is not a highly commercial operation, more of a personal passion. The flow of visitors through the camp is not relentless and the staff always seem to have plenty of time for you and a real desire to make your particular stay special.

Set in a very pleasant and secluded position to the southeast of the conservancy, this lovely traditional tented camp lies alongside the seasonal Olare Orok stream. It is so discreetly tucked away that it is barely noticeable, virtually until you are driving into the camp itself.

From the vehicle turnaround, we first encounter a nice central campfire, backed by an open-sided mess tent containing a small but very comfortable lounge and dining areas.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Offbeat Ndoto Camp is in just three tented rooms, each with an indoor bathroom and private verandah.

There is also a Tented Suite, with private lounge and dining areas, plus two bedrooms and which can function independent of the rest of the camp.

Activities

Offbeat Ndoto Camp 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

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