After breakfast transfer to Wilson airport for your flight to the Masai Mara National Reserve, offering wonderful scenery and plenty of game. It is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where the visitor may see animals in the same super-abundance as existed a century ago.
Met on arrival at the airstrip by your guide and transferred to Angama Mara Camp for the next five nights where you will be booked on their signature stay package. The signature stay includes a private vehicle to explore the Mara Triangle area, guided walking safaris on the Rift Valley Escarpment and a Mara Hot Air Balloon experience.
There is little that is conventional about the creation of Angama Mara, with views that stretch for miles across the Maasai Mara 300 meters below. Architect duo Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, and Jan Allan, Kenya’s King of Canvas, designed Angama Mara’s elegant and classical tented suites with an 11-metre wide floor-to-ceiling glass front. Each tent has the same breathtaking view – no one is better than the last – and every day, the sunrise provides guests with early morning theatre as the hot air balloons float gently by. Highly polished parquet floors, distinctive splashes of Maasai red, a handsome drinks cabinet (with personal bar and safe tactfully tucked away), vanity with double basins, separate w/c, writing desk with ample charging points and tablet with guest information, WiFi, Africology guest amenities, a collection of East African books, a beautiful John Vogel woven screen, and a butler’s lobby allowing for the discreet delivery of early morning tea and coffee, all add to the comfort and delight of guests in their suites.
A DAY ON SAFARI
Guests could leave the lodge at dawn, or decide to go on a game drive after breakfast, descend down Angama Mara’s private road and 10-minutes later find themselves in the heart of the action – surrounded by more animals than they could imagine: the vast grasslands dotted with acacias are home to abundant herds, as well as Africa’s Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.
Safaris are conducted in the lovely Mara Triangle, open from sunrise to sunset, and are in completely open game-viewing vehicles to which the animals are well accustomed – the vehicles are specially equipped and converted, offering comfy seats, ample legroom, charging stations and canvas roofs for respite from the sun.
Because the weather is so mild in the Mara, there are no constraints as to when to go on a game drive, and Angama Mara guests tailor-make their safari days: out early and back for breakfast; out early with a picnic breakfast and back for lunch; out after breakfast with a picnic lunch and back mid-afternoon; a post lunch game drive and back at sunset; or very best of all, spending a whole day exploring the Mara Triangle – with a picnic breakfast and lunch down at the Tanzanian border without a soul in sight – that’s an all-time favourite and a grand way to spend the day.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Angama Mara’s experienced guides tailor-make their guest’s safari days: first-timers to Africa will be guided differently to old-timers, and there are over 570-recorded species of birds which will keep birding enthusiasts busy. First and foremost, the guides are storytellers, and interpret the Mara in a way that immerses their guests in the surroundings: a safari at Angama Mara is about an overwhelming sense of place. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy the knowledge and companionship of more than one guide as their desired safari experience changes from day to day, and the guiding team will endeavour to match like-minded guests with each other: birders will go on safari with fellow birders, as will those with a keen interest in photography or another special interest.
A ROCKING CHAIR SAFARI
Guests at Angama Mara can also enjoy the wonders of a safari without leaving the comfort of their deck: the views of the Mara from the tented suites are staggering – the sky never sits still and there is always something to spot 300m below – elephant families melting in and out of the forest, a thousand buffalo lazing about, giraffe stepping daintily down from the escarpment or a pod of hippo moving from one water body to the next. All the tents are equipped with binoculars and there is a spotting scope in the guest area. There are heaps of resident game around the lodge: eland, zebra, giraffe, topi and impala; and watching the raptors soar effortlessly above and below you is a great way to while away the hours.
WALKING SAFARIS WITH MAASAI NATURALISTS
Many guests choose to discover the Great Rift Valley on foot. Leaving Angama Mara and heading South along on the edge of the Oloololo Escarpment, Maasai Naturalists offer guided walks through lovely forests and open areas in-between. The birding up here, high above the Maasai Mara, is especially rewarding. Guests learn the traditional ways of the Maasai people from the Naturalists: local legends, fables, traditions, customs, the medicinal use of plants, and are often treated to singing and dancing along the way. All the while, lovely views of the Mara 300m below offer glimpses of great herds of buffalo, or a solitary elephant melting into the forest. Walking safaris at Angama Mara are tailor-made for every guest, and every fitness-level is taken into consideration. Depending on the time of day, and the length of walk, they can include picnic baskets, blankets, or even a lift back to the lodge. From a gentle 2-hour stroll to a full day’s walk, guests can choose exactly how they would like to discover the Rift Valley on foot.
SOMETHING FOR THE ROMANTICS
As a nod to the romantic tale that was filmed on the site of Angama Mara, the lodge offers intimate picnics for two on the crest of the Out of Africa kopje that is featured on the movie’s poster. A Maasai naturalist escorts guests up the hill to discover an old-world private picnic scene: checked blankets, comfy cushions, canvas safari chairs, a wicker picnic basket, sparkling wine on ice, coffee in a Stanley flask, elegant picnic food and of course, that view. Picnics can be enjoyed anytime of day: for breakfast soon after sunrise, or with evening sunset drinks as the sun sets behind. This experience is unique, and only to be found at Angama Mara. For those guests who love the movie or are hopeless romantics, this is surely the highlight of any stay (and on the way back to the lodge, stop in to pay your respects).
