MARA NORTH PRIVATE CONSERVANCY
MAASAI MARA, KENYA
About Mara North
A safari-insider favourite, the Mara North Conservancy is one of the most densely populated wildlife conservancies in the Mara ecosystem. An added benefit of visiting this conservancy is the feeling of exclusivity and intimacy due to the limited number of visitors allowed.
The area now known as the Mara North Conservancy was in extremely poor state back in the 1980s and 1990s. Ownership of the land was highly fragmented and the fencing between land boundaries caused major barriers for local and migrating wildlife.
Overgrazing by the Maasai’s cattle caused degeneration of the land and threatened the future of the landowners.
In 2009 a group of over 800 Maasai landowners joined together to save their land and livelihood by establishing the 320 km2 Mara North Conservancy.
Thanks to the conservancy's conservation efforts and partnerships with lodges and safari organizations, the area’s wildlife is booming and the Maasai landowners have a brighter future ahead. Long golden grass and whimsical flat-topped acacia trees, the conservancy’s landscape is exactly as you would expect it to be.
Thanks to conservation efforts such as natural environment regeneration and protection of wildlife from poaching and traps by wildlife rangers the conservancy now had one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in the Mara ecosystem. Aside from the highly sought after predators, there are over 450 species of birds to spot, several species of antelopes gracing the plains and a variety of animals that seem to have stepped straight out of a story book.
DAY 1
Upon arriving in Nairobi you will be met at arrivals area just outside the main airport building. You will get taken to a local Hotel where you will meet Sam and get to know everybody in your small group. Take the time to relax after your long flight before getting a good night sleep.
* Breakfast is included - but drinks, lunch and dinner is not included in the price.
DAY 2
After a relaxed start to the day and and a hearty breakfast, we will then start the journey to the Mara. We will depart for the airport and proceed to fly to the Mara North conservancy, arriving late morning. We will immediately be picked up by our guides in 4x4 Landcruisers, and taken to our camp. It’s best to have cameas ready, as we’re now in the wild and anything could be seen whilst simply going to camp. Upon arriving at camp, you will have time to relax and freshen up before having some lunch and then departing on your first official game drive in the mid-afternoon. Upon returning back to camp after sunset, dinner is served.
DAY 3 - 9
Game drives start early in Africa. We’ll head out around sunrise to take advantage of first light and the ensuing morning golden hour. Our focus will be on finding the best photographic subjects and wildlife experiences we can get. Having two private vehicles means the world is our oyster and the utmost comfort and space and we’ll decide as a group what’s the best focus for each game drive. After a breakfast stop in the bush, we’ll get back to camp in the late morning for some time to relax. This is also the perfect time to work with Sam on your photography and editing skills. This is your time away, so whether you wish to work on photograpy or simply relax - it’s down to you! Our second daily game drive will see us following up any sightings or information from previous drives - making sure that we stop at sunsets for the iconic sundowners experience. Dinner will follow as usual later in the evening upon return back to camp
DAY 10
We’ll head out for our final game drive and exploration of the Mara North and then head directly to the airstrip to catch our flight back to Nairobi for around noon. For those flying out late that night, there will be day-rooms organised at the loca hotel so you can spend your final hours relaxed with the possibility of a spot of local shopping. We’ll head out to the aiport after a bit of an early dinner and say our goodbyes at the airport.
