Last week we left Lily in Kenya in the Amboseli National Park but this week she is heading back to the Mara North area to check out some more camps based in the conservancies around the Masai Mara.
Our flight to the Mara North brought us straight back into sunshine, warmth and blue skies which stayed with us throughout our time in the Mara Conservancies. En route we were able to enjoy a wonderful game drive where we saw an entertaining hippo Pod and the mighty Mara River. We were on the way to our next destination the Kicheche Mara Camp situated in the Mara North Conservancy – 32,000 acres of unspoilt African bush and awesome wildlife! I enjoyed the game drive immensely and am happy to report that all the Kicheche vehicles are very comfortable and well kitted out.
Kicheche Mara Camp – the Mara North Conservancy
After arriving at Kicheche Mara Camp (or Kicheche’s Secret Valley Camp as its also known) I was stunned by its magical setting. The camp’s tents all have animal names (ours was Duma aka cheetah) and they are all very dreamy and romantic with each one having a private setting and a beautiful view. David and Joseph were our Masai guides for the camp and they certainly lived up to the usual Kicheche standard in knowledge and aptitude as well as being very charming company. After our arrival we enjoyed a delicious lunch where we met the other guests . Then it was off for an afternoon game drive which amazed us by the profusion of game e.g. browsers and grazers such as kongoni, grants gazelle, impala, gnu, zebra, buffalo. Then towards early evening we saw a fabulous female leopard (chui) who came trotting towards but was behaving in a very agitated fashion. She was clearly distressed, constantly stopping and looking around for danger. Our guides thought she may have had a recent run in with another carnivore – perhaps a lion – and she was obviously perturbed by it. However she wasn’t bothered by us in our two vehicles so after hanging around for a while and affording us all some great photo opportunities, she finally climbed a tree and took refuge. On our return to camp there was a delicious braai (African BBQ) awaiting us.
Kicheche Bush Camp – the Olare Orok Conservancy
The next day saw another early start as we transferred to Kicheche Bush Camp in the Olare Orok Conservancy. Olare Orok was created from the Koiyaki Group Ranch and is 8,000 acres of pristine savannah in the heart of the wildlife dispersal zone. It is also probably one of the best places to view lions (samba) in the whole of the Masai Mara with up to 60 lions roaming the conservancy. I can vouch for this as I saw more than half of them in our one day stay – truly amazing! We saw lions in three different scenarios; some lions on hill, a lioness at kill, and a cast out lioness with 3 cubs and two cheetah brothers on the way to breakfast by the river.
It seemed all of a sudden when we arrived at the Kicheche’s award winning Bush Camp as it blends in so well with the landscape it’s almost invisible! The couple who run this camp are a married couple and there is a real feeling of being welcomed into their home and the experience here is very personal. The Bush Camp tents are stunning particularly because of the lightness, the openness and the big mesh ‘windows’ which give one the feel of being part of the landscape. Our afternoon game drive was made by a pair of cheetah brothers – who obligingly also made a kigoni kill just after sunset (during sundowners in fact!). Although it was amazing to see the cheetahs, for me the highlight of the game drive this time was the incredible sighting of two secretary birds in a nest atop a small acacia! Mother and almost fully grown ‘youngster’. As we drove back to camp we had the privilege of enjoying a spectacular sky of pinks, purples, mauves, and subtle shades of grey with formations of significant thunderhead clouds. It had been another great day in the African bush with some truly spectacular wildlife.
This is a great place to see the Big Cats. I also noted that we only saw one other vehicle from our camp and nothing else at all. Olare Orok is probably the most quiet of the conservancies with only three camps to share the wide open plains, hills, woodland and river courses so this is also a great destination if you wish to truly get away from it all! The Bush Camp also offers night drives, game walks with armed guides, bush breakfasts, dinners and sundowners in carefully selected spots but only because this is a private conservancy. None of these activities are allowed in the National Reserve of the Masai Mara or its lodges and camps. For me I think that the more one experiences the conservancy ethic, the clearer it becomes that the conservancy ideal is the way forward . Just so long as it works between the camps and the Mara NP and also so long as the camps in the conservancies are kept to a small number and are run as environmentally sensitively as possible. Whilst in the area I also called in at Elephant Pepper Camp and Mara Plains Camp.
By the time we returned to Bush Camp that evening I felt I had a much better idea about the conservancy concept. I finally understood the machinations and how far sighted Jake Grieves Cook was in the mid 1990’s to persuade 70 Masai families to set aside 3200 hectares of their land for wild life. It must have been a challenge to do so on such a new concept but it has been an ideal way for the Masai to earn a decent income from sustainable tourism and its success is measure in the expanding group of conservancies we see today.
Kicheche Valley Camp – the Naboisho Conservancy
The next day another early start as we left Bush Camp and heading off for our next destination. En route I spotted a big male lion positioned on the crest of a hill with his magnificent black mane blowing in the early morning breeze – Lion King indeed! There were also large herds of elephants mooching around savouring the freshness of the day. We also encountered the big Moniko pride of lions stalking topi. We also saw the Short Tail lioness and her 3 cubs. There is also another lion pride ‘family’ called the Engonai, numbering about 17 in all. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast by the Tiak Tiak river with crocodile and hippo on separate sandbanks basking in warmth of the early sunshine. After that delightful pitstop we continued crossing over the Olkurato Plains on our way to Kicheche Valley Camp in the Naboisho Conservancy.
This conservancy is 200 square kilometres and is the most easterly and newest of the conservancies. Naboisho is part of the Koiyaki Lemek Group Ranch and home to the very successful Koiyaki Guide School which provides excellent safari guides for camps throughout the Mara. We encountered large herds of wildebeest (alternatively name is gnu) which were in fact from the Loita Plains to the east and not part of the southern Serengeti herds. They had returned to the Loita Plains from their annual visit to the Masa area but because of late rains in the Mara, had returned which was very lucky for us to experience the sight. I also saw a large number of Masai livestock and their homes (circular huts called manyattas).
Naboisho’s lions are doing well and are monitored by the Mara-Naboisho Lion Project. We were lucky enough to have lunch with Niels Mogenson from Denmark who is head of the monitoring programm. He told us that one of his main aims is to persuade the Masai to go for quality rather than quantity of cattle as they still roam the conservancy in large herds. Too much livestock is not good for the natural habitat and its flora and fauna as it leads to over grazing. It also brings predators into conflict with the herders. However he admitted he is facing an uphill struggle as the number of cattle owned is such a status symbol with the Masai.
Kicheche Valley Camp is very well named having a very scenic and private location on the side of a valley. The terrain is much drier on this side of the Mara and the temperature certainly reflected this. After an excellent lunch, hosted by Val and Brendon the delightful and entertaining husband and wife team managers, we had almost three relaxing hours to spend getting to know our stylish, minimalist and very modern tents. At the Valley camp, because of its location in Naboisho, it is a good idea to have a longer late afternoon/evening game drive and return to camp in time for supper around 2030 as this enables you to drive further and sample more of the fascinating nocturnal creatures in the area who come out at dusk. I must say it was an excellent game drive and after seeing such an amazing selection of game at Mara and Bush camps, Valley camp had a lot to do to match the standards of its sister camps – but that it certainly did! The conservancy itself offers a very diverse landscape; from tumbling streams over rocks, to rolling hills, from wonderful stands of trees, to large open plains. One of the most photogenic moments of the whole trip was when we saw at sunset a big herd of wildebeest who obligingly walked across the skyline against a background of one of the most stunning sunsets I have ever seen in Africa.
Posted by Lily
