Mara Explorer Tented Camp

Game drives out of Mara Explorer Tented Camp start close to the tents, since the camp sits inside the Masai Mara National Reserve itself rather than at its edge. The camp is set on a wooded bend of the Talek River, where the four main game-viewing areas of the reserve converge. Guides work from open-sided four-by-four vehicles, tracking lion, leopard, cheetah and the plains herds that move across the grassland through the year. It is dense country for wildlife. Stretches of the Mara River nearby hold thick concentrations of hippo and crocodile, some crocodiles reportedly over 15 feet. Beyond the standard morning and afternoon drives, the camp offers bush breakfasts and dinners set away from the tents, sundowners timed to the light, and an early hot air balloon flight over the plains at extra cost, with sunrise views of game scattered across the grass below. A Maasai village visit can be arranged as a further outing. Evenings bring the reserve's night activity close: bat-eared foxes, owls, and the big cats beginning to hunt after dark. Meals are taken at the camp or out in the bush, depending on the plan for the day. The setting favours guests who want the game drive itself, not just the view from the deck, to be the point of the stay.