Mara Plains Camp

Canvas rises overhead in deep, curved canopies, and the floors underfoot are rough-hewn wood rather than tile. That is the first impression inside a suite at Mara Plains Camp. Thick Lamu wood doors, deep reds, and brass fittings run through each of the seven suites, alongside a copper bath set into the en-suite bathroom. The camp sits among riverine forest along the bends of the Ntiakitiak River, on private conservancy land that borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve to the south. It is one of only three Relais & Châteaux properties in Kenya. At night, Maasai warriors walk guests between suites and the mess tent, and hippos and leopards supply the soundtrack. Game drives run from open-sided Toyota Land Cruisers fitted with fold-down screens and raised roofs for photographers, carrying four to six guests apiece with a fridge stocked for the ride. Each suite is issued a professional camera body with lenses and a pair of binoculars, returned with images loaded onto a memory stick at checkout. The Jahazi Suite, a two-bedroom tent raised on recycled railway-sleeper decking, gives a private wildlife-watching perch tucked beneath tree canopy. Meals can move to the veranda or the riverbank on request, drawing on vegetables grown in the camp's own garden. Check-in runs from noon.