The Maasai Mara Ride

You will be collected from your Nairobi Hotel or directly from the airport and transferred to Wilson Airport for a 10:30 charter or 10am scheduled flight to Siana Springs. It is a beautiful flight, passing over the fertile Kikuyu Highlands before reaching the Great Rift Valley. You’ll fly across the volcano-studded floor of the Rift before reaching the Loita Hills and Siana Springs air strip. Your guides will meet you and drive you to your first camp, set up on the banks of the Mara River adjacent to a pool teeming with hippos – their grunting in the night is a special feature of this campsite. Lunch will be served and you will have a little time to relax before meeting your horses and setting off on your first gentle evening ride. Overnight at Mara River Hippo Camp.

You’ll begin the day with an early morning ride, crossing the Mara River for the first time and returning to camp for a light breakfast. After breakfast a game drive will be on offer. Driving provides better photographic opportunities than riding, and exploring more of this northern part of the Mara has much to offer. You will return in time for lunch and a siesta before setting off on an afternoon ride, returning in good time to shower and maybe set off in the vehicles once more for a sundowner and a short night game drive before supper. Overnight at Mara River Hippo Camp.

This is your first moving day. Leaving camp after breakfast at about 9am, you’ll head south towards the park boundary where you’ll meet the river again at one of the famous wildebeest crossings. Once you’ve crossed the river ,the route turns southwest across the Mara Triangle, meeting the car with your picnic lunch at around 12:30. After a siesta, you’ll set off again at about 16:00 and ascend the Soit Oloololo Escarpment. You’ll ride into camp at about 17:30 and spend the night overlooking the whole Mara ecosystem. Overnight at Escarpment Soit Oloololo Camp.

After breakfast at about 9am you’ll descend the escarpment and ride across to the now-familiar wildebeest crossing on the river. Heading in a westerly direction, you’ll descend into the enchanting Olare Orok Valley, with a picnic lunch and siesta at around 12:30-15:30 on the way. Reaching your camp in time for tea at about 17:00, there should also be time to do an evening game drive and sundowners, before supper under the stars. Overnight at Olare Orok Camp.

Today you will enjoy a full day of exploring this glorious area on horseback, car and possibly also on foot. There will be excellent photo opportunities as you get close to buffalo, elephant, lion and maybe even cheetah or leopard. Overnight again at Olare Orok Camp.

Your third moving day, this is also the longest ride of the trip, covering nearly 50km. Breaking camp early and setting off at 7.00am, you’ll stop for a picnic breakfast from about 10-11:00. Then you’ll continue on until 13:30 when, after reaching Ol Kinyei Conservancy, you break again for lunch and a siesta. At 16:00 you’ll mount up and ride to your last camp, arriving at Olare Lamun (‘the rhino salt lick’), nestled in a grove of acacia trees by a small stream at the southern edge of the Loita Plains. Overnight at Olare Lamun Camp.

After an early wake up, your guides will take you out on a morning ride before returning to camp for a light breakfast. You will then set out for a game drive and a beautiful walk up a nearby hill called Oloiburmut, returning to camp for lunch and a siesta. At around 4pm, you will either drive or ride to visit the local Maasai Village – a unique and unforgettable experience. Overnight at Olare Lamun Camp.

After one last morning ride and breakfast, you will say a fond farewell to your new friends and take a transfer to the airstrip. You’ll fly back to Nairobi at around 11:00, landing at Wilson at 12:00. Your hosts will organise a taxi to pick you up and either take you around Nairobi to do some shopping/visits, or to a hotel day room (included), before taking you on to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your evening flight home, or your onward destination.