The most magnificent natural theatre in the world, Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve, is where the Governors’ Family of Camps was born.
Set in the heart of Africa’s Great Plains, the Masai Mara boasts 1,672 sq. kilometres of unspoilt wilderness. It offers the best game and bird-viewing not only in Kenya, but anywhere in Africa. The views across the rolling golden grasslands studded with acacia trees, rivers and forests are dazzling, the sense of space overwhelming.

Throughout the year the Mara is a place of natural drama, a kaleidoscope of colour and life. The famed "Big Five" - elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo - roam the reserve, together with hundreds of other species, from the fastest animal on earth, the cheetah to crocodiles and magnificent birds of prey.

Most stunning of all are the months between July and October, when the savannah teems with animals during the Great Migration. Millions of Wildebeest gather in the Mara in one of the natural wonders of the world.

It’s changed little since US President Theodore Roosevelt visited in 1911 and was moved to write: "The land teems with beasts of the chase, infinite in numbers and incredible variety. It holds the fiercest beasts of raving and the fleetest and most timid.. It holds the largest and smallest.   It holds the mightiest creatures that tread the earth or swim in its rivers."

Staying in one of the four Governors’ Camps in the Masai Mara puts you in the heart of the National Park, closer than anyone to it’s incredible sights and sounds.

PRACTICALITIES

• Masai Mara to Nairobi: 45 minutes flight twice daily service, 6-8 hours drive
• Masai Mara to Loldia House: 45 minutes flight charter only, 5-7 hours drive
• Masai Mara to Lake Victoria: 40 minutes flight daily service
• We do not recommend you drive to the Masai Mara, heavy rains can cause roads to deteriorate rapidly
• Four-wheel drive vehicles are essential for travel inside the Reserve
• We do not recommend you drive between the Masai Mara and Loldia. Travel via Nairobi instead: fly Masai Mara-Nairobi, and then drive Nairobi-Loldia, it’s quicker.
• We recommend you stay at least 3 nights in the Masai Mara
• If you wish to do all the activities we recommend you stay 4 nights
• Balloon safaris, walking safaris or trips to Lake Victoria often get booked up in advance, we recommend you book places early
• July to October are the best months to see the Great Migration, but its timing is dependent on the weather.

The best location, the best guides, the best vehicles. We offer the best game-viewing in the Masai Mara. All the Governors’ Camps are inside the Reserve, most of our competitors aren’t. You won’t waste time getting to the action.

GAME DRIVES

There’s always excitement in the Mara, dawn as the animals wake, midday and the shimmering heat, or dusk, perfect for hunting: a pride of lion stalking zebra, a herd of elephant heading for the swamps, cheetah cubs playing in the shade. Sights you won’t forget.

Our four-wheel-drive vehicles are built to our own specifications. Cut-away roofs give you better views. Our professional drivers will astonish you with what they find: a tell-tale vulture will lead them to a hyena kill, a warning cry from a mother wildebeest reveals a leopard stalking through the grass.

HOT AIR BALLOON SAFARIS

For the experience of a lifetime, drift the dawn over the magnificant plains of the Masai Mara in a Hot Air Balloon.  Then feast on a sumptuous champagne breakfast in the bush at the landing site', before returning to camp on a game drive.'

WALKING SAFARIS

Leave your vehicle behind and take a walking safari with one of our armed-guides for the true thrill of the bush. Down on the same level as the animals you’ll experience the untamed beauty of the Mara.

You’ll track game, unsure what waits round the next corner, giraffe, buffalo, even lion. You’ll catch the scents and sounds of wild Africa. And at the end of it all waits a sumptuous bush barbecue complete with champagne.

MASAI VILLAGES

Surrounding the Mara are the lands of the Masai tribe, a tall, proud race of warriors. Herding cattle and goats, they’ve lived among the animals for centuries. We’ll take you to Masai villages to see a way of life that’s survived almost unchanged for generations.

PRACTICALITIES

• All game drives are included in the price of your stay
• Dawn game drives are recommended followed by breakfast in the camp
• It’s usual to do 2-3 game drives a day, if you wish to stay out all day we will provide lunch and drinks
• Vehicles carry an average of 4 guests, small groups may be asked to share vehicles
• Walking safaris last 3-4 hours, please bring sturdy shoes
• Walking safaris can be tailored to all ages and levels of fitness
• Walking safaris depart in the early mornings and afternoons
• Walking safaris are included in the price if you’re staying in Governors’ Private or Governors’ Ilmoran Camp, otherwise there is an extra charge

BORNE ON THE BREEZE ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS

The adventure begins just before dawn. Flames from the balloon burners light the darkness as the crews inflate their craft. The first, pink tongues of sunlight flicker across the skies and the balloon fills then rises.

Suspended in a basket beneath the rainbow-coloured canopy, you’re off for a game-viewing adventure with an entirely different perspective.

The thing that amazes most first-time balloonists is the absolute stillness, the silence as you float above the plains, the forest and the rivers of the Masai Mara. And if you’ve flown elsewhere, you’ve seen nothing like this.

The sounds below drift clearly upwards: a lion’s roar, elephants crashing through the bush, baboons perched in the tips of the trees startled and screeching to see something above them.

For an hour or so you drift wherever the air currents take you. If you’re lucky you’ll climb high above the Mara for the view of a lifetime.

Then your balloon safari finishes with a flourish. In the time honoured tradition of balloon flights the world over you toast your return to earth with a champagne breakfast.

The difference is that this breakfast happens in the bush, wherever you land, and it’s cooked before your eyes on the burners that minutes before kept you suspended in the air.

Mara Balloon Safaris pioneered game-viewing by hot-air balloon in Africa. Today we operate from Governors’ Camps. We have some of the world’s most experienced pilots flying some of the world’s largest balloons. And our distinctive colours are known the world-over.

 PRACTICALITIES

• Balloon flights often get booked up in advance, we recommend you book early
• All balloon flights begin soon after dawn, it means an early start
• All flights take off from Little Governors’ Camp, if you’re staying at another Governors’ Camp we will arrange your transfer
• Flights last an average of 1 hour
• Champagne breakfast and a game drive on the way home are included
• Expect to return to Little Governors’ Camp by 11 am, if you’re departing the Mara the same morning we’ll get you back earlier
• Balloon flights can be booked by guests staying at other camps

THE THUD OF A MILLION HOOVES, A SOUND LIKE DISTANT THUNDER

After the rains when the first flush of grass turns the Masia Mara’s golden savannah green, the most mesmerising wildlife spectacle anywhere takes place here: The Great Migration.

It’s between the months of July and October when one and a half million wildebeest, accompanied by vast numbers of zebra and gazelles make the long and dangerous trek from drier lands in Tanzania, northwards to this corner of Kenya.

Lines of animals stretch as far as the eye can see across the plains. They come to give birth to their young and the grasslands echo with the sounds of the new-born.

It’s a time of plenty. But it’s a time too when the predators are drawn from all around. High above on the hot winds the carrion birds, the vultures and eagles, soar. In the long grasses lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena prowl.

Most dramatic of all is the moment when the migration arrives at the Mara river. They must cross it to reach the rich grazing. As the animals throng, crocodiles cruise the waters. Then the bravest takes the plunge into the swirling currents and thousands follow.

The Mara has always drawn those searching for adventure: among them hunters like Hemingway and Roosevelt. Today the guns are no more, but the thrill is the same: days following game through the bush, gourmet dinners, nights under canvas, slumbering to the sounds of the African night.

In the heart of the Masai Mara, Governors’ Camps are ideally placed to let you see The Great Migration happen.

© Governor's Camps / Choices Wild Limited, 2005. All rights Reserved.