Basecamp Mara Houses: Our full report
At Basecamp Mara Houses, in Mara North Conservancy, everything is tailored around the activities you wish to do.
The houses are fully staffed and each one has its own dedicated team. Each house has a private guide and safari vehicle, so your days can be tailored exactly as you'd like. In the kitchen you have your own chef, and meals can be taken whenever suits you. The houses all have individual water dispensers and well-stocked bars. And there's a swimming pool (with no lifeguard) shared by the three houses.The largest of the three houses, Mara House offers a spacious lounge with cozy seating around a fireplace, perfect for unwinding in the evenings. A well-stocked bookcase, along with games, adds to the homey feel, while a large dining table provides a shared space for meals. Outside, a generous veranda overlooks a manicured lawn where you can opt to enjoy breakfast or lunch. All three bedrooms are on one level, each with an en-suite bathroom, while a separate “chill-out” room serves as a perfect retreat for children, complete with DVDs and lounging space. Mara House is conveniently close to the central pool area. The house comfortably sleeps six.
At Acacia House, a spacious veranda overlooks a waterhole, offering a great spot to relax and enjoy the views. Inside, the lounge features a comfortable seating area with a fireplace, a large dining table, a writing desk, and a bookcase. Downstairs, there’s an en-suite bedroom, while the second bedroom shares bathroom facilities with the attic room upstairs, which is perfect for children. The house sleeps four, plus two children in the attic room.
Dik Dik House offers two en-suite bedrooms and is set in the bush, away from the central pool area. The house features a cozy central lounge with a seating area, fireplace, dining table, and a bookcase. Both the lounge and one of the bedrooms open onto a deck that overlooks the surrounding bush. From here, a walkway leads to a viewing deck, which offers a great vantage point over the waterhole. Dik Dik House house comfortably sleeps four.
The activities here are principally game drives. Basecamp Mara Houses is a member of the Mara North Conservancy, and guests also have access to the Ol Chorro and Lemek conservancies, meaning you can do game drives in all three areas. With the flexibility of being able to organise your own daily schedule, in consultation with your private driver-guide, this sets you up for a very rewarding stay in one of Africa's best wildlife areas.
Our view
We were particularly impressed by the flexibility here, with the friendly and attentive staff making a special effort to accommodate guests of all ages, making the houses especially suited to families.
Country manager: Kenya
Geographics
- Location
- Maasai Mara Conservancies, Kenya
- Ideal length of stay
- 3-4 nights
- Directions
- You fly in to Mara North Airstrip, roughly 60 minutes from Wilson Airport, Nairobi, depending on any airstrips stops en route. The houses are roughly a 45-minute drive from the airstrip, depending on any stops for wildlife sightings along the way.
- Accessible by
- Fly-and-Transfer
Food & drink
- Usual board basis
- Full Board & Activities
- Food quality
- While we didn’t have the chance to sample the food during our visit, we anticipate hearty, satisfying meals. Dishes are prepared in the main kitchen, with final touches completed in the private kitchens of each home. Dietary requests and allergies can be accommodated with advance notice.
- Dining style
- Individual Tables
- Dining locations
- Indoor and Outdoor Dining
- Drinks included
- Most drinks are included except for premium wines and spirits and Champagne.
Special interests
- Family holidays
- Basecamp Mara Houses make an ideal choice for families on safari, offering the flexibility of a private vehicle dedicated to your game drive activities. This setup allows you to tailor each outing to your family’s interests and pace. Additionally, the central pool area provides a perfect space for children to play and let off energy.
- See ideas for Family holidays in Kenya
Children
- Attitude towards children
- Children are welcome.
- Property’s age restrictions
- There are no age restrictions.
- Special activities & services
- Nature walks around the grounds and inpromtu football with the staff in the lawn area.
- Generally recommended for children
- The Basecamp Mara Houses are a great choice for a family safari. Mealtimes can be adapted for children’s need with timings and menu choices and the swimming pool shared between the three houses is a popular spot on a hot afternoon. Please note, however, that there is no lifeguard so young children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Communications
- Power supply notes
- 24-hour power, mainly by solar with a back-up generator if required.
- Communications
- WiFi is available in each house.
- TV & radio
- Each house has a DVD-player with a selection of DVDs. There is no TV reception.
- Water supply
- Transported in
- Water supply notes
- Filtered drinking water is supplied to each house.
Health & safety
- Malarial protection recommended
- Yes
- Medical care
- Staff have basic first-aid training. Aitong clinic is not far away and the camp has access to the flying doctors service in case of an emergency.
- Dangerous animals
- High Risk
- Security measures
- The houses and the grounds around them are not fenced. During the day there are two askaris (watch guards) and at night each house has its own askari patrolling the property.
- Fire safety
Activities
4WD Safari
Birdwatching
Cultural excursion
Guided walking safari
Hot air ballooning
Night drive
Extras
- Disabled access
- On Request
- Laundry facilities
- Selected laundry is included which is hand-washed and line-dried. Washing powder is provided for female underwear.
- Money
- Cash is accepted (US dollars, Euros, Pounds Sterling and Kenya shillings) and major credit cards can be accepted with a surcharge.
Other lodges in Maasai Mara Conservancies
Alternative places to stay in this same area.
Kicheche Bush Camp
Kicheche Bush Camp is a smart and intimate tented camp with a relaxed atmosphere and the perfect base in the Mara for keen photographers.
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara Camp has just ten tents and a rustic and comfortable feel. It is set by a stream in a pretty area of the Mara ecosystem's Mara North Conservancy.
Kicheche Valley
Kicheche Valley is a boutique tented camp in a wooded district of the Mara ecosystem's Naboisho Conservancy, with plenty of wildlife in the area.
Naboisho Camp
Naboisho Camp is one of the most luxurious of the handful of camps in the Naboisho Conservancy. It offers day and night game drives, game walks and full creature comforts in the bush.
Offbeat Mara
Offbeat Mara is a small traditional camp that appeals to safari traditionalists, located in one of the Maasai Mara’s quiet conservancies.
Encounter Mara
Encounter Mara is located in the private Naboisho Conservancy – a game-rich area of the Mara ecosystem – and offers a contemporary take on the traditional, low-impact luxury safari camp.
Elephant Pepper Camp
Elephant Pepper Camp is a small 10-tent bush camp, put together in the traditional "campaign" style, and including a large honeymoon/family tent.
Serian
Serian is a luxury tented camp on the east bank of the Mara River in the Mara North Conservancy. It is the sister camp of Ngare Serian, on the west bank.
Mara Plains Camp
Mara Plains is one of the very best camps in the Mara ecosystem. Located in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, just outside the Mara reserve, it has access to three wildlife-viewing areas.
Basecamp Eagle View
Basecamp Eagle View is a community-focused safari camp in the Naboisho Conservancy, with a strong emphasis on responsible tourism and a spectacular location.
Kicheche Fly Camp
Kicheche Walking Wilderness Fly Camp is a temporaray dome tent camp set up for participants in Kicheche's two-day walking safari between Kicheche Valley and Kicheche Bush Camp.
Hemingways Ol Seki
Magnificently located tented lodge on a bluff looking south across the Naboisho Conservancy toward the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Porini Lion Camp
Porini Lion Camp is a pioneering, community focused eco-camp, with excellent guides and game viewing, in the predator-rich, Olare Motorogi Conservancy.
Saruni Wild
Saruni Wild is a rustic and traditional safari camp in the Lemek Conservancy, with just three tents and limited electricity.
Offbeat Ndoto
Small and intimate, Offbeat Mara is set in a valley above the (often dry) Olare Orok River within the Mara North Conservancy.
Porini Mara Camp
Porini Mara Camp is a small, pioneering eco-camp in the first private conservancy in the Mara region, with comfortable accommodation and a range of activities.
Ngare Serian
The luxurious Ngare Serian and its sister camp Serian face each other across the Mara River on the western side of the Mara North Conservancy
Karen Blixen Camp
Karen Blixen Camp sits on a meander of the Mara River in the Mara North Conservancy, just beyond the northern boundary of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Cottars 1920s Camp
Cottar's 1920s Camp is a classic, luxury tented camp with a 1920s safari theme, located in its own conservancy on the southeast border of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Basecamp Leopard Hill
With six beautiful tents, Basecamp Leopard Hill is a smart safari camp in the Naboisho Conservancy in the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
Leleshwa
Leleshwa was a delightful, boutique safari camp on the picturesque banks of a tributary of the Talek, with an extensive, little visited game area on its doorstep.
Mahali Mzuri
Mahali Mzuri is a strikingly modern tented camp in the Virgin Limited Edition group, in a remote part of the Mara ecosytem's Olare Motorogi Conservancy. It has lovely views and all the luxuries of a five-star hotel.
Saruni Mara
Saruni Mara is a luxurious permanent lodge, on the remote northern edge of the Mara North Conservancy, with stunning views, good guiding and very private and comfortable rooms.
Mara Nyika
Mara Nyika is one of the newer additions to the Naboisho Conservancy and offers a luxurious and exclusive safari.
Basecamp Wilderness
Basecamp Wilderness Camp is a simple, traditional tented camp, set in a remote valley in the Naboisho Conservancy in the Mara ecoystem.
Mara Bushtops
Mara Bushtops is a luxury safari hotel on a private concession, outside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, with the emphasis on comfort, relaxation and good food and wine.
Entumoto
Entumoto is a high-end tented camp, with a swimming pool, situated in a very pretty location on the east side of the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
Cottars Private House
Cottar's Private House is one of the few truly luxurious, modern private houses in the Mara ecosystem, spoiling its guests with first-rate staff, a swimming pool and wonderful views.
Mara Toto Tree Camp
Mara Toto Tree Camp is located on a wooded bend of the Ntiakatek River, 1km south (as the pied crow flies) from its sister camp, Mara Plains. It's the offspring of the original "Mara Toto" which was swept away in floods.
