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Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara
Kicheche Mara

Reviews of Kicheche Mara

Wildlife sightings and reviews

94 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Kicheche Mara and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Aug-2018, 65 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Kicheche Mara.
Lion

100% success

Leopard

68% success

Cheetah

91% success

Wild dog

4% success

Buffalo

100% success

Elephant

100% success

Giraffe

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Spotted Hyena

100% success

Wildebeest

100% success

Zebra

100% success

Eland

92% success

Striped Hyena

6% success

Black Rhino

5% success

Aardvark

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Showing 21-30 of 94
Duration
Arrival date
Gar
USA

"Kicheche Mara review"

4 nights Arrived 24 Oct 2023
"From the first welcome to the final goodbye, this place was amazing!
Everybody was so warm and welcoming upon arrival and throughout the stay.
The food and beverage offerings were excellent - certainly better than one typically associates with 'camp food'.

The tents were very inviting and comfortable - all with a view of the plain below the camp.

The game drives were well executed - morning and afternoon.
(I do have to say that Jimmy's driving was a bit unnerving at times. I nicknamed him - depending upon the situation, it was "Lead Foot Jimmy" (due to excessive speed) or "No Roads Jimmy", which was often times combined with the lead foot. He is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly; I really enjoyed his fun personality, but was a bit nervous at times due to his aggressive driving.)

Breakfast on the plains - WOW! Watching the different animals in the distance, while being pampered by the guides setting up breakfast and making coffee. Such an indulgence!

Then again, during the Sundowner experience. Kenyan sunsets, cocktails, snacks - what could be better?!

Cocktails by the fire upon return in the evening, to talk about what an amazing day it had been - or to quietly reflect on the amazing day on The Mara with the abundant animal sightings.

All the guides were kind, welcoming and knowledgeable. So knowledgeable - and clearly love what they do, which equates to a better experience for their passengers." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

8 sightings

Eland

6 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

6 sightings

Leopard

4 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Ms J from FL & IL
USA

"Kicheche Mara review"

4 nights Arrived 24 Oct 2023
"Awesome.

Caring staff truly concerned with our having a WONDERFUL experience.

Food was AMAZING -- quality, taste, presentation.

Even the nighttime guards were helpful, willing to take me for star gazing & night photography.

I was so shocked at the beauty of my tent accommodations." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

3 sightings

Eland

7 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

8 sightings

Hippo

3 sightings

Leopard

3 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

7 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr and Mrs M
London

"Kicheche Mara review"

3 nights Arrived 8 Sep 2023
"Nice location. Very personal service. Staff were very friendly and so willing to help.

Guide was excellent, very knowledgable and attentive to our safari focus. Also gave lots of advice on photography.

Tent was a lovely size - really spacious and with lots of windows and great views.

Food was wonderful." See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Black Rhino

1 sighting

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

1 sighting

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

P and S
Chilterns

"Kicheche Mara review"

2 nights Arrived 10 Aug 2023
"Very good.

Also saw several topi and Hartebeests" See all these reviews: 16n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Uli
Germany

"Great time at Kicheche Mara"

3 nights Arrived 21 Jul 2023
"The camp is beautifully situated in the Mara North Conservancy and has only 10 tents. Ours (Duma) was very spacious and nothing was missing - wonderful! We had a nice view of a small river where buffalo, hippos and elephants occasionally appeared.
The service was very friendly and helpful and the meals were excellent.

Two games were offered per day: in the morning from 6:00 a.m. to around 11:00 a.m. (longer if required) and in the afternoon from 4:00 p.m. to around 7:00 p.m./7:30 p.m.

Our guide Paul was very nice and experienced, but unfortunately he had only been in the conservancy for a day, so he couldn't be very familiar with the paths, fauna, territories, favorite places of animals, etc. That was the only thing that wasn't perfectly organized, but we still had interesting sightings and a good time with Paul and his assistant Dixon." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

1 sighting

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Ms A.
USA

"Kicheche Mara review"

3 nights Arrived 9 Jul 2023
"This was the first camp I visited on my trip, and it was really wonderful. The tents are brand-new and extremely comfortable, the location is hard to beat, and all the staff I encountered were kind and helpful.

I was sick for the first full day of my stay, which could have made for a terrible experience. The lovely location and staff meant that the stay was still a pleasure, and once I was able to venture out, the animals in the area were outstanding.

In addition to the animals listed in the wildlife survey, I saw lots of jackals, funny vervet monkeys, and excellent birds including a lilac-breasted roller." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

5 sightings

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

3 sightings

Hippo

2 sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Spotted Hyena

2 sightings

Wildebeest

3 sightings

Zebra

4 sightings

A & B
Corrales

"Kicheche Mara with NJ Wight review"

3 nights Arrived 9 Jul 2023
"What I think of as the Kicheche magic began the moment Saruni and David picked us up from the airstrip. Our first game drive was from the airstrip to camp, and I felt as if I was in a dream. But it was definitely real! The camp itself is in a gorgeous setting, the staff is superb, the tents were the very definition of "glamping". And the food - oh my goodness. We were definitely spoiled - I gained 5 pounds on this trip. but it was worth it.

Something that made our time at Kicheche Mara extra special was a complete surprise. NJ had let them know that we were celebrating our 39th anniversary, so they arranged a private dinner for us. When we returned from the evening game drive, we were escorted to our tent. There we found the patio to our tent had been transformed. There were luminarias going up the steps and along the edge of the patio, a candlelit table with tablecloth, flowers, and a chilled bottle of sparkling wine. Our waitress served a superb meal (the butternut squash ravioli was amazing!). We sipped our sparkling wine while looking out at the fireflies, hearing the bell frogs and the quiet munching and rustlings of the elephants as they ate their dinner. Magic indeed.

But despite the amazingly high quality of every aspect of the camp, the heart and soul of this experience came from our guides. Saruni and David have a passion for the Mara that comes through in everything they do. Their knowledge of the wildlife, the land, and the people truly enriched our safari experience. Somehow they managed to keep up their energy, enthusiasm, and sense of humor for every ride. I was sorry to say goodbye to these two men." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

2 sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Ms Janice
Virginia

"Kicheche Mara review"

3 nights Arrived 9 Jul 2023
"I cant say enough about how excellent the experience with Kicheche Mara was. SUPERB staff, food, service, tent accommodations were excellent. Only suggestion is to make the "drapes" to the bathroom area a bit less see through, when sharing a tent with a stranger in a group situation there is no privacy at all. separating the beds to be a bit further apart would also have been nicer. Maybe a ceiling fan if possible for better air circulation too." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mrs J.
USA

"Kicheche Mara review"

3 nights Arrived 9 Jul 2023
"Staff at the camp and our guides were knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. Our guides David and Seroni were exceptional. The food was 5 stars." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Cheetah

Multiple sightings

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Annabel
Somerset

"Kicheche Mara review"

3 nights Arrived 20 Jun 2023
"This is one of four Kicheche Camps and the third I’ve stayed in. It borders the Maasai Mara Reserve but is in the Mara North conservancy, which means it has masses of animals but none of the traffic you get in the reserve. It’s also fairly near the Mara River, which I’d always wanted to see, and did see, along with its hippos and crocodiles.

The drive to camp should be around 30 minutes from the airstrip - mine took longer because we stopped, firstly to watch a leopard in a tree, and climbing down it, and then, just outside camp, to watch the Acacia pride of lions dozing in the sun. I also saw buffalo and elephant on that drive, so four of the available big five, if that’s what floats your boat, before I’d even got to camp (there are no rhino in Mara North).

All Kicheche camps have wonderful guides. At Mara, mine was David, a Maasai so in tune with his environment he seems to know every rock, pebble and blade of grass. He also has binoculars for eyes.

The camp is bigger than the other Kicheches and appears to have almost double the guest capacity. The tents are spread out in a really pretty area next to a stream but they (or at least mine - Zebra) are not as secluded as at the other camps, so I could hear conversations from both tents either side of me. There’s plenty of wildlife right on the doorstep. Mating hippos, hyena, leopard and lion were all seen or heard, buffalo walked past my tent every night, and there were bushbuck and vervet monkeys during the day.

There has been a massive makeover of the guest tents and they are very swish. Mine was huge, with a double bed and a day bed, desk and wardrobe area and a curtained bathroom with double basins, separate shower and loo; all singing and dancing. There’s even washing powder, a line and pegs. No full length mirror, strangely, and the wardrobe area is very dark for getting dressed before dawn. This new poshness took me a while to absorb. I love the ‘old’ Kicheche branding with its rather rustic, colonial feel and unlined tents. Maybe colonial’s not the done thing any more, but it was done well. This new look is a bit ‘could be anywhere’ and, whilst I can’t deny the comfort, I worry slightly that the wafty cream curtains and pale rugs will tire very quickly. Still, that’s not my problem, and for the moment the tents look fresh and beautiful.

The mess tent has a couple of seating areas with big sofas and an area for dining. Lunch was taken outside on a deck overlooking the lawn. Some people seem to expect a lot of the food on safari. I don’t. I just want it to be fresh, balanced and well thought out, which this is.

I missed the communal table I’d enjoyed at Kicheche Bush camp the previous year. I don’t mind eating alone - rather that than be ‘paired up’ with other guests not of my choice (and vice-versa), for three meals in a row. As the third one loomed I asked if I could have dinner in my room. True, it was my last night and I needed to pack, but it was a relief to have that excuse and I really enjoyed that time - alone with my pasta and glass of red.

I found Kicheche Mara less cosy and strangely less 'genuine' than the other two Kicheches I’ve stayed at (Laikipia and Bush) but it has great service with fantastic wildlife and the right guides to find it." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Buffalo

10 sightings

Cheetah

Multiple sightings

Eland

10 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

10 sightings

Leopard

2 sightings

Lion

6 sightings

Spotted Hyena

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Showing 21-30 of 94
99%
94 reviews of Kicheche Mara by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
88
5
1
0
0
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100% (104 reviews)
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Mara Plains Camp

Mara Plains Camp

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Kicheche Walking Wilderness

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Basecamp Eagle View

Basecamp Eagle View

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Hemingways Ol Seki Mara

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Ngare Serian

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Basecamp Leopard Hill

Basecamp Leopard Hill

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Karen Blixen Camp

Karen Blixen Camp

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Cottars 1920s Camp

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Leleshwa

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Saruni Mara

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Basecamp Wilderness Camp

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Mara Toto Tree Camp

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Cottars Private House

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