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
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"Kicheche Mara review"
The food is excellent, the staff is warm and friendly, the accommodations provide every comfort (while still managing to retain a low-key, bush-like feel), but the real emphasis here is on the wildlife. We appreciate the standard Kicheche schedule of early morning starts and breakfasts in the bush.
We’ve always enjoyed the relatively lush landscape and varied bird life in Mara North, but this time we also found predator action to be quite high, including multiple memorable sightings of leopard and cheetah, both with cubs. Our guide, Peter, was excellent, and our vehicle had one of its front seats removed in order to better accommodate low-angle photography, which was a thoughtful amenity that we found very helpful." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya
"Kicheche Mara review"
The staff are very friendly, and efficient, and the food is very good.
The guiding is excellent with a maximum of four people per vehicle so everyone has a good view. The diversity, and numbers of animals, are amazing.
We love this camp and return as frequently as we can." See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya
"Kicheche Mara review"
"Kicheche Mara review"
"Kicheche Mara review"
The concept of this camp being embedded in wildlife is fantastic. On the one hand animals are roaming by and even through the camp which is why at night we were always accompanies by staff. On the other hand, it offers old-fashioned luxury making one feel very cozy and at home (even high speed WLAN).
Carys, the camp manager, is a very caring host with an interesting family history in Kenya and Tanzania. The staff struck us as polite and knowledgeable, and they are conscious and proud of their Masai heritage.
The North Mara is beautiful and being adjacent to the Serengeti gives an impression of boundless wilderness. While farmers are leading their livestock into the reservation, this is in line with traditions and ensures that the reservation's concept is broadly accepted.
Our guide was Saruni. He is very knowledgeable about wildlife and has a great sense of tracking animals. For example, on the last day he spotted a baby leopard on a tree. We went on to explore the park and returned to the spot in the evening in time for the mother to return and greet her child!
We very much appreciated the staff's motivation and attention to our welbeing. The general feel in our family tent and the main tents was excellent, and it was hilarious to see (or hear) the wildlife passing by. As a slight caveat, while we support the Eco concept it was unpleasant that cold days were coupled with cold water in the tent - we would have appreciated that the staff proactively checked.
We much appreciated the possibility of visiting the market on Thursday, especially as it gave us a genuine cultural experience. Other than that, the intense, varied safari schedule interwoven with sundowners and the occasional breakfast (at the rive with hippos, giraffes and crocs) where sufficient to make us sleep like a rock." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya
"Excellent comfortable camp"
The friendly welcome by Carys and the rest of the staff made us feel immediately at home. The accommodation was excellent and the hot and cold running water was an added bonus. No bucket showers here!! As expected the standard of the food was very impressive, watched over with a careful eye by Wellington, the chef.
Our guide, Saruni was impressive in his ability to locate the most elusive predators, finding a leopard on our first day at camp. The rest of the four night stay was equally impressive in terms of animal sightings. Given that the weather had been somewhat unusual in the weeks leading up to our arrival, Saruni coped extremely well considering the state of the "road" conditions. The long grass proved excellent cover for the cats and made sightings that more difficult but Saruni proved himself on more than one occasion in hunting them down.
Dinner in the evenings after the late afternoon game drive were communal affairs which we much prefer and Carys proved to be an excellent and attentive host.
One of the lovely things about the camp was the number of returning guests which in itself speak volumes for the style and manner in which Kicheche run their camps and for the staff on the ground who manage them." See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya
"Kicheche Mara camp - beautiful as ever"
Our only issue was with the wifi which remains slow." See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya
"Kicheche Mara review"
The rains created quite a challenge for the guides and staff. The river at the entrance of the camp was flooded when we arrived, and we were given Wellington boots to help us navigate the considerable mud in camp. We were not able to cross back over the river for game drives for several days, but there was plenty to see on the camp-side, so we did not feel particularly constricted.
We saw a lot of interesting leopard and lion behavior, and Mara North is an excellent place for those interested in birds. The tents had been plumbed since our last visit 2 years ago, so no more bucket showers, which I kind of missed, but a hot shower on demand is also much appreciated. Kicheche’s emphasis on longer game drives and time in the bush makes me a loyal and returning customer." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya
"A perfect partnership with Laikipia"
Our guide, Soit, was as informed and incredibly knowledgeable as Josphat had been at Laikipia. He was Masai and we had fascinating conversations with him about the Masai way of life and culture. A lovely man." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya
"Kicheche Mara"
The area had experienced a lot of rainfall in the weeks prior to my arrival so the roads and paths were quite muddy and challenging to navigate in many locations. On the day I arrived the river that flows through the camp had overflowed it's banks and we were not able cross the river to get to the camp. Before the end of the day, the camp management arranged to have a small helicopter carry myself and two other guests across the river to the camp." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya
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