Kicheche Walking Wilderness: Our full report
In 2016, Kicheche expanded its highly regarded tented camps to include fly-camping in the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
The fly camp is set up in the western part of the Naboisho Conservancy to accommodate you on a two-day Walking Wilderness safari between Kicheche Valley Camp and Kicheche Bush Camp, or vice versa.On Day 1, you start the Walking Wilderness experience with an after-lunch briefing at Kicheche Valley and set off on foot at about 2pm. Camp staff will have driven west earlier in the day with your main luggage, to set up the fly camp. You carry a light day packfor personal items such as snacks, sun cream, binoculars, camera and batteries. Kicheche can provide an empty day pack and will also provide drinking water bottles. Don’t forget to take a good hat, and wear decent shoes – either sturdy trainers or light walking boots.
You’ll walk westwards through the beautiful valleys of the Naboisho Conservancy until around 5-6pm when you reach the fly camp, giving you time to relax, get your bearings and have a shower, and have a well-earned sundowner by the fire. En route you will stop frequently through the course of the afternoon to examine the flora and smaller fauna, with your expert Maasai guide and host explaining the intricacies of the Mara ecosystem.
The fly camp itself is set up in various locations on the western side of the Naboisho Conservancy. The dome tents comfortably sleep two people, and are furnished with camp beds and bed rolls, camp chairs and an outside wash stand. The staff will have set up a simple, private bush shower, using tepid (sun-warmed) water and a long-drop western-style toilet. They also pack a lightweight mess shelter which they can put up quickly in the event of rain.
The next morning, Day 2, you’ll be woken at dawn with a tea or coffee and then a light breakfast before continuing the journey on foot in the cool of the morning. This second part of the walk involves around 4–5 hours of walking, depending on how often you stop to admire the view or pore of some fascinating aspect of the bush. As you enter the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, which neighbours Naboisho to the west, your guide will stop frequently to talk about the ecosystem’s plants and animals all around you.
Using their experience and bush craft, the team will ensure as far as possible that you don’t have any close encounters with elephants, buffalos or lions, but you may see them in the distance, and you are likely to get reasonably close to many of the region’s unthreatening browsers and grazers, from giraffe to dik-dik, as well as a host of bird and insect life.
Continuing along an escarpment, you then walk down the Seketa Valley, reaching Kicheche Bush Camp in time for lunch.
You can also do the trip in reverse, from Kicheche Bush Camp to Kicheche Valley.
Our view
Although Expert Africa has not yet had the pleasure of the Walking Wilderness fly-camping experience, we have been impressed by feedback already received from travellers who have opted for this adventure.
Country manager: Kenya
Geographics
- Location
- Maasai Mara Conservancies, Kenya
- Ideal length of stay
- Usually 1 night
- Directions
- Kicheche Walking Wilderness Fly Camp is a half-day bush walk west of Kicheche Valley Camp and a half-day bush walk east of Kicheche Bush Camp.
- Accessible by
- Fly-and-Transfer
Food & drink
- Usual board basis
- Full Board & Activities
- Food quality
- This fly camp has a cook and camp assitant on duty, who will have made the camp ready for you in advance of your arrival, and they will prepare your dinner and breakfast on an open fire.
The food at all the Kicheche camps is widely recognised as very high quality. Although we haven't yet sampled meals at Kicheche Walking Wilderness Fly Camp we would expect it to be prepared with as much flair and attention as at their main tented camps. - Dining style
- Group Meals
- Dining locations
- Outdoor Dining
- Further dining info, including room service
- Although dinner is usually eaten under the stars, and breakfast as the sun's rays are firing over the horizon, the fly camp does have a flexible 'mess tent shelter' in case of rain.
- Drinks included
- Drinks are always included and you will be asked to make your choice from the main camps' house selection before you set off. The fly camp staff will take them out ahead of your arrival and ensure that cold drinks are served cold, even out in the bush.
Special interests
- Birdwatching
- This two-day walking experience traverses the Naboisho and Olare Motorogi conservancies, and includes the Seketa Valley. Diverse birdlife can be seen across this landscape and, being on foot, you’ll enjoy intimate observations of the bush.
- See ideas for Birdwatching in Kenya
- Walking safaris
- If you’re seeking total immersion in the bush, this fly-camping experience includes diverse scenery and wildlife, and superb guiding. Stop wherever you like to experience the sights and smells of the bush, and fall asleep to its sounds.
- See ideas for Walking safaris in Kenya
Children
- Attitude towards children
- Under 12s are not usually permitted to fly-camp with Kicheche.
- Property’s age restrictions
- Restrictions will vary with the experience and age composition of children and teens in the party.
- Generally recommended for children
- This is a relatively adventurous wilderness experience suitable for teenagers but not likely to be appropriate or recommended for under-12s.
Our travellers’ wildlife sightings from Kicheche Fly Camp
Since mid-2018, many of our travellers who stayed at Kicheche Walking Wilderness have kindly recorded their wildlife sightings and shared them with us. The results are below. Click an animal to see more, and here to see more on our methodology.
100% success
100% success
100% success
100% success
100% success
80% success
67% success
25% success
25% success
25% success
0% success
0% success
0% success
0% success
0% success
0% success
Communications
- Power supply notes
- Be sure to charge your batteries fully before setting off.
- Communications
- Some mobile signal may be available, but can't be guaranteed. Camp staff have two-way radios.
- TV & radio
- None
- Water supply
- Transported in
- Water supply notes
- Drinking and washing water are brought by vehicle from the main camp.
Health & safety
- Medical care
- Your guide and camp staff will have basic first-aid kits.
- Dangerous animals
- High Risk
- Security measures
- The walk is accompanied by an armed ranger. An askari will be on duty all night to watch out for any large visitors. Staff have radios and mobiles to call for assistance if necessary and a vehicle will be stationed near the fly camp.
- Fire safety
- Camp staff will ensure the camp fire is properly secure and fully extinguished before breaking camp.
Activities
Birdwatching
Fly-camping
Guided walking safari
Hot air ballooning
Extras
- Disabled access
- Not Possible
- Laundry facilities
- Not available while fly-camping, only in Kicheche's main tented camps.
- Money
- You won't be spending any money out in the wilds.
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.
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.
Hemingways Ol Seki
Magnificently located tented lodge on a bluff looking south across the Naboisho Conservancy toward the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
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
Basecamp Leopard Hill
With six beautiful tents, Basecamp Leopard Hill is a smart safari camp in the Naboisho Conservancy in the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Basecamp Mara Houses
Basecamp Mara Houses consists of three private houses located in the northernmost part of the Mara North Conservancy.
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.
