Reviews of Little Governors'

"Little Governors is in a truly idyllic location with a sort of marshy swamp in the oxbow of the river in front of it. It really looks like a lake with a lot of vegetation in it. Lot of birdlife around a small "island" in the middle.
The day we arrived, there were lots of elephants in there chomping whatever elephants like to chomp and it was really lovely to watch them while sitting on the edge of the water having our lunch. I felt like I was in heaven .
There are some resident warthogs who are very sweet and don't charge off with their tails in the air like the ones you see on a game drive will do. They are happy to keep the grass short and mooch about the place.
There are 17 tents - numbers 1-6 are nearest the entrance and the boat. Then you have the main camp buildings - dining, reception , bar, shop. Then tent numbers 7-17 stretch away on the other side from the central camp.
When you arrive - there is a river separating the camp from the Mara. The vehicles stay on the Mara side - so you have to cross the river ( very short crossing) in a little boat that the boat man sort of pulls across on a chain with your bags.
There are approximately 52 steps down to the boat and 52 steps back up the other side. Note " approximately"
So you might be glad to have tents 1-6 so you can flop in as soon as you return from a game drive ?
However I think tents 6 and 7 are a bit too near the main camp and could be noisy. The balloons are inflated near tent 6 in the morning at 6am too. Personally I preferred the tents at the end - tent 17 would be best as it is not overlooked at all.
There is a formal path behind the tents to give people privacy, but most people walk in front of the tents, on the grass
( accompanied by a guard to protect you) - so you might feel the lack of privacy in lower numbered tents.
The tents are quite nice - the bathroom is quite big but only has one sink ( most lodges seem to have two ) and there is no separate loo and the shower has no screen around it. Only mentioning this in case you are thinking of sharing with someone you don't know all that well.
There is electricity in the tents so you can charge camera batteries etrc.. but cannot use a hairdryer there.
They do have a hairdryer in a dimly -lit room next to reception . The first time I used it was fine - but the next day, the socket by the mirror did not work so had to scramble under a table to find a socket that worked ( nowhere near a mirror unfortunately)
There are two sockets near the mirror but only one hairdryer.
The bar was nice and cool as it had a tiled floor and the shop was very good.
There is a small seating area near reception but you wouldn't really relax there I don't think.More like a place you wait for a taxi .
Wi-fi is available but only seemed OK for emails and social media . Don't expect to download any podcasts or anything.
The camp is well situated for wildlife too - you will get some good sightings within a short distance from the camp.
Having said all that, I have tosay that Little Governors needs to up its act a bit to keep up with other camps in the area.
The food was adequate but nowhere near as good as other places I stayed in the Mara
Actually quite disappointing .
Lunch time salad was tomatoes with some cheese, mange tout with apple, no lettuce.
Evening meal was a very small portion of spaghetti with a plain tomato sauce.
Fresh fruit for dessert was half an apple, half an orange and a slice of melon .
The game drives were shorter than elsewhere - start at 6:30 am , bush breakfast dragged out for an hour , return 11:30
Lunch 1 pm - pm game drive 3:30 til 7 pm . Dinner at 7:30-8pm.
Having come from other camps where the managers and/or guides join you for meals - it was a bit odd to have all guests sitting at separate tables and no input from managers . I thought I would like that, but in fact it felt odd to sit down for an evening meal and not have any other people or guides or managers to discuss it with.
We did briefly meet the manager , but it was very perfunctory . I did see him in the bar but he did not interract with his guests - only one guest who obviously intersted him.
I also felt there was an atmosphere of meanness at Little Governors
It sounds petty and I know that all the freebies at other camps are paid for somewhere along the way.
I'll just say how things are at Little Governors
So in the morning, you get tea/coffee in your tent but only one biscuit each.
All other camps give a tin of biscuits - I don't even want biscuits in the morning but it seemed mean.
There were no sundowners - no tea and cake in the afternoon, only four ( non-cold) bottles of water in the jeep , no coke or beer like other places. ( and not encouraged to drink them as most places do)
No complimentary drinks around the fire in the evening.
At dinner - had to,pay for water ($3)
Tea and coffee was included in the menu but it was never offered - we always had to ask for it.
Might sound petty - but it all added to a general feeling of meanness somehow
I think Little Governors has a great product but they are going to be upstaged by other lodges in the area if they don't up their game soon. I had expected to love it as various people I know had recommended it,. I found it initially impressive, but overall disappointing. Which is quite a shame as it is in such a lovely place.
This was the only place to ask yo see our passports and accomodation voucher.
They were also meant to transfer us by vehicle to our next camp - but they arranged to drop us at Musiara gate and the next camp came to pick us up from there." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya

"Little Governors’ is a very slick, well-oiled operation and much more obviously luxurious than Satao Elerai. It doesn’t have the views, but it does have a marshy area directly in front of the tents, which attracts elephant, hippo, buffalo, warthogs and giraffe to wander around the camp day and night. To sit outside your tent and watch them amble very close by is a true experience; as is being woken up by a hippo munching directly outside the tent at 1:30am, with an adult giraffe & youngster sauntering by and again by elephants & buffalo (rubbing up against the tent) at 4:30am...

The food was slightly more elegant than at Satao Elerai, and we did have to pay for all drinks apart from water and the (very welcome) morning wake-up coffee and hot chocolate delivered to the tent. Unlike Satao Elerai we had only 1 hot water bottle between 2 (and no knitted cover!). Again, the efficiency of the waiting staff was to be admired but again no time was ever given to study a food menu / wine list; a decision was required immediately upon presentation.

The number of guards and other staff on duty at all times was very reassuring, and again we had a very good driver/guide in Bernard. In one day we saw all "The Big 5" (which was not actually on our list of things to do, it was an accident!), lion cubs, a cheetah up-close and the wildebeest migration... crossing a river (with crocodiles playing an active role!?!); a big success.

Tents were a little too close together so you could hear things you didn’t really want to hear… honeymooners beware!

We spent 50% of our time in the Masaai Mara (vast open plains) and 50% in the Mara Conservancy. This was on the other side of the camp; much more intimate, with a higher density and cross-section of animals, including Rhino... just not as many big cats (saying that, the Serval was really sweet). This worked very well, I strongly recommend spending time in this other part of the park for the contrast and variety.

It is an intense experience: to be woken up at 5:30am, in the 4x4 by 6:30am... have a picnic breakfast at say 9:30am then continue until lunchtime (approx. 1pm) then back out again 3:30pm until dusk (around 6:30pm). A long day, but the mission was to maximise the chances of seeing game and so a price worth paying." See all these reviews: 4n in Kenya