Travel reviews by Mrs E & family from London

"El Karama is an incredibly special place. We had the most wonderful time.

All my family talk about is when can we go back!

The staff are so kind and welcoming, the scenery here is absolutely stunning and our guide Robinson was amazing! My children absolutely adored him, especially our 7 year old. Robinson's knowledge of the conservancy and the wildlife that live here was unbelievable. Every drive was different and completely fascinating, he taught us so much! And we had so much fun. Clearly he loves his job and his enthusiasm for El Karama made our whole trip so special. One morning he spotted elephants on the hill in the far distance and drove us to the exact spot by the river where he knew they would cross. We sat and watched them walk down to the river to drink and play and then walk across the river right in front of our car! It was incredible.

Because guest numbers are limited here you have the wildlife all to yourself, rarely seeing another vehicle and the animals are so much more relaxed as a result, so sightings are really special.

The lodge itself is beautiful and the setting near the river is absolutely stunning. We saw giraffes, impalas, baboons and even elephants right by the lodge as they travelled down to the river to drink and to visit the salt lick by the pool. The cottages themselves are so beautiful and comfortable and the lodge is surrounded by stunning birds who visit the pool and the beautiful flowers around the lodges.

Our children loved the bush school, especially the fishing. The staff are all so wonderful with children, so kind and friendly, my son was really sad to leave and my whole family just keep asking when we can go back!

The food was fantastic, so delicious and fresh and every meal was beautifully presented by the friendly and attentive staff who looked after us. Every night we had sundowners in a different place and each was more beautiful than the last.

I'll never forget watching the sun rise over Mount Kenya as we had our morning coffee or the beautiful site near the river where we had our bush breakfast on New Years Day.

El karma came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. We loved every minute of our time there. 4 days did not seem enough.

Our stay here was absolutely magical and the highlight of the trip of a lifetime."

"Encounter mara is a great camp with lots of friendly staff. My kids liked the forest setting and we all liked the luxurious tents with comfortable beds and great hot showers. Encounter Mara has a nice traditional safari camp feel. I think the problem for us was that we had had such a magical time at the previous lodge that Encounter Mara just didn't live up to that.

The conservancy itself has amazing wildlife and we were incredibly lucky with our sightings, we saw a leopard on our very first drive and moments after spotting it in a tree she climbed down and walked right in front of our car. Our driver also found 2 beautiful males lions and watching them relax and bond together with the African sunset in the background was a really special experience.

The main issue for us was that this camp felt much more commercial than the lodge we visited in Laikipia and even though the conservancy is supposed to be very quiet there were often 6 or 8 vehicles at every predator sighting, I think there were at least 10 cars trying to get close to the leopard and this often felt very intrusive for the animals who were surrounded by cars turning their engines on and off and attempting to get close to them.

Our guide was good, professional and very friendly and we were very lucky to see a leopard, lots of hyenas including cubs and even a serval cat.

The food on the second night was nice but the lunches and the fairly simple pasta dinner we had on the first night weren't anything special. We did enjoy the communal pre dinner drinks by the fire though and it was really nice that the senior sat with guests during their meals to chat with them.

We were still pleased to have visited the Masai Mara as we did enjoy seeing the sheer numbers of wildlife there. I think we were just a bit spoilt by our visit to Laikipia."