The neighbouring conservancies that surround the Maasai Mara act as buffer zones and also wildlife migration corridors between the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the surrounding community owned lands, where cattle graze year-round. While the Maasai Mara National Reserve is the key area for the great wildebeest migration, there is also plentiful resident wildlife inside the reserve, that lives here year round and gains more space to roam with these adjacent conservancies.
Most of these wildlife conservancies belong to Maasai communities, private conservationists and some exist with leasing them to some top responsible safari companies they can create additional revenue while the land also is protected. It’s a win-win for nature and people! Please, read more about Wildlife Conservancies around the Maasai Mara
Now that you are informed about the distinct differences between these parts of the Maasai Mara, we strongly advise that it’s important for you to know about these before booking your Maasai Mara wildlife trip.
As much as the dappled landscapes remain beautiful, elegant the wildlife viewing experience isn’t the same in all areas.
Privacy is the huge advantage for visiting and staying in the wildlife conservancies. In Maasai Mara for example, it’s open to the general public for all the camp and lodge guests, and also for day visitors, who stay outside the national reserve. On the other hand, wildlife conservancies around the Maasai Mara are exclusive to guests, who stay at one of the camps or lodges within the conservancy.
Like most wildlife conservancies in Africa, conservancies around the Masai Mara offer a more relaxed and exclusive African luxury safari experience. With a limited number of guest that also results to a relatively low vehicular number, the advantage is that off road driving is allowed within the conservancies. This doesn’t apply to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. It’s also possible to go on guided nature walks or a detailed long walk for the day. In some conservancies, you can enjoy your wildlife viewing on a horseback and sign it off with a night game drive where it will be possible to see some of the most elusive and rare wildlife. In brief, wildlife conservancies allow guests to enjoy a personalized closer wildlife encounters.
Located in the remotest part of the Maasai Mara, the Maasai and the conservancy agreement gave birth to Ol Derikesi Conservancy. This is a strictly cattle-free zone around the camp in exchange for community charges levied from safari visitors. With only one, spectacular, camp and this makes it a very special conservancy. The Ol Derikesi sector teems with all the Big 5 and other animals alike.
The huge expansive Siana Group Ranch covers the area that stretches from Sekenani Gate to Ololaimutiek Gate and north as far as the road to Narok beyond Leleshwa Camp. With a great range of habitats that consist seasonal streams, rivers, plains to forested hills that make Siana a classical ecosystem for wildlife. Siana’s wildlife includes a large numbers of elephants and giraffes, and it borders the Loita Hills that form the expansive Loita plains, into which one or two camps in Siana run occasional adventurous fly-camping safaris on foot, using donkey carts.
The 320km² expansive Mara North Conservancy is made of classic savannah bush country that is dotted with lone-standing tree and occasionally broken into ridges and luggas (seasonal stream courses). This diverse habitat has made Mara North Conservancy to have a good chance of all wildlife and birds. The conservancy’s wildlife includes several well-studied and well-known lion prides, such as the Acacia pride and the Gorge pride, named after the iconic Leopard Gorge, that is located 5km north-east of Musiara Gate. The host Maasai community and their herds still have some grazing rights here, so while on safari in Mara North you will see the occasional herder out with his cattle.
This is a highly notable conservation-focused on the success of its Maasai community integration. The Olare Orok Conservancy set the benchmarks for sustainable Mara tourism by proposing a carrying limit in the conservancies to 12 tents per camp and at least 3km² of game-viewing land per tent. Situated on the national Maasai Mara National Reserve boundary, just north of the Musiara sector of the reserve, Olare Orok offers exceptional wildlife viewing. The conservancy has all the predators present and boasts some of the best lion viewing in the Maasai Mara eco-system. In 2012, Olare Orok joined hands with Motorogi Conservancy, to the north, to form a single tourism destination and conservation area, the now 133km² Olare Motorogi Conservancy.
Established in 2005, with just one camp from which the local community benefits substantially, the 65km² Ol Kinyei Conservancy was the Mara’s first purely community-owned conservancy. It demonstrated that landowners could make a living from the tourism-related activities, and the model has since been replicated to other parts the greater Maasai Mara ecosystem. Ol Kinyei an area in which guided walks and a high level of Maasai cultural immersion are the norm. In Ol Kinyei, there are good number of lions alongside other cats and plenty of plains game.
The Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Safaris – Raise up your African luxury safari holiday expectations by considering doing a safari in the conservancies buffering the world-renowned Maasai Mara National Reserve and enjoy the pure value of your money. With a limited number of exclusive small luxurious camps that’s based on standard formula where each bed has a minimum of 3km² and a maximum of 12 tents per camp. The advantage that comes with it is that many camps have more like half this number. The net effect of this low-impact travel is that you might see one or two other vehicles while on a game drive in the conservancies, or it could be only you out there. Please, read more regarding our conservancies and safaris
