Fantastic family safaris with Asilia

Everyone in the Maasai Mara and surrounding conservancies is busy looking at how they can further improve the safari experience for guests, so we thought we would take a close look at a diverse range of Asilia Properties in the area and report back to you. Asilia, with a string of international Safari Awards under its belt, is a brand already recognised worldwide for offering exceptional, luxury safaris, so why did we take the time and trouble to check them out? Well, for two simple reasons: Firstly, we love the way Asilia works with local communities and is at the forefront of developing eco-camps. Secondly, we wanted to flag up the fantastic spectrum of safari experiences now available in the Greater Mara area.

We began with Encounter Mara, voted The Best Value Safari Property 2017. The camp, set in the heart of the 50,000 acre Mara Naboisho Conservancy, is rustic luxury at the very highest level and is 45 minute game drive from the Mara Ol Seki airstrip. With just 10 tents (including one family tent and 2 triple tents), Encounter Mara is an intimate hideaway that is seriously impressive. The urbane manager, Peter Kiyaa, who is also an accomplished wildlife guide with an encyclopaedic knowledge of wildlife, Flora and fauna, is a perfect host. After a superb lunch on the stunning viewing deck perched above a salt lick and watering hole that attracts big game throughout the year, we settled in for a blissful two-night stay in state-of-the-art tents with every modern luxury, all powered by solar energy and a generator.

Encounter Mara is blessed with one of the highest concentrations of lion in the world, with more than 100 lions making their home on the conservancy. It certainly lived up to its reputation. The first game drive held us enraptured as a family of five females and seven cubs played and relaxed around us in our open safari vehicle.

The following morning was even more dramatic, with a cheetah mother training her two nine-month-old cubs to hunt. With the abundance of Thompson’s gazelle all over the plain, she soon spotted a baby ‘Tommy’ as it unwisely reared its head from behind a rock. In a second she was on it but didn’t kill it. Instead, she released it for her cubs to learn how to chase and dispatch breakfast. Within 10 minutes all that was left was a leg bone, which provoked a boisterous chasing game. The cheetah mum was soon back in action when another hapless baby gazelle’s head popped up 500 yards away. Again, she caught it and let it go for her cubs to deal with. Nature red in tooth and claw, as it has been on these plains for countless thousands of years, and all the more fascinating for it. Naboisho has very few other camps which means you have these wide open spaces largely to yourself.

The camp is ideal for families and groups of friends looking for an active Safari with opportunities for bush walking with experienced guides, but it is perfect for classic safaris with guided game drives, too. Guests with a disability are well catered for here and the beauty and tranquility of Encounter Mara makes it an idyllic romantic hideaway.

It is hard to keep finding superlatives to describe the properties we visited, but Asilia’s Rekero Camp, deep in the Mara National Reserve is simply gorgeous, and all the better for the recently-extended viewing platform offering great views in both directions of the mighty Talek River, something that will be particularly impressive for watching the Great Migration. Rekero provides a grandstand position from which to wonder at this timeless phenomenon as thousands of wildebeest and zebra brave the river crossing and the awaiting crocodiles.

This intimate nine-tent camp (including 2 family tents) is managed by the delightful Peter and Stacey Thompson, who really are tremendous hosts, full of fascinating stories. The camp, 20 minutes drive from the Ol Kiambo Airstrip, is in a prime position from which to see big cats. The area around the camp boasts a huge abundance of lions and they have been featured heavily in Disney films and in BBC programmes on lions.

Rekero is an exciting wildlife venue for families with children, groups of friends and romantic couple. In addition, there are early morning hot air balloon rides, bush breakfasts and community and cultural visits – enough to keep even the most adventurous guests enthralled.

And now for something completely different! For families, couples or groups of friends who would prefer to feel the rhythm of life on the plains at their own pace, Asilia has three bush houses which become your home from home set against a wild and wonderful backdrop of plains liberally dotted with wildlife and vast expansive skies. Each house sleeps 6 people in considerable comfort and luxury with every modern convenience (including televisions) and comes with a team of personal staff, game vehicles and highly-trained wildlife guides. They are set up so that you decide what you want to do and when you want to do it. So, you can game drive when you like, take guided bush walks at your leisure, or ride horses among the herds of gazelle, impala, giraffe, topi and zebra, or simply party by the pool. And, if that is not enough to float your boat, there are early morning balloon rides over the plains, or a variety of cultural and community activities, including a visit to the Koiyaki Guide School which trains Kenya’s wildlife guides to such an exacting standard. Children are expertly catered for too, with a wide variety of activities.

Acacia House and Mara House are near neighbours sharing a swimming pool. The properties nestle in the Ol Chorro Losoit Valley in the Lemek Hills within the 70,000 acre North Mara Conservancy. Both properties overlook a secluded watering hole frequented by all the big game. We watched impala and warthogs enjoying a drink and mud bath in the midday sun from the cool pool terrace. Together, these two sumptuous properties, sleeping 12/13 would make a marvellous base for a three-generation family safari or group of friends to chill or party as the mood takes you.

Topi House sits on the plains within the 23,000 acre Olare Orok Conservancy adjoining the Mara National Park and is a 45-minute game drive from Ol Kiombo Airstrip. A large watering hole set against an endless sky ensures large quantities of game surround the house all year round and, with riding stable adjoining the house, horse riding among the herds is an easily accessible life-changing experience.

Topi House would be just perfect for a family or a group of friends who wanted to experience life in the wild, but in jaw dropping luxury. We watched large groups of topi and zebra plunging into the watering hole to cool off and rolling in the dust and generally having a jolly old time. We had a jolly old time watching them too for more than an hour. When the migration arrives, thousands of migrating wildebeest and zebra thunder past the house on their way to the Loita Plains and Loita Hills. It doesn’t get much better!

From all of us at Africa House Safaris.

Terry Brownbill
Wildlife guide, photographer BA(Hons), professional writer and painter

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