I’ll make a confession: I always find it difficult to return to the Masai Mara National Reserve after visiting Mara North Conservancy, and it has been that way since my first visit in 2016. Unlike in the main public reserve, the camps in Mara North are wonderfully spread out, each one occupying its own small slice of wildlife-filled terrain. The camps also have excellent guides – my experience with the guides of Offbeat Mara, Karen Blixen Camp and Saruni Mara has been unfailingly impressive. And the wildlife! It’s one of few places in Africa where I set out on a game drive and expect to see big cats, and I love the fact that the guides know the stories and characters of the various lion prides, cheetah coalitions or leopard lineages. It makes for a really rich experience. The scenery, too, consists of classic Mara landscapes, rolling savannah grasslands and riverine woodland where something exciting always seems possible.
Whenever I’m in Mara North, I’m reminded that
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this is what safaris used to be about – amazing wildlife, signature East African ecosystems, secluded bush camps, and – in the case of the Mara – a strong sense of spending time among the Maasai.