Experiences
Never a dull moment
Maasai Mara is arguably the best safari destination in the world and well known for the Great Migration, occurring in the months of June through October. During this time, the Mara welcomes over 1.5 million wildebeest and an influx of other game following the herds. Although an exciting time, rest assured the Mara boasts the same impressive wildlife year-round.
Game drives
Amani Mara is pleased to offer 3 styles of game drives, consisting of full day drives, morning and evening. Full day game drives begin with breakfast in our dining room, and then off into the savannah with a packed picnic lunch. An entire day allows for exploring many different sections of the park, especially favourable during times of the Great Migration.
As multiple full-day game drives can certainly take a toll, we do suggest splitting your game drives into morning and evening. This approach proves fruitful as many animals seek refuge from the afternoon heat, leaving you to enjoy a hot lunch and a refreshing swim at Amani.
Game drives done differently
We are proud to conduct our game drives in partnership with the local community, making us one of the few camps to do so. You will not only enjoy an authentic and immersive experience, but also support and engage with the people who call this region home. This unique approach enriches your safari by offering deeper cultural connections and contributing directly to local livelihoods.
Night game drive
Our day game drives allow you to explore the bush and spot the big five and other magnificent animals on the sweeping plains of the Maasai Mara; night game drives allow you to watch the mysteries of the bush unfold as darkness falls and nocturnal wildlife take the stage.
Nature walks
Our guides will lead you on a journey of the senses as you take in Amani Mara’s surroundings on foot and grasp the fascinating micro ecosystems of the bush, flora and birdlife encompassing Amani.
Cultural visit
Allow us to arrange a visit for you to a local Maasai village where you can immerse yourself in traditional Maasai culture. Experience their distinct way of living in harmony with wildlife and preserving age-old traditions, forming the essence of Maasai Mara.
Star light, star bright
Amani Mara’s bush dinner features a delectable dinning experience in the untamed African bush, prepared by our chef. What begins as a special ‘sundowner in the bush’ turns to magic as the sun sets and you warm yourselves by a glowing fire and then make your way to a lantern-lit table and a memorable dinner under the moon light and stars.
Up, up and away
Balloon safari: Awaken to the wonder of a “safari in the sky” in a hot air balloon flying high above the Maasai Mara plains. An early morning departure ensures unparalleled views from above of endless savannah and roaming animal herds as the sun rises above the plains. Following this 1-hour flight and once-in-a-lifetime experience, a champagne breakfast awaits you in the bush.
Sundowner
Pair your game drive or walk with a classic British colonial ‘bush sundowner’, where you and your companions watch the sun slip below the horizon while sipping cocktails, telling stories and reflecting on the day’s sightings. We concede that the ultimate ending to a days safari is found under an iconic acacia tree with drink in hand.
Dinner under the stars
You will have lunch besides our infinity pool overlooking he savannah and hippos and crocodiles in the river below. In the evening, you’ll dine under the stars in our boma, a traditional stockade enclosure, lit by lanterns and glowing camp fires, where a feast accompanied by Maasai singing and dancing awaits you. Pure magic.
Leave your legacy in Africa
Amani mara tree planting tradition continues. Since the inception of Amani, the main ethos has always been reforesting the barren land. Since we are planting trees, we thought it would be great idea to get our guests involved and thus the Amani tree planting tradition was born.
Lets plan your bespoke safari experience
Our team has cultivated an unforgettable three-day itinerary to experience the very best of Maasai Mara.
We are also pleased to design bespoke itineraries according to our guests’ preferences.
Giving back
In addition to providing several dozen Maasai and other local ethnic people with meaningful employment, Amani Mara supports the AIC Siyapei Children’s Home, in Narok, a town the lies halfway between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara. Along with Amani Mara’s past guests and now dear friends, Americans Claudia and Sean Quinn, we are helping to ensure that more than 50 Kenyan orphans aged 5 to 18 are safely housed, fed and cared for in this home. Several now have bursaries that allow them to complete their secondary school education. All the children in the home are made safe from neglect, abuse, hunger, FGM and child marriage. As we strive to nurture your mind, body, and soul in our wildlife haven, we also strive to nurture these local children in greatest need of care. We will be pleased to arrange a visit for you to meet the incredible children in this Narok children’s home, where dreams are also becoming realities.
Testimonials
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We had a great time during our time at Amani Mara. We were lucky enough to be the only guests at the time of our stay, which made the experience… read more very intimate, quiet, and enjoyable. Sam, Sully and the entire team made sure to make our stay memorable and unforgettable. The walking safari, followed by a sundowner was brilliant. We highly recommend Amani Mara, and we will always have great memories of the place.
March 13, 2023Home Away From Home – It is impossible to find the right words to describe the outstanding experience we had here. I will tell you that the staff here are some of the most incredible… read more people I have ever met. Sam feels like part of our family. George and Annie were incredible human beings, and we were blown away by how excellent the service was. The property itself feels like something someone can only dream of. The camp was luxurious, and the surrounding wildlife felt comfortable being there. Falling asleep to the sound of the lions on the prowl made me feel like I could only be dreaming. Despite us being right in the home of the animals, the security here made me feel safer than being in my own home. We had dinner under the stars, and we could not believe how incredible it was. We quickly considered the staff to be our friends and we enjoyed looking through the star map with them and pointing out constellations while eating some of the most delicious food we have ever eaten. Personally, I am a kitchen manager and the pure culinary expertise and heart that went into the plate presentation was mind blowing. I almost want to keep this place just for us because it is truly a hidden gem. Our family has traveled the world and we have never experienced such incredible service in our entire lives. We enjoyed drinks after dinner in the main lodge and sat down to play some games (there were plenty) and Sam came to hang out with us and taught us so much about wildlife and the culture. If we could have spent the whole trip here, we would have. From arrival to departure, the staff pointed out the incredible wildlife sprawled over the terrain right out front, and you can tell they absolutely love what they do. We opted for a nature walk where we were able to sit on a rock ledge and watch the Hippos pop up and down from the water right in front of us. This led right into the sundowner which again was something out of a dream. When we returned, the staff had spotted an animal I was eager to see and had not yet. They guided us over near to where they were (staying out of their way of course) and my one wish came true. The number of happy tears during our stay was endless. Can’t wait to return here.
June 11, 2023Amazing place with the most pleasant staff! – What an amazing spot! We stayed for only 2 nights and I felt sorry I hat to leave.
We’ve had very nice game drives with Fred and Sully and we… read more saw so many wonderful things. I hope to visit this lovely place again to see how the tree I planted is doing and I will certainly stay longer then!
February 1, 2024Absolutely fantastic, with wonderful staff and stunning views of animals all over. The food is one of the highlights and is really special. The owners are also really fantastic people… read more who I am honored to have met. It is really a place where memories that will last a life time are made.
August 11, 2023 -
Amazing Location!!! – Amani Mara is little Jem located in mesmerizing Masai Mara. Everything was spot on and five star from location,ambience, our suit, food to awesome service. We loved our 2 Nights… read more stay here so much and wish to come back here again in future. Definitely highly recommended you won’t regret it and promise you will have great time during your stay with Amani Mara !
June 17, 2023Amani Mara – a top-notch luxury camp with a great staff! – I’d like to give our heartfelt thanks and a big "shout out" to our host, Sully, and his team at Amani Mara!
Being the first stop on… read more our safari, we arrived in the dark with no idea of our surroundings. We were greeted by a lone but attentive staff member who had apparently waited up for us and got us settled us into our rooms (the architecture of which seems spun from stories of Tarzan and Swiss Family Robinson). This was followed by cold cocktails and a delicious dinner in the very impressive dining room. I would like to say we slept like babies but, being our first night and trying to acclimate to new surroundings, the sounds of animals grunting outside our room kept us a bit on edge. What a surprise awaited us the next morning when we awoke to a glorious view of the surrounding bush and a river below populated by hippos (the source of the night snorting). It made for a very memorable cup of African coffee.
Sully, a 5th generation Kenyan and self-described "bushman" was an excellent host. Having spent his childhood exploring the bush around the camp, has a formidable knowledge of all the creatures great and small and shared some pretty funny (if somewhat hair-raising) stories. A labor of love, he and his family have truly created a magical camp and cultivated a top-notch staff to accommodate his guests.
It was one of the highlights of our very excellent safari.
August 9, 2023Great lodge – Nice lodge on a very nice location. All staff are very friendly and helpful. Also food was excellent.
I was sleeping in a family lodge with 3 double beds. Nice… read more bathroom with view on the river we’re you can see the hypo’s . We were on the end of the migration season but still we have seen many animals.
November 4, 2022Trip of a lifetime!! Safari was truly amazing. – My family (wife and 2 teenage boys) went to this camp for the safari and it was the ultimate highlight of our trip. A safari sounds really cool, but… read more this is beyond that. The site of the camp, along a creek/river is a great starting point, where you can sit in the dining hall with a view of hippos, alligators, monkeys, and more. I could have sat in that camp spot for hours, but the real adventure is in the Kenyan Reserve. Our trips were usually from 8am until 4 pm, for 3 days in a row. Each day your driver takes you out into the savanna and lets you get to see these amazing animals out in their natural habitat. We saw Lions (one day eating a Zebra carcass), giraffes, hippos, elk, wildebeests, warthogs, elephants, leopards, tons of birds, baboons, and more. It is a different experience seeing these animals out on this land, because they all know that these touring vehicles do them no harm and thus they just go about their day and give you a look over. The amount of pictures I took is beyond anything else I have ever done, and would recommend borrowing or buying a great camera with a really good lens. I took close to 2000 pictures and could have taken more. The boys had a great time. So did my wife. The hut/structure that you get to stay in is great and the food at this place was beyond my expectations. All of the meals were a buffet or choices and many were well seasoned. My wife had her of this place from a fellow teacher who has been there twice, and I can understand why. If I have any friend wanting to do a safari, then I would not think twice for even a second about recommending this all inclusive safari. The other thing I would highly recommend, which we did on the last night, is the night safari trip, where they take you out into the reserve and they use "red" lights, to find the animals. They can’t see the red light frequency, but they do hear your vehicle. We saw some hippos, and even a leopard. It was better than I though it could be. We were there for a total of 5 days, and while the drive from the Nairobi airport is long (5-6 hours), if you can afford flying into Amani Mara (don’t know that cost), you will land about 20-30 minutes away from the camp and that would allow you even more time to relax and enjoy day walks around the camp, as well. Trip of a lifetime!!!
August 2, 2023 -
We had mixed experiences here. On the first night, we were not provided with a mosquito net. There were many mosquitos in the room at night. The quality of the… read more food needs improvement. The room felt gloomy. We believe the owner realized our not so happy experience and he tried to rectify that by waiving off the laundry and drinks bill. That was a nice gesture from him. The owner was very friendly, we had nice discussions with him. We liked the ambience of the open air dinner which we had on the last night of our stay. Room and toilet were clean. Staff were helpful. View from the common/dining area was beautiful. I would rate it 3.5 star out of 5
June 19, 2023Amazing place – We were only for two night in Amani Mara. It was an amazing stay and experience: we loved every second of our stay! Great and clean room, very friendly and… read more helpful staff. The owners are very nice and make you feel like beeing at home. Owner Sully joined our gamedrive with Fred: we learned so much about the nature, culture and animals. The camp is eco friendly.
Wish to come back again! The camp was selected by the touroperator Matoke Tours Nederland).
February 1, 2024This is my 6th visit to Africa, and my 3rd visit to Kenya. I am an experienced world traveler and was completely amazed by the quality and care of… read more service provided by the Amani Mara camp. We had 3 rooms – #s 1, 2 and 3 booked for 2 nights, arranged on a Safari with a tour operator, after specifically requesting the Amani Mara camp.
First of all, the location is AMAZING. The hotel sits on a bluff overlooking a river with trees and vegetation that are very supportive of wildlife. You can wake up in the morning, walk onto your balcony or the open restaurant balcony and immediately view hippos, lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, wildebeest, baboons, crocodiles and my daughter’s favorite – dik diks. And this is before you even leave the hotel for a game drive.
This is a luxury camp – with individual lodges as rooms, and with thatched roofs and tent openings onto the balcony. They light a roaring fire in the evening, provide hot water bottles to the bedrooms and manage to weave in nature throughout the feel of the camp including the amazing bathrooms. The food is fantastic for both breakfast and dinner – the best we had throughout our 14 night stay.
The quality of the camp is overshadowed by the personalized and superb service provided by Sam, George, Emily and the team. The service manages to feel individual and friendly rather than pretentious. Each morning they were scanning the hills for wildlife to point out to us, and sharing more about the area, the camp, and the history. My daughter really wanted to see dik diks and Sam sent his entire team to find them for her without being asked.
We had 2 amazing highlights of our brief stay – an outside, individual dinner for our family in Masai tradition with warm blankets and bonfires, and the nature walk. If you stay there DO NOT MISS the nature walk which starts late afternoon and optionally ends with sundowners. You will be so pleased you did this walk, and the sundowners experience here is perhaps my all time highlight over my 6 visits to Africa.
They also support an orphanage in Narok county, housing 50 orphans. Please consider supporting their efforts in building better lives for the future. They will be happy to tell you about the great cause and are appreciative of all the support they receive.
One of my daughters already has decided she wants to honeymoon in the Amani Mara camp, and all of us can’t wait to return.
My personal opinion – don’t hesitate to book the Amani Mara camp.
June 3, 2023An absolute must stay for anyone traveling to Maasai Mara!! – We were fortunate enough spend several days at Amani Mara as part of our honeymoon safari trip. From the moment we arrived, Sam, Sully, Ledama and the whole Amani Mara… read more team made us feel like we were a part of their family.
While staying at the Amani Mara, you are surrounded by nature and can spot all kinds of animals from the main lodge including hippos, crocodiles, lions, leopards, giraffe, and elephants. While the camp has a very remote feel, it still maintains an elegant, upscale feel with every amenity you could need, from gorgeous private cottages, large bathrooms with a fantastic shower, pool with exceptional views, and main lodge with a beautiful fireplace! The food was a huge hit. Everything we ate exceeded our expectations.
Don’t miss the opportunity to go on a nature walk. We spent time with Sully and had the most indescribable experience seeing all kinds of animals, including giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and elephants. We also saw the resident leopard, Natito which was surreal as seeing leopards in the Mara is not always a certainty!
We stayed at quite a few lodges during our trip to Kenya, and no one made us feel more special and welcome than the team at Amani Mara. It was truly a once in a lifetime, unforgettable experience, and we can’t wait to go back!
December 21, 2022 -
Wonderful experience! – We were only there for a day, but wished we could have stayed longer. Sulley and Sam were wonderful hosts. George and the rest of the staff, very nice and… read more friendly. The food was wonderful and they did a wonderful birthday celebration for one of party. The facilities are beautiful as is the the view. Sully took us on a once in a lifetime night drive. He said we were so lucky and I cannot explain all that happened, but rhere was a lioness kill, drama with a rival male, efforts to fight off hyenas and extra drama with a forgotten cub. It all worked out! So amazing. On top of all this they have you plant trees before you leave and they plant 13 for everyone the guests plant. A wonderful place to visit! Highly recommended.
October 22, 2023Unique experience! – Hello everyone!!!
We stayed here from October 10-13 and we have no words to describe the wonder of this facility….
First of all we arrived late in the evening and… read more they waited for us by making dinner just for us,beautiful rooms with small terrace directly on the majestic savannah,change towels every day and in the evening after dinner they make you find the hot water bag in the bed to warm it up because in the evening temperatures drop …breakfast,lunch ,dinner and packed lunch super with food even for intolerant people like me to whom they made find soy milk!
Maximum care and attention to the customer,all the staff kind and helpful always and surprises that I can not list because it is right and I hope you discover them yourself!
A magical experience that we highly recommend,a heartfelt thank you to all the staff of Amani Mara!
Elena and Alessio
October 25, 2023Very very nice!!! – it was an amazing experience and we loved the place. great accommodation, great staff and owners, nice food, everything was perfect and we would definitely recommend the Camp (which was… read more selected by MatokeTours).
January 1, 2024why I will go back to Amani Mara – I have been to the Masi Mara twice before. This boutique lodge is new since covid and I will not go any where else on my future visits. The vision… read more of the parents is now carried out by the two sons. Sam runs the lodge with perfect combination of guests comfort and a very happy and devoted staff. To be cared for by the Amani team is to be graced with luxury and surrounded by beauty (as well as guest safety). I still marvel at the construction of all the accommodations, food and the river just in front of the main lodge where you can see all the animals over a 24 hr period.
Sully the younger son is the head game drive person. Although young, he has a knowledge beyond his years. He knew where the animals would be and how they behaved. He has unending energy, enthusiasm and respect for the Mara animals (and he is also a sharp ‘birder’). After 5 days of game drives, he still found new experiences for us to see the animals and entertained us with stories and humor.
Have no hesitation to book here. It is a life changing experience.
August 19, 2023