Big Cats Kenya 17 to 26 March 2021

Visit the MAA TRUST in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, a great project our Kicheche Community Trust supports with focus on women empowerment and education. Only 10 minutes from camp, visiting the Maa Trust is a wonderful opportunity for guests to interact with Maasai women, watch and learn about their bead-work and learn more about The Trust’s efforts towards wildlife conservation through sustainable community development.

Early morning and late afternoon are the most productive hours for game drives and our safari customised 4WD vehicles give everyone a perfect view. Watching wildlife at close range, but without encroaching on their space, is endlessly fascinating and our guides’ instincts and experience provide superb photo opportunities of wild animals.

Our vehicles are superbly designed for photographers, all our fleet is open-sided with open roofs. Cameras can be rested on the roof, with supplied beanbags, or on the armrests lower down, to which we can mount simple platforms for larger lenses.

Guests can visit one of the local Maasai villages to see first-hand their way of life. A village guide or your Kicheche guide will give you an interpretive talk during your visit during which there may be some traditional dancing. Village made souvenirs are on sale. There is a charge of $30 per person.

This is a popular excursion in the Masai Mara. Balloons take off early each morning at sunrise and glide over the plains for approximately an hour before landing. Upon touchdown a champagne breakfast is set up before you. The excursion finishes with a game drive back to camp. Price is around US$450 per person and trips can be booked through your tour operator or with the balloon operator.

Kicheche offers escorted walking safaris with overnight stays in a fly-camp in the bush. These excursions are led by one of Kicheche’s senior guides and an armed ranger. It is an outstanding opportunity to see the Mara from a completely different perspective and also offers some welcome exercise whilst on safari. You will explore the smaller aspects of savannah life – birds, grasses, and insects – and may even be lucky enough to encounter some larger game en-route.

Kicheche’s Community Project & the Olare Orok Trust support a number of schools and projects in the greater area, it is usually possible to pay a visit to them. Any educational gifts or donations that you can contribute are an enormous help to the pupils.

Game drives are offered twice daily one in the morning at 06h30 and one in the late afternoon at 16h30. The game drives are done in the conservancy as well as the adjoining Maasai Mara Reserve. In the conservancy, off-road driving is permitted – this gives you the liberty to explore every hidden valley and secret corner.

Night Game drives are offered in the conservancy as well as the adjoining Maasai Mara Reserve. In the conservancy, off-road driving is permitted – this gives you the liberty to explore every hidden valley and secret corners and also gives the opportunity to spot some of Kenya’s famous ‘nightlife’.

The majority of Encounter Mara’s guides are drawn from the local Maasai communities and are landowners in the conservancy. They are always eager to share their culture and way of life with interested guests, and visits to nearby villages and homesteads are easily arranged. (at an additional cost)

This is a romantic and evocative way to experience the wilderness of East Africa. Nothing can beat the feeling of gliding silently over the game-filled plains on a balloon safari, as the early-morning sun rises over the horizon. (at an additional cost)

Calling all passionate photographers! Join us for a photographic safari experience in our specialised photography vehicles. The vehicles have drop-down sides for photographers to capture low, eye-level photographs. Beanbags, foam camera rests, power points, fridges and 360º swivel seats promise to make your wildlife photography experience a dream! (at an additional cost)