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Saruni Mara is a small, intimate lodge in the heart of the 69,000-acre Mara North Conservancy, offering a secluded base from which to explore one of Africa’s most extraordinary wilderness areas. The Mara’s landscapes are both instantly recognisable and endlessly surprising: home to resident wildlife in remarkable numbers, and backdrop to the Great Wildebeest Migration, still one of nature’s most humbling spectacles.
The lodge offers the best of both worlds: exclusive game viewing in a private conservancy far from the crowds, with the Maasai Mara National Reserve within reach when the Migration calls. It’s a combination that makes for exceptional wildlife encounters, and a corner of Kenya you’ll find yourself returning to.
The four cottages are built on a hill over looking the Masai Mara plains. Beautifully furnished and spacious, with a bedroom and an en-suite bathroom, the cottages have a large front deck for relaxing in the day and stargazing at night. Each cottage is furnished with a traditional theme. They are large, comfortable and overlook the valley where the lodge is located, surrounded by pure nature.
Room Facilities
Balcony / Deck, Bath Towels, Bath, Camp Beds, Complimentary Wi-Fi, Hand Towels, Internet Access (Complimentary), Laundry Service (Available), Wardrobe
The honeymoon cottage is the perfect romantic retreat, simply and elegantly designed for long hours of relaxation. The Love Shack is a wonderfully secluded cottage, known as Saruni Mara's Honeymoon Suite. The neutral colour scheme, elegant furnishings and beautiful antiques create a feeling of classic elegance and romance. The en-suite bedroom is very spacious, and opens out onto a large veranda with a magnificent view of the valley leading onto the Masai plains - the perfect private dining area.
The private villa is a beautiful, private wilderness home, with two bedrooms and a children's bedroom upstairs, two bathrooms, a lounge and dining room, kitchen and large veranda. Nyati House is booked exclusively and is located a 5 minute drive away from Saruni Mara in its own secluded valley. Perfect for groups or families looking for privacy and wanting to experience the Masai Mara on their own schedule and in the comfort of their own wilderness home. Equipped with your own safari vehicle and guide and with meals in your own dining room, guests at Nyati House have a very personal experience. The house has a unique style with lots of wooden features and natural elements. The rooms are spacious and overlook your very own view of the Mara plains. There is a large front garden for children to enjoy.
Room Facilities
Balcony / Deck, Bath Towels, Bath, Camp Beds, Complimentary Wi-Fi, Hand Towels, Laundry Service (Available), Safe, Telephone, Wardrobe
Family Cottage
The Family Villa is made for gathering. Two en-suite bedrooms, a large lounge with fireplace, a private dining area, and a veranda with sweeping views across the Maasai Mara that invites you to linger long after dinner is finished.
Decorated with antique and vintage natural history prints, it carries the warmth of somewhere that has been thoughtfully put together rather than simply furnished. For families or groups of friends, it becomes the natural end point of each day; the place where the adventures that Mara North has a way of delivering get retold, embellished, and remembered.
Room Facilities
Balcony / Deck, Bath, Family Safari Tent, Hand Towels, Private Lounge / Sitting Area, Twin Bed
Property Facilities
Bar, Battery Charging Facilities, Communal Dining, Internet Access (Complimentary), Kiddies Club, Library, Malaria Free, Mobile Connectivity, Restaurant, Secure Parking, Spa, Vegetarian
Room Facilities
Balcony / Deck, Complimentary Wi-Fi, Dressing Gowns, Electrical Outlets, Fan, Internet Access (Complimentary), Laundry Service (Complimentary), Lounge Area, Mosquito Nets, Pure Cotton Linen, Safe, Shower, Verandah
Available Services
24-hour Security, Airport Shuttle (Complimentary), Credit Card Facilities, Laundry Service (Complimentary), Meal on Request, Private Vehicle (Available)
Activities on Site
Big 5, Bird Watching, Fine Dining, Game Drives, Game Viewing, Game Walks, Garden Tours, Gourmet Picnic, Massages, Night Drives, Safaris, Walks (Guided)
Activities Nearby
Animal Encounters, Big 5, Bird Watching, Child Friendly Activities, Cultural Tours, Game Drives, Game Viewing, Game Walks, Hiking, Rhino Tracking, Safaris, Scenic Flights, Walks (Guided)
Our safaris are conducted in fully open Land Rovers, designed to put you as close to the landscape as possible without a window between you and the world outside.
Your guide rides with you throughout. Not to narrate a script, but to help you read what is actually happening, the shift in an animal's posture, the call that signals something nearby, the story written in a set of tracks across the sand. We do not rush. There is always time to sit with an elephant family, to watch a lion decide its next move, to simply be present in a place that rewards patience.
We know the Mara North Conservancy the way it deserves to be known, not just the famous spots, but the quiet corners where no other vehicle goes. This is the Maasai Mara as the first explorers found it, before the minibuses arrived.
For those who love birds, our guides are birdwatchers by instinct as much as by training. The Mara is home to over 500 species, and our guides know them by call and song as much as by plumage. They will not simply point and name, they will share the moment with you, because they mean it.
The Masai Mara and adjoining Loita Plains form the northermost part of the 25,000km Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. The Mara receives the highest rainfall (1000mm average, 1200mm a year at Musiara) of the entire ecosystem. Rain falls here throuht the year, with peaks usually in December, January and April. Plenty of grass remains after the Serengeti plains to the South have dried up. This beneficient ecosystem supports a wildebeest population of at least 600,000. Together with the associated herds of 200,000 zebra and 350,000 Thomson gazelle, they form a vast assemblage of ungulates whose annual movements trough the ecosystem is known as "The Migration". The sight of hundreds of thousands of these animals moving together through the seas of grass must rank as the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth.
The wildebeest herds congregate during the wettest part of the year in the short-grass plains of the Serengeti ecosystem, where there is sweet new grass and rainwater pools. There they give birth - most of the females calving within a few week in what has become known world over as "The Rut". Early in the dry season, the pools in the short-grass plains dry up and the wildebeest stream en masse through the longer plains and o n to the Western Corridor. As their food supply diminishes, the herds move into the northen Serengeti woodlands and the Masai Mara. Zebra follow similar, but not quite identical, movements. Thomson's gazelle also migrate, but o nly as far as the edge of the woodlands. The routes taken by the herds vary from year to year but the general pattern of the migration remains the same.
Once in the woodlands the herds spread out but keep moving in response to rainfall and the availability of forage. The first wildebeest usually arrive in the Mara in June or July and most remain there until late October or early November. Slowly at first, but increasing momentum, the wildebeest leave the Mara by various routes as they follow the rains back south. The annual incursion of the great herds into the Mara is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Prior to 1969, a few wildebeest "spilled over" from the Serengeti in very dry years, but most of the wildebeest found in the Mara belonged to a completely separate population, the Loita population. The Loita wildebeest, commonly referred to as the "residents", perform seasonal movements between the Loita plains in the wet season and the Mara in the dry months. Following the tremendous increase in the Serengeti herds in the 1960s and 70s, the Mara is now dry season refuge for up to 600,000 Serengeti wildebeest as well as about 25,000 Loita animals.
(From The Official Guidebook to the Masai Mara Ecosystem, by Friends of Conservation).
This a special interactive wildlife safari with a strong educational “flavour”, designed especially for families or small groups. It is a family learning holiday, or as a parent and older child adventure, that allows you to explore and learn about wildlife, wilderness and ‘life’ from one of the most well known and culturally interesting cultures left in Africa, the Maasai. Under the tutelage of their ‘Moran’ or Warrior class, our guests get to know, enjoy and understand these unique people and their way of life.
Learn and experience at first hand the bush skills, folklore and ancient wisdom needed to survive in one of the richest wildlife regions in Africa. This is an extraordinary opportunity to ‘go bush’ with your family or friends. Gain in depth experience in wildlife tracking following an elephant or a leopard, learn survival skills, visit an original Maasai village, learn how to use bow, arrows, pangas and spears, build a bush camp, tend goats and cattle whilst listening to Maasai stories and songs. This is not how the ‘white man’ sees the wilderness and its abundance but how the Maasai and its warriors view the world and live amongst its wild creatures. A safari will never be the same again.
The vast landscapes of the Mara are sure to stir feelings of romance, and a traditional wedding here is a unique and unforgettable way to declare your love for each other. Plus, you'll already be in the perfect place to begin your honeymoon. Experience the beauty and majesty of the Mara in a whole new way as you declare your unending love for each other a love as boundless as the views over the plains. We can organise an authentic Maasai blessing, with traditional singing and dancing in the presence of the community elders. We also include floral displays, a wedding cake, champagne and a private wedding dinner.
Private cottage hidden in our valley's olive and cedar forest and devoted to the use of local plants for beauty and relaxation treatments. In collaboration with Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees (Stresa, Italy) and its world-famous spa - Centro Benessere Stresa, Saruni runs the Maasai Wellbeing Space. It is a unique feature in the Masai Mara: in the most serene and relaxing environment, our guests enjoy massage and wellness treatments under the supervision of highly trained staff. Considered one of the most professional and inspiring "beauty centres" in Kenya, the Maasai Wellbeing Space has been designed by Kenyan designer Mark Glen. It's a private cottage hidden in our valley's olive and cedar forest and devoted to the use of local plants for beauty and relaxation treatments.
The new techniques combine sophisticated methods developed at Centro Benessere Stresa with ancient Masai wisdom and knowledge. For instance, we use Olsinoni leaves (Lippia Javanica) for their detoxifying and purifying properties. Also we use pure gel from Usuguru (Aloe Kedongensis) and compresse of Olleleshwa leaves (Tarchonantus Canphorantus) to remove skin impurities and to improve the natural regeneration of the cells. In pedicare we complement more traditional products with Ol-Emoran leaves (Hoslundia Opposita).
One, 30 minute long "post game drive" or "pre game drive" massage is included for free in the regular safari package. Among the treatments available, you can choose between the lymphatic drainage massage, decongestive or nourishing or purifyng facials, manicare, pedicare and the popular sport massage. All with an open view of the forest, where bushbuck, elephant and waterbuck roam freely.
We take our guests to our secret spots, especially for bush breakfast, bush lunch or bush dinner. Deep in the forest or by the river Mara overlooking a "hippo beach", a nicely decorated table is waiting for us, providing us with the thrilling experience of a gourmet meal in the middle of the bush.
On foot, the landscape reveals itself differently; the texture of bark beneath your hand, the scent of a shrub crushed underfoot, the story written in a set of tracks or a scatter of droppings that a vehicle would have driven straight past. You notice things you would never see from a Land Rover, and you feel the scale of the wilderness in a way that stays with you.
To walk with Maasai warriors through this landscape is something else entirely. They move through the bush with a quiet confidence that comes from a lifetime of reading it, pointing out the berries and leaves their people have always used, sharing the traditions and the knowledge that have sustained them here for generations. It is not a guided walk. It is an invitation into a way of seeing the world that very few visitors ever get close to.
A unique feature of Saruni Mara is our collection of books and library, the most beautiful in the African bush. With thousands of rare books and its very private location, the library is a place where to meditate, to rest, to think.
For our guests who are passionate about birds, Saruni Mara is the perfect place to visit. The species here are abundant and remarkably accessible, this is not the kind of birdwatching that requires hours of patience and a great deal of luck. The Mara North Conservancy's diverse habitats bring them close, and the light here does the rest.
Our guides are birdwatchers by instinct as much as by training. They know the calls before the birds appear, and they bring to each sighting the same genuine enthusiasm they had the first time they saw it. That is the part no guidebook can replicate.
Guests have the opportunity to see how the Maasai have adapted to modern times, still with their traditions intact. The market is an authentic weekly gathering in Aitong of local people from across the Mara region and is also an important cattle market where the Maasai go to trade in livestock and monitor their value.
Drive to Kilileoni, the highest peak in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, where at the top guests can enjoy a panoramic view over the Mara plains and forests with the Tanzanian border visible on the horizon. During the ascent, guests can encounter rare antelope species that live at high altitude and once they reach the peak, they may chance across elephant and buffalo grazing. It is one of the least explored and most spectacular corners of the Masai Mara. Guests will need to allow half a day at a minimum to best experience this unique drive.
Fancy seeing the beauty of the Mara and witness the vastness of the annual natural phenomenon that is the Great Migration from above? Then guests can speak to the Saruni Mara lodge manager about arranging a hot-air balloon ride to create memories of a lifetime. Guests be warned, it’s an early start to get there!
Located in the Olchorro Conservancy, about 30 minutes from Saruni Mara, this is a conservation project employing staff from the local community that has been protecting white rhino for the past 20 years. Rhino roam freely on the slopes of the mountain and the unique attraction of this project is approaching the rhino on foot in complete safety, whilst guided by a local ranger.
The night skies above Saruni Mara are among some of the brightest and most beautiful in the world. The air is unpolluted and offers unobscured, clear star-gazing opportunities – a unique and deeply fulfilling activity. Every evening provides guests with an alternative ‘playground’.
The sundowner is a well-deserved drink at the end of a long day on safari to ‘salute’ the African sun as it is setting. Saruni guides drive guests to secret corners and on top of the highest peak in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and serve guests their favourite drinks along with a selection of scrumptious ‘bitings’; small snacks to whet the appetite ahead of the delicious dinner which awaits.
Our Saruni Cuisine
"Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are", famously said gastronome Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. At Saruni we believe in the importance of good, healthy and tasty meals. Our cuisine has a strong Italian flavor but we also love to experiment with the great ingredients that are found in Kenya, especially fish and vegetables. We easily accommodate vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free (you name it) and guests who have special requests. Food can be tailored to suit children’s requirements and earlier meal times can be arranged where necessary. Some options include but are not limited to the usual ‘treats’: pizza, plain pasta or pasta with tomato sauce, chicken or burgers with chips etc.
