Mara Sunset

Up bright and early we were picked up by a van and whisked off on Safari. We were with a dutch couple who were Impact volunteers.
The van only took us to a little village near the Masaai Mara National Reserve and there we were picked up by a wonderful new land cruiser, the nicest i've ever seen. It had open sides so you drove around in seated luxury instead of poking your heads out the top in the heat.
We went to Encounter Mara, an ecocamp opened by Sean and Tesni (a couple i know from last time) in the Naboisho Conservancy just outside the national park. There are so many things that make this extra special, the conservancy is land owned by the Masai i people themselves and it's they who have decided to work together to conserve it. It has a limit of 5 small camps so that there will never be more than about 100 guests in the area at a time so you barely see anyone on your game drives unlike the frenzied crowds that throng the national reserve. And it one of the highest populations of lions anywhere in the world, and so much other game too.

We arrived and were welcomed warmly and taken to the beautiful luxury tents where we stumbled about in gaping awe, what had we done to deserve such amazing things! Then we sat outside and watched elephants and zebras and wilderbeast wander around.

Everything was just fabulous, such amazing food and such a beautiful place. In the evening they put the tables out under the stars and everything was just lit by lamps and candles. The only electricity they use is solar powered and everything they do is done in a way to have as little impact on the environment as possible.

Also being outside the national reserve you can drive home in the dark after watching the sunset and do walks. We had some great drives and saw so much and loved everything.