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The Independent UK

Kate Wickers

Great Plains Mara Nyika, Kenya, camp review

Great Plains Kenya Luxury

With far-reaching views over the plains, Mara Nyika is an intimate, luxury tented camp, belonging to National Geographic filmmakers and photographers, Dereck and Beverly Joubert

Location

Bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve in southwest Kenya, the camp sits in the unsullied wilderness of a deep valley within the private 55,000-acre Naboisho Conservancy, which was created in partnership with 500 Masai landowners with an aim of conserving wildlife and habitat.

To get there, it’s a 45-minute flight into the Maasai Mara Reserve from Nairobi Wilson airport. A private Great Plains safari vehicle can be arranged to collect you for the one-hour drive to the camp.

To explore the conservancy, you must be staying at one of nine camps within its boundaries, so there are far fewer tourists vying for the best wildlife-viewing.

The vibe

Spend time off-grid at the Mara Nyika Camp (Mara Nyika Camp)

A Relais & Châteaux member, the camp has elegance in spades, minus any stuffiness or pretension. Think polished antique wooden furniture, squishy sofas to sink into while relaxing in the map-filled library, and a well-stocked wine cellar.

From the moment you set foot in the camp, the invitation is to switch off from the outside world and tune in to nature. Mara Nyika is a little slice of paradise where you can breathe deeply and put all else on hold.

Service

You’d be hard pressed to find a warmer reception than you’ll receive at Mara Nyika Camp. Being welcomed back from adventuring with a joyful song is the norm, and staff are quietly attentive to your needs. They make every moment you spend here blissful – whisking away laundry (mine arrived back in record time, sweet-smelling and pressed) or tucking blankets around your shoulders as you sit enjoying a night cap by the fire pit. Never have I felt more cherished.

Bed and bath

There’s no basic camping here, Mara Nyika’s tents have double beds, living rooms and en-suites (Great Plains Mara Nyika)

With ceilings hung in billowing, white cotton drapes, each suite is made up of three roomy canvas tents (covering 1,000sq feet), which consist of a living room, bedroom and bathroom with twin copper sinks and a free-standing tub. There’s no separate toilet, but a carved wooden screen will save your blushes.

Nods to the locale come in the huge floor-to-ceiling mirror etched with Maasai beadwork and carved wooden furniture from the island of Lamu.

Design-wise, rooms have a distinctly rugged air (softened by fur throws and delicately embroidered cushions), with a studded leather headboard on the substantial four-poster, woven rugs strewn on polished floorboards (that creak satisfyingly), a writing desk (complete with personal headed writing paper), and a vintage leather trunk that serves as a coffee table.

On the private deck, from comfy recliners it's fun to watch vervet monkeys at play. A stroke of genius is the loan of professional DSLR camera and lens set (all images you capture are downloaded onto a USB stick to take home).

There are four one-bedroom suites and two larger two-bedroom/bathroom suites perfect for families, one of which has a private swimming pool.

Food and drink

The Kenyan braised beef stew is a must-try (Mara Nyika Camp)

Two-course lunches and candle-lit three-course dinners are served, at your leisure, on the large, curved wooden deck or inside in tented dining rooms when temperatures drop. One evening be sure to request a local dinner of braised beef stew and ugali, a staple Kenyan dish made from cornmeal.

Cocktail hour, taken around the fire pit, is very much alive and well here, served from an immense cabinet stocked with a wide selection of global spirits. Try a dawa – meaning medicine in Swahili – which is a heady blend of vodka, honey, mint and brown sugar.

Nyika’s mobile kitchen (the only one in the Maasai Mara region) treats guests to a sumptuous, cooked-to-order breakfast out on the plains (expect silverware, best linen, and a bottle of fizz on ice), while the wildlife goes about its business. One morning as I was tucking into my omelette, three elephants came into view.

Facilities

Taste South African wines in the cellar (Mara Nyika Camp)

Raised wooden walkways two metres off the forest floor link the guest suites to the main area where you’ll find several elegant spaces. Relax in the lounge/library or the wine cellar (where tastings can be enjoyed); both endowed with a mix of squishy leather sofas, bespoke, carved furniture, and hung with Beverly Joubert’s eye-catching wildlife photography.

In the small boutique, browse beaded necklaces and bracelets, made by the Naboisho Women’s Cooperative, supported by the Great Plains Foundation.

There’s no gym, but each suite comes with light weights, a yoga mat, and a stationary exercise bicycle. In-suite spa treatments can be booked upon request.

All game drives, in open-sided Toyota Land Cruisers, are private, and come with a dedicated guide for the entire length of your stay.

Accessibility

The camp doesn’t have any built-in features to make it more accessible. Staff will offer assistance wherever possible.

Pet policy

No pets allowed.

Check in/check out?

Check in after 10am, check out at 9am (times are flexible according to availability).

Family-friendly?

Families with children over six-years-old are welcome. The Explorers Programme organises child-friendly activities such as bug safaris and lessons in animal tracking.