Few places have names more evocative than the Masai Mara. Long before I had been to Africa, those two words could summon up a dreamlike world of golden plains, acacia trees and big cats lying watchful in the shade. Long-held expectations often lead to disappointment, but when I joined a SkySafari tour of southwest Kenya in September, reality lived up to the shimmering ideal.
On most safaris, finding a lion is a hope rather than an expectation. They are few in number and spend their days lying low in long grass, so you can pass nearby and see nothing. If you are lucky, your guide will spot a pair of ears and bring you close to one, which might half-raise its head in curiosity, then lay it down again and lie still, while you watch and listen as its breathing deepens and it goes back to sleep. They are awesome animals, even in repose – but most of the time, they don’t do much.
A large herd of wildebeest, a common sighting on Kenyan game drives (Image credit: Holden Frith)
I may have been lucky, but in the Masai Mara I saw lions almost every morning and evening. The most dynamic sighting involved six of them, including a mother and her cubs, who were at a stream when we joined them. As the adults lapped at the water, the youngsters tumbled over each other on the river bank and paddled in the mud, emerging with darkened boots halfway up the dappled fur on their legs. Having drunk their fill, they all set out across the savannah towards us, scattering a nearby herd of zebras, which regrouped a little way off, ears pricked and snorting their alarm.
The lions weren’t hunting, though – not yet. They knew they had been spotted, and a zebra with a head start is not a good bet. They kept walking straight towards us, dividing to walk either side of the 4×4 (one stopped to scratch its back on the bumper). Then our guide spotted a young warthog that might attract their attention. We stopped and watched as one, then two of the young lions froze, their eyes intent on the potential meal. The closer of the two sank low to the ground and inched forwards, trying to close the gap and shorten the sprint.
Much sooner than the lion would have liked, the little warthog raised its head and ran for its mother. The first lion gave chase, its body still low, swerving right and leaning into the bend as it tried to get between the youngster and safety. The second lion held back, knowing this was a lost cause. Lion versus warthog may sound like an unequal battle, but an enraged mother’s tusk can put a predator out of action for a week or two – a dangerous furlough for an animal that must hunt to survive. Encounters like these are finely balanced, and this time fortune favoured the hunted.
A young female lion keeps her eye on a distant group of zebras (Image credit: Holden Frith)
Beyond the Masai Mara
Not every game drive will be this intense, but most include a moment that stays with you. Some of mine were tinged with sadness – the elderly antelope I saw one morning, grazing near a tree by the camp, and then again when I returned, under the same tree, having given itself up to the vultures – but others were full of joy. A clutch of young cheetahs, for example, tumbling over each other in the golden hour after sunrise, and trying to climb trees. Or a vast herd of zebra and wildebeest. To sit with them quietly and listen to their methodical chewing was unexpectedly restorative.
Three young cheetahs playing in the early morning light of the Masai Mara (Image credit: Holden Frith)
SkySafari’s eight-day Kenya itinerary is capacious enough to introduce the wide variety of lives that play out in this corner of the country. It begins in Meru national park, a rich tapestry of habitats ranging from open grassland to swamps and riverine forests. I saw big groups of lions here too, as well as dozens of elephants and a pair of southern white rhinos. The latter symbolise a hard-won triumph: Meru was all but lost to poachers in the 1980s and 90s, but in recent years has been reclaimed, rehabilitated and repopulated. Tourists have been slower to return, and for now the park is in the goldilocks zone, beautiful, bountiful and peaceful. In the Masai Mara, you might have to share your best sightings with three or four other cars. In Meru, you often have them to yourself.
In between the two came the Loisaba conservancy, an idyllic private reserve high on a plateau beside the Great Rift Valley. Game drives take place in a crater-like depression surrounded by steep craggy hills, which makes Loisaba a more intimate experience than the big national parks. It was the greenest, prettiest landscape of the three, but the least willing to reveal itself. Elephants, giraffes and zebras were plentiful, but we searched in vain for rhinos. Other guests were luckier, seeing a pair of the critically endangered black subspecies – and, as they returned to the camp, a leopard stalking through the twilight.
A large bull elephant in Meru national park, which has now made a full recovery after years of poaching (Image credit: Holden Frith)
Lodges and logistics
SkySafari has two itineraries in Kenya, one of eight days and one of 10, as well as a 13-day tour that visits Tanzania too. All include flights between camps in the company’s own Cessna Caravan (which, instead of the usual 12 passenger seats, has a roomier layout of eight). That eliminates long, tiring road transfers, and allows more time in the bush. Instead of a full day spent travelling, you can head out for a morning game drive before your private flight, arriving at your next camp in time for lunch and a full afternoon of activities, or rest.
The lodges are all part of the Elewana Collection, a sister company of SkySafari. Each has its own character – from thatched stone cabins at Elsa’s Kopje, the first camp, to classic canvas safari tents at Sand River, the last – but their common ownership allows for seamless transfers. You check in once and then have no further need for vouchers, forms, boarding cards or other intrusions from the world beyond the plains. The most arduous task awaiting you is to pick your sundowner – one of the loveliest rituals of safari. More than just a drink, it’s the chance to stand in the twilight as the stars come out and reflect on what you have seen that day. I plumped for a gin and tonic, the customary choice, and drank a toast to the romance and reality of the Masai Mara.
A guest tent at Sand River, an Elewana Collection lodge in the Masai Mara (Image credit: Holden Frith)
SkySafari’s eight-day Kenya itinerary starts from $10,000 (about £7,700) per person, including domestic flights, airport transfers and full-board accommodation and activities at all safari lodges. Visit skysafari.com for more information. British Airways flies from Heathrow to Nairobi from £704 return, including taxes and fees. Holden Frith travelled as a guest of SkySafari.