A wildebeest herd standing across a dirt track, the rest of the herd stretching away behind

Kenya · 6 days

Wildebeest Tales

Five nights in the Mara and nothing else. Three on the reserve edge, two in the Naboisho Conservancy where you can walk. Saruni Basecamp's family safari, and the least expensive way into the ecosystem they run.

Duration: 6 days, 5 nights · 2 flights
Where: Kenya
Experiences: Road Safaris Flying Safaris
Board: Full board
Price: FromUSD 2,900per adult sharing

At a glance

Where the nights go

5 nights across 2 places · 2 flights · Full board. Drawn from the draft day-by-day below.

Overview

The shape of the journey

One ecosystem, two camps, five nights, and no airport in the middle of it. Basecamp Masai Mara sits on the edge of the reserve; Basecamp Wilderness is further in, on Naboisho, where the vehicle count is capped and you are allowed out of the car. Moving between them is a game drive, not a transfer.

NairobiMaasai MaraMara Naboisho

This is the family end of what Saruni Basecamp runs: a children's club, a tree nursery you can plant into, a beadwork workshop staffed by the women it was set up for. It is priced accordingly. Migration or no migration, the resident game here does not go anywhere.

Where you'll stay

The camps and hotels

Basecamp Masai Mara

Tents on the edge of the reserve, run as the group's conservation and community showpiece, with a tree nursery, an organic garden, a women's beadwork brand and an awareness centre, all of which you can walk into.

Basecamp Wilderness

Classic canvas deeper in, on Naboisho, where very few vehicles are permitted and walking safaris are. Lion density here is among the highest in the ecosystem.

Day by day

How the days run

A proposal, not a timetable. The routing, timings and inclusions are confirmed in writing before you pay anything.

Day 1Flight
Nairobi, then the Mara
Met at Jomo Kenyatta and driven to Wilson for the morning flight, about an hour. Your guide meets the aircraft and runs you to camp for lunch. Sit out the heat looking at the reserve, then an afternoon drive, then dinner inside or under the stars.
Basecamp Masai MaraAll meals
Day 2
The reserve
A morning drive with your Maasai guide, after the Big Five and everything else the Mara keeps. Lunch as a picnic or back at camp. New ground in the afternoon, and dinner with the savannah making its usual noise.
Basecamp Masai MaraAll meals
Day 3
Behind the scenes
More plains in the morning. The afternoon is the camp's other half: a walk through how the place is actually run, the Basecamp Maasai Brand women's workshop, and the reforestation project, where for a small fee you can plant a tree against the carbon of getting here.
Basecamp Masai MaraAll meals
Day 4
Into Naboisho
The transfer to the second camp is a morning game drive that happens to end somewhere else. Naboisho is lion country and the afternoon drive goes looking for them. Sundowners at a scenic spot if you want them, charged separately here, then a night drive back for dinner.
Basecamp WildernessAll meals
Day 5
On foot
A guided walking safari, which is a different sense entirely: tracks, dung, birds, the things a vehicle drives past at 30kph. The afternoon is at leisure, with a massage if you want one, then a drive in a part of the Mara almost nobody is permitted into.
Basecamp WildernessAll meals
Day 6Flight
Depart
A last morning drive on the way to the airstrip. The Mara flight leaves at 11:00 and lands in Nairobi around noon, and a Saruni Basecamp vehicle takes you on to Jomo Kenyatta.
Breakfast

What's covered

Inclusions and exclusions

In line with the itinerary above. Your written quote is the version that counts.

Included

Full-board accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner
Mineral water, in-tent tea and coffee service, and unlimited internet in tents
Shared day game drives in open-sided vehicles, and picnic excursions
Bird walks, the organic garden tour and the tree nursery
The Young Explorers Club, bookable in advance
Visits to the group's conservation and community projects
Return airstrip transfers, VAT and taxes

Not included

All drinks other than bottled mineral water
Bush meals and scenic-spot sundowners
Selected laundry, and lunch on the day of departure
A Maasai manyatta visit, and late departure fees
Exclusive use of a vehicle and guide, and private guides
Gratuities and anything of a personal nature

Price & terms

What it costs

FromUSD 2,900per adult sharing

What this price covers

Rates are per person sharing unless the line above says otherwise.
Prices move with the season and with availability, and are held only once your quote is confirmed in writing.
The day-by-day above is a draft. Final routing, timings, inclusions and any park or permit fees are confirmed with your quote.

Before you go

Worth reading before this trip

The best time to visit Kenya, month by monthJanuary and February, then July to October, are the months we send most people.
Safari packing list for KenyaA working checklist for a week on safari in Kenya: the bag, the layers for a cold six o'clock start, optics, health and documents, with quantities for seven nights and what changes by season.
Kenya safari cost: where the money goesWhat you pay for on a Kenya safari, why two similar weeks can differ threefold, who sets the park fees, and how to get more from the same budget.
Practical facts by countryPlugs, currency, time zone, driving side, SIM, tipping and tap water.