We booked this trip through GetYourGuide, the booking process was super easy. Although we had to call the company to confirm the pickup time. Lucky we did, since they were... read more picking us up 45 mins before the booking details said it would be.

Before I go any further. I would suggest if you want to buy anything like souvenirs, drinks etc., you should take approximately 10000 KSH per person in cash. We took half this, and it was not enough for us to do everything we wanted.

We were picked up at the hotel by Samuel, a very pleasant and smiling man from Mombasa. We had a Landcruiser safari vehicle, this was a little confusing since we had booked the cheaper price, there was one for $80 or so more to get a Landcruiser, we are wondering if anyone else on the trip had paid extra for the same thing.

After collecting the other safari-goers (there were 7 of us in total), we began the long journey to Mara. On the way we stopped at a curio stop, with really expensive souvenirs and even more expensive coffee (we paid 400 KSH for a machine black coffee, that's more than we would pay here in Sweden...). I would suggest avoiding these shops for souvenirs, since mostly the same things are available from the Maasai in the villages near the reserve, where they are cheaper and the money goes directly to their community. We also stopped for lunch at a stop about halfway there, we had really nice buffet food here, made up of ugali, rice, vegetables, beans and a beef curry type dish.

We continued on and arrived at Mara at something like 1600. We went to the 'camp' which turned out to be nice little cabins built just outside a Maasai village. I believe since tourism is low right now due to recovery from covid, we were upgraded from tents, so do not expect this to be the case when you visit. The advert said tents and we would have been fine with that. This was just a nice surprise.

At 1630 we went out on our first short game drive. We saw various antelope, buffalo, giraffes, some elephants and a hippo. We were out until 1830 when the gates close. We returned to the camp, with dinner at 1930. The dinner every night was very similar to what we received at the stop on the way, and similar every meal, but it was nice. I think you might struggle as a vegetarian here though. The lunch the next day in the park was basic, but ok.

The guide discussed with us that he suggested we change our plan and instead of two game drives the next day and one on the third day, we have a whole day from 0630 until 1700 on the next day, and on the third, no game drive but a Maasai village visit. The majority agreed and we met the next morning early to head out. Be prepared for an attack of Maasai women trying to sell you souvenirs at the gate whilst you wait to enter the reserve. After handing over passports to get in, we moved on through the gate on the drive.

In general everything was good, expect a bumpy ride and A LOT of safari vehicles around whenever there is a big cat (difficult to get natural-looking pictures with all the cars). We saw all of the 'big 5' except for rhinos, which the guide let us know were very rare as they are skittish and stay away from the roads. We also saw a cheetah and many other animals like antelopes, zebra, giraffes, some amazing bird life, lots of eagles, secretary birds. This was the only place our guide fell down a bit and one of the reasons it isn't 5 stars, I'm sure for most people, knowing about the mammalian life is enough, but we asked a lot about native birds and trees and he struggled a little.

The other reason it wasn't 5 stars is that it seemed like he was so determined to show us every single lion in Mara that we didn't eat lunch until well after 1400, despite many complaints. We had already seen two large groups of lions and despite saying we were about to stop for lunch, twice decided to instead respond to a radio message and drive for well over an hour to see some more lions sleeping. This was then followed by him saying we had to stop for lunch under a tree of our own and because we had delayed so much every tree of the type he was determined for us to have lunch under was already occupied by someone else and we drove for 30-40 mins around in circles looking for our own tree. Everyone in the vehicle said we were happy to share or have lunch somewhere else but he was adamant it had to be these trees. At this point having eaten breakfast 8 hours ago we were starting to get irritable and just wanted to stop and eat. This eventually happened and we had an acceptable packed lunch.

The rest of the drive was much like earlier, lots of animals, good guide-work and everything was great. By 1700 we were ready to be home and off the bumpy and painful roads. We had another nice dinner and went to bed early.

The next day the guide said we all had to agree to either not go to the Maasai village or to go, which was a bit annoying since my friend and I did not want to do what we saw as slightly problematic 'white people watch a dance and gape at locals' sort of deal. We reluctantly went and despite cringing a lot at the behaviour of some of the other tourists, it was ok. I would say it is worth doing but please be respectful, if you want to take photos of the people, offer them money for doing it and perhaps buy something to contribute to the village. Just have some self-awareness about the whole thing and if you are asking questions, perhaps don't ask something before considering whether it is an acceptable thing to ask.

We then headed back to Nairobi, basically a reverse of the trip there, but quieter as everyone was tired. We split with some of the tourists on the way back, since they continued with this company to Nakuru, everything went smoothly and we returned home.

In all, it was a great trip and definitely worth it. We were very happy to have bought snacks and a bit of food for the trip the day before (Carrefour delivers to hotels in only 2 hours for 80 KSH), this really saved us both on the long journeys and on game drives since only bottled water was provided. If you think you are going to drink at the camp, I would suggest asking on the day you arrive for them to have beer for dinners (300 KSH each) since they had to go buy it from the nearby town and it saves the waiting and extra running around for them.

Amos, from the Maasai, who ran the camp was great. He is super knowledgable and just out of his own interest he goes bird watching and wildlife watching early in the mornings. He knows a lot about birds and trees as well as the usual mammals all the guides and locals know about. He also loves football and has been sending me language lessons in Maa even since I left.