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£570.00
An elegant, modern camp with Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve on the doorstep and easy access to the Mara River crossings. It combines all mod cons, including an eye-shaped pool and extensive gin bar, with a step-back-in-time feel and warthogs and monkeys scampering around the grounds.
In the southwest of the Maasai Mara, Bateleur Camp is set within the Mara Conservancy, one of the many protected conservancies surrounding the main Maasai Mara National Reserve – the same incredible wildlife (lion, leopard, elephant, zebra, wildebeest) and landscapes, just without the same volume of safari vehicles.
Beneath the Oloololo escarpment, the camp is in the north of the Mara Triangle, a 15-minute drive from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford filmed some of Out of Africa’s final scenes. It’s a 15-minute drive from Kichwa Tembo airstrip to camp, and less than one and a half miles from camp to Oloololo Gate, the nearest access point to the main Reserve, though you can see wildlife from your tent and around camp. Good spots to watch the Great Migration and river crossings are around 20-30 minutes from camp, with the Tanzania border and the Serengeti an hour’s drive.
This permanent tented camp (actually, two separate camps, each with nine tents) is a stylish, modern take on Out Of Africa, with tents, reception and lounge areas all furnished with leather armchairs, black and white photos, antique-style lamps, Maasai spears, elephant statuettes, worn-looking books, trunks and piles of battered suitcases. Modern touches include a smart, light-blue eye-shaped pool and a gin bar, stocked with gins from South Africa, Germany, Kenya and Scotland.
The nine tents feel particularly romantic when lit beautifully at night, with warthogs and monkeys running freely. Views from the tent’s private decks, the pool, restaurant and open-air dining area all look out onto the grassy plains, where zebras, elands and more pass by.
Each tent has dark wood flooring, with corner of the bedroom papered with an Old World-style world map. The large bed is set is on a dark leather frame, with comfy leather armchairs in each corner. A sturdy writing table, cupboards, and more are made from elegant dark wood, including the cabinets for a private bar area, where you can serve yourself gin, whisky and more.
Guests have their own shaded private deck, secluded within woodland, with outdoor table, chairs and a square of comfy seating – all looking out onto the grasslands and passing animals. At the back, there’s a bathroom area as big as the lounge, with stone tiles, a standing tub, an indoor shower and an outside shower area that’s big enough to walk around, both with rain showers and &Beyond’s own products.
With flexible meal times, there are no communal dining tables and no menus to be seen here; at dinner, the chef comes out to talk guests through a set menu: usually a hearty soup (such as carrot and ginger), salad, a fish or meat course (grilled red snapper, beef filet) and dessert, all to eat close to the fire under a roof of stars. There’s a bit of a shortage on veggie options and some dishes were a bit underwhelming.
Lunch might be a wooden tray filled with diverse salads, pickles, chutneys, sauces, Brie, cold cuts and fresh-baked focaccia, with salad ingredients and veggies from the camp’s own garden. Breakfast is often eaten out in the bush during game drives, with eggs cooked on a gas stove, along with beans, potatoes, pancakes, yogurts and cereals, plus juices, tea and coffee – all the stuff you’d find at a hotel buffet, just served in a classic Maasai Mara setting. It’s likely there’ll be a ‘bush dinner’ during your stay, when all the guests gather next to the Mara river, for whiskies, wine and G&Ts around a roaring fire and performances from local Maasai warriors.
Tented suites from US $725 (£570) per person per night in low season; and from US $1,320 (£1,040) per person in high, based on two sharing tent on an all-inclusive basis. Rate includes twice-daily game drives, return transfers to the airstrip and laundry. Free Wi-Fi.
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