Sheer luxury, with a walk on the wild side

Tourists take in the view of the Masai Mara game reserve at the Mara Serena Safari Lodge, 340 km from the capital Nairobi, March 4, 2009. Photo/FILE

Hospitality at the Mara’s many camps and lodges matches the reserve’s reputation as probably the finest in the world.

The more than 100 camps attracted 316,500 tourists in 2006, but two years’ later that had gone down to only 59,565, because of the post-election violence.

Although most of the camps are controlled by foreign interests, many are owned by Kenyan companies or individuals.

They take pride of place among the top lodges and camps inside the reserve, and include the Mara Serena, Governor’s camp, and the Sarova Mara.

Inside the wider conservation area are to be found the Royal Mara Safari Lodge, Siana Springs tented camp, the Mara Sopa, the Serekani and Mara Simba camps, among others.

Camps inside the reserve can be reached by road or by air through several dedicated airstrips, including those at the Mara Serena and Musiara while in the conservation area are the Shikar, Kichwa Tembo and Ngerende strips.

Among the biggest tourism operators in Kenya and East Africa as a whole is Tourism Promotion Services (TPS) which is quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

TPS, a sister company of the Nation Media Group, has vast interests in the tourism and hospitality industries in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

Hotels in Kenya are the Nairobi Serena and the Serena Beach while its game camps include the Amboseli, Samburu, Sweetwaters, Kilaguni and Serena Mountain lodges, scattered around the Kenyan tourist circuit, as well as the renowned Ol Pejeta House in Laikipia.

In the Maasai Mara, TPS operates the Mara Serena Safari Lodge, strategically located at the heart of the Mara Triangle where visitors enjoy privileged views of the annual wildebeest migration across the Mara River.

Other Kenyan owned camps include the luxury Mara Sarova, 260 kilometres from Nairobi, where the duty manager Francis Mshote Msengeti said it was built in 1985 as the first owned by Sarova Hotels in the Mara.

The group also owns the Taita Hills and Salt Lick lodges in Tsavo, the Lion Hill lodge in Nakuru, and the Shaba lodge in Isiolo.

One of the top investors in the tourist industry in Kenya, the Sarova group also runs hotels, including the Panafric and the Stanley in Nairobi and the Whitesands at the Coast.

Kichakani Camp on the way to Kilgoris is also Kenyan owned, this one by Thika-based Bishop Henry Mulandi, who also owns Trinity Tours and Safaris.

The Kichwa Tembo tented camp, formerly run by Abercrombie & Kent, the Kenyan tour company, was bought some years ago by &Beyond, the South African hospitality and tourism conglomerate that has interests in many countries in Africa, India and South America.