MSchetzel

We are planning to do 2 nights at Kicheche Mara and 2 night at Mara Serena to get a different view in August 2010. I already have information on transfers between the 2, is it worth it to split it up? Kicheche Mara looks really great, but not as close to the migration, so we thought that would give us the best of both worlds. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

spassvogel

Hi M
I am not fond of splitting particularly if it's only 2 nights in each camp.

But here it's different because from Kicheche Mara you have quite a long drive to reach any of the crossing points.
On the other hand crossings take place during the heat of the day means between 11.00 and 15.00hrs generally speaking. Drives to/from Kicheche Mara are game drives literally.

What is important when it comes to Kicheche Mara: By paying a conservancy fee of 75US$pppd you have only every third day the "right" to visit the reserve. That makes it tricky. And therefore a split would be wise to make sure you get to the crossing points every day if you wish - if you have already decided to include Kicheche Mara.

Another option would be to stay at ENTIM camp at the Mara river http://www.entim-mara.com/entim/ close to the crossings. Entim is even more favourable than Kicheche.

I would opt for Entim for 4 nights and avoid the large Serena altogether.

Happy planning!

SV

canadian_robin

Your idea of two locations is good, although two nights at each will seem very short. If you can add an extra night at one, I would.

Having looked at a map, Kicheche is quite far north. There will be much to see in the conservancy, but the drive south to the Triangle or Mara Reserve (if they plan to take you there) will be a long one - although there will be much to see along the way. To avoid a lot of driving over the 5 days, I think your idea of staying in the reserve for at least a couple of nights is good.

Personally, having visited (but not stayed at, thank goodness) Mara Serena this past August, I would avoid it. It is too much like a lodge for me and VERY big - 70+ rooms - that's a lot of guests. Their vehicles are large and (the ones we saw) were usually very crowded - I would hate to game drive under those circumstances. You might be able to pay for a private guide and vehicle, depending on availability. I don't like to generalize, but I also didn't like the way Serena's guides drove - <b>not all!!</b>, but some drove around the reserve like lunatics, going from one cat sighting to the next - scaring away the wildlife and stirring up a lot of dust. Very irritating for the rest of us! During our 6-night stay in the Mara, we avoided the Serena area for this reason.

We had friends who attended a conference at Serena in 2008 and they hated it for many of the reasons I have listed above. Too big! Too crowded! Too noisy!

My advice would be to find a smaller tented camp, such as the one SV suggests above. There is plenty of choice within the reserve. Serena would be at the bottom of my list of places to stay! Robin

spassvogel

Here is an excellent map of almost all the camps in/around the reserve. Price range from 200US$pppd up to 750US$pppd:
http://www.go-safari.com/Masai%20Mar...a2007Nov20.jpg

SV

spassvogel

Ah I should add - Kicheche Mara as well as Bush camp do full day drives without additional charge if all in the vehicle agree. Generally speaking that's a huge PLUS for Kicheche.

SV

kimburu

Your idea is sensible but add a day. You'll probably regret it if you don't. There will be zero overlap in the game drive areas and Serena Mara does have the crossing advantage. With respect to Serena, unless you have somehow got terribly mixed up and thought it was a small tented camp, I guess you know what it is. It's actually a good lodge for it's size and, while the drivers may be a bit biased towards the safari novice with respect to quantity over quality, and step on it a bit when they are going somewhere, they are not that bad. Take your own vehicle if you're not happy with drives with first-timers perhaps?

Note it is a 2-3 + hour drive between the two, and the drive is not that interesting - okay, but not really an additional game drive.