For the early months of the year - Jan-Mar - for the Masai Mara, you can stay inside the Reserve or the private Conservancies (north of the Reserve). Benefit of the conservancies is that off-roading is permitted, as well you can do bush walks and have night game drives, neither of which are permitted inside the Reserve borders.

Bear in mind that if staying on the concervancies, your daily park fee allows for 1/day game viewing in the Reserve; if you wanted any more days, you'd have to pay the daily Reserve fee (that's in addition to what you're already paying for the conservancy. And, this would work the same if in the Reserve, while no 1/day included for game drive into the conservancies, but you'd pay to go into the concervancies.

During this time of year game is everywhere, so it doesn't much matter whether your situated on the concervancies (with many more lodging choices), or inside the Reserve.

Unlike during the "migration" months - Jul-Sep - when there are often too many vehicles at an animal sighting, this is rare during the time you'd be visiting.

Lewa (Wilderness) and/or Chyulu Hills (Ol Donyo) are great destinations as are these accommodations. While you don't indicate how many total days you have for safari, I would suggest you visit either (or both... minimum 2/nts, 3 if your budget allows... of these first, concluding then in the Masai Mara... minimum 3/nts or longer.

Hope this has been helpful.

Great advice, especially on when the benefits of the higher priced conservancies deliver the most bang for the buck. I'll add a couple tidbits excerpted from a previous report of mine.

NO OFF-ROADING
"I have rarely found the requirement to stay on the tracks a deterrent to my viewing or photography. In part that’s because there are numerous roads and tracks for liberal access. It also means your guide may need more knowledge of animal behavior to position the vehicle in the right place so that the animals naturally cross your path. Or you may need more patience to wait it out until the animals move to an accessible area. That’s where good guiding coupled with a take-your-time attitude pays off.

On this trip, there were only 4 instances in 3 weeks of safari where we were hindered by the no offroading rules, and only 1 of those resulted in foregoing the sighting altogether. (1) There was a small, distant herd of eles in the Mara that we bypassed due to no accessible roads or tracks, so in that case we just gave up. (2) There was one lioness with two tiny cubs that was off the track so we had compromised views; however, approaching closer would have been harassment anyway given their vulnerability. I still got nice photos. (3) One ostrich family with a brood of 2-month old chicks eluded us until we traveled along the designated road and waited for them to pass nearby. So strategy and patience worked. But then it shouldn’t be too hard to outsmart an ostrich. (4) Finally one lion pride on the move in Samburu was not very accessible for about 10 minutes of our 15 minutes of viewing due to the no offroading requirement, but there were great photo ops during the 5 minutes of accessibility. Those were the only limitations I recall during the whole trip."

MARA SERENA NIGHT DRIVE
This is the only place in the Mara that permits night drives that I am aware of.

"It was $90-$100 worth of good fun and unusual night time sightings. I booked the night drive for my first night of arrival because it was furthest away from a full moon and I have found night drives to be more productive when it is darker. Night #1 was rained out after 20 minutes (refund given), so I went the next night and ended up with a private trip. The professionalism and enthusiasm of Paul and Simon (driver and spotter, I forget who drove and who spotted) was equally abundant whether there was a carload of 6 or just me. A ranger joined us as well, providing 3 pairs of trained eyes to pierce the night.

It is true you do not leave the Serena grounds, but those grounds encompass a large area and any animal that roams the Mara could appear. In our 7:10-8:55 pm outing (which delivers you back just in time for the latest seating of the evening meal) we had nice views of:

Many African Hare and Dik dik
1 baby Bat Eared Fox
1 White Tailed Mongoose
1 Spotted Genet
2 Jackals
2 Hyenas

That’s similar to what I’ve seen on some night drives near the wilds of the Zambezi. We did have very dark, cloudy skies for most of the night, which I believe was helpful."

You also asked about # of vehicles at sightings. On my Sept trip, I kept track and included it in my report. If you'd like that info, I'll post it, but Sept is far busier than Jan-Mar, which is when it appears you'll be going. May not be pertinent.

Lewa is outstanding and a great place for rhino. We also did walking, viewing from a hide/blind overlooking a waterhole where sitatunga come to drink at times, and the best camel safari I've done. The tents are far apart and allow for a nice walk between them or to the blind/hide on the grounds that overlooks a vast valley with animal activity. Great cultural opportunities. Excellent guiding and memorable food. Top notch!

Thanks Sandi and Atravelynn for your replies. We will have 6 nights for safari (after spending time gorilla trekking in rwanda).

What lodges or camps either in the Mara or private conservancies would you recommend? Since we dont get to do this very often we usually try for the best accomodations possible. That means location, game viewing, small camps and luxury if possible.

If you can stretch to 7 nights you could do 3 x Ol Donyo and 4 x Mara Plains. Great combo and you'd get the 7th night free.

My other fav in Mara would be any of the Kicheche camps. All outside the Reserve.

If as africa_fan mentions, the "special" if splitting between Ol Donyo and Mara Plains... go for it. Great combo.

If not, each on their own are great, as would be Lewa Wilderness and Mara Plains.

Other camps in the Mara (way too many to mention) could be: Porini Lion or Bush, Elephant Pepper, Serian, Kicheche Mara or Bush, Richard's, Saruni, Olonana or Cottar's. All are located outside the Reserve proper, though on different conservancies whether north, west (Olonana) or southeast (Cottars).

Prices will vary, but most are at mid-season rates (between Jan-Mar); some may be at hi-season during February as Europeans holiday here for their kids' school breaks and just to be getting away for their nasty weather. So ask.

I am heading to Mara Plains for two weeks in March.

As someone used to the private concessions of Botswana, it was the only camp that offered what I was looking for;

- Low density of other vehicles
- Access to Mara North, Olare Orok and close to the reserve
- Open game drive vehicles as in Southern Africa (a big reason for me)

IBJ2

What do you use to support your camera in open vehicles? I actually prefer the typical East African closed vehicle to rest a bean bag on for support.

lbj2 - too bad March is still a ways off . No safaris until then??? And like you, I also really prefer the open game drive vehicles. (Done both).

If I had a choice of open or pop-top closed vehicle for game drives, I'll take the open one -every- time. Much more freedom of movement for photography. Better camera angle perspective of being lower. Much more feeling of "being there". Much more feeling of vulnerability to the big five .

Notice I said for "game drives". If I have to drive/ride 3 hours on the highway and/or 3 hours on very dusty roads to get to the next camp, then I can see using a closed pop-top vehicle.

Camera support. Pop top vehicle, bean bag. Open vehicle, monopod. But I confess I rarely use either. A 300mm lens is not difficult to hand hold, fast shutter, several shots. Compared to a 400-500mm whose simple weight alone is not easy for me (and most).

regards - tom

I was in the Mara in June, 2008 (0ut of prime season) - sightings were awesome, crowds were very thin (mostly private sightings except for a Black Rhino sighting with 4 vehicles, which is almost a private sighting in the Mara....). The Loita wing of the migration were around too, although not nearly as dramatic as the main herds. I stayed at Serian, which was awesome .... but, you have been given a wide selection to pick in this thread.

Tom,

I have one more safari before March, unfortunately just a month in Botswana this November with Kwando Safaris.

Africa_Fan

There are plenty of clamp and support systems (skimmer sack and ground pod) that enable you to use a gimbal head.

Personally, I find bean bags the worst option as there is no fluid movement, switches get moved and the focusing ring can easily be rotated.

As already mentioned, the shooting angle is not ideal in a pop top.

This is a top of the range version, though you can pick up a clamp that takes a gimbal head for as little as $35

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ks_Pw5_AJY