Offbeat Mara Camp
Offbeat Mara is an intimate tented camp nestled into a bend in the Olare Orok River in the southern section of the Mara North Conservancy
Offbeat Mara is a small and personal camp which has a lovely, atmospheric location offering immediate access to excellent game viewing along the Olare Orok River and across the nearby plains. The accommodation tents and central mess tents are all very comfortable, but the camp retains a slightly quirky, old school feel where the emphasis is on the safari experience and camp ambience, rather than on slick furnishings. Guiding is excellent and guests receive an extremely warm welcome from the management and staff. Evenings are relaxed and usually fairly social as everyone meets around the camp fire and eats together. Offbeat also offers decent value for money and is very suitable for travellers seeking a genuine bush adventure.
Rooms
Guests at Offbeat Mara Camp are accommodated in seven spacious tents, two of which are suitable for families with two separate en suite bedrooms internally connected. All tents are comfortably furnished with large cedar beds, writing desk and wardrobe. The en suite facilities include double wash basin (for which water is provided in large jugs), flush loo and bucket shower. Lighting is provided through solar power.
Central Areas
A newly built main mess tent consists of a bar at one end, a cosy sitting room with fireplace at the other, and a dining area in-between. There is also a forest deck which extends from the mess tent and overlooks the river, making it a perfect spot for birdwatching.
Facilities
Wi-Fi – Yes
Power for Charging – Yes
Swimming Pool – No
Habitat & Wildlife
The Masai Mara ecosystem is one of the best game viewing areas in Africa and is especially good for viewing the big cats. Elephants, buffalo, hippo, crocodiles, giraffe, zebra, lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyaena, impala, gazelles, eland, waterbuck, topi, jackal and serval are all common and seen regularly. Rhino are found in certain areas, and wild dogs are more transient visitors. The famous wildebeest and zebra migration is usually in residence from mid-July through to mid-October, though the movement of the animals is always somewhat unpredictable. The scenery of the Masai Mara is stunning with open grassland plains intersected by rivers, rocky ridges and pockets of riverine forest. Birdlife is varied and especially good around the riverine woodland areas.
Whilst the official Masai Mara Game Reserve can be busy with tourist vehicles in places, especially at river crossings in migration season, the Mara North Conservancy offers relative exclusivity away from the crowds. You do still see other vehicles, especially at predator sightings, but much of the time you will be able to explore away from other vehicles. The Conservancy is vast, stretching from the Aitong Hills all the way down to the north-western boundary of the Mara Reserve, and offers a good mix of wide open plains, rocky valleys and riverine thickets. The game viewing is superb.
The conservancy is funded by a limited number of ‘tourism partners’ in cooperation with local Maasai land-owners, and this model has been shown to benefit not only the local land-owners who receive greater income and better pasture for their livestock, and the tourism partners, but also the wildlife and in particular, the predators.
Activities
Offbeat Mara Camp is located outside the official Masai Mara Game Reserve within the Mara North Conservancy. Most game viewing will take place on the plains of conservancy (with the Offbeat Lion pride being a large attraction!), but it is worth visiting the official Mara Reserve to witness a river crossings during the migration period. Game viewing around the camp is superb and animals often wander through at night. Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and giraffe are often seen from the verandahs of the tents themselves, and zebra and impala help keep the lawns short!
In addition to daytime game drives, it is also possible to enjoy night drives, guided walks, line fishing for catfish and village visits. Hot-air ballooning can be arranged via third party organisation.
Seasons
Offbeat Mara usually closes around the time that Easter falls until June.
There is no age restriction at Offbeat Mara, though we would suggest that the camp is quite adventurous for extremely young children. Having said this, the camp has two super family accommodation tents that can cater for kids of all ages, and the management and staff are great at catering for families. Families with older teenage kids are especially likely to enjoy the slightly more adventurous and personal nature of the camp.
Offbeat Safaris are one of the founding members of the Mara North Conservancy and as such, are committed to partnering with the local Maasai community and other stakeholders to ensure economic prosperity, community upliftment and innovative strategies for conserving this area of the greater Mara ecosystem.
Support is also given to the local school, supplying stationary and offering donations through their guests. They also support a community outreach centre in Aitong that supplies the area with a library. Offbeat Safaris help the ladies from the local community by selling their bead work and also bringing them in to camp to teach beading classes.
Offbeat Safaris was established by Tristan Voorspuy. The Tristan Voorspuy Conservation Trust was set up to cherish the memory of Tristan by his family in order to continue his philanthropic legacy towards protecting Kenya’s wildlife, both flora and fauna, for the future.
Offbeat Safaris have started a tree nursery and support the Seed Balls Kenya initiative. This initiative has pioneered a method of mass producing seedballs for low cost and efficient reintroduction of trees and grass species into degraded areas in Africa. A seed is coated in a thick layer of biochar (salvaged charcoal waste) which protects it from predators and extremes of temperatures until the rain arrive, at which time it can effectively germinate.
