Jahazi Suite at Mara Plains stands apart from the main camp on a bend of the Ntiakitiak River, in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy on the northern edge of the Maasai Mara. One party takes the whole suite at a time, with its own guide, its own vehicle and its own butler. Leopards work the riverine fringe within earshot of the beds. Hippos grunt in the pools below the decking.
Leopards work the riverine fringe within earshot of the beds.
Five camps operate across the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, under a shared cap on total bed numbers, so a sighting rarely gathers a queue of vehicles. Private land permits what the national reserve does not. Drives run after dark under a spotlight, walks go out with an armed guide, and a cheetah can be followed off the track and into the grass.
Exclusive use removes the small negotiations of a shared camp. Two couples, or parents with older children, take a bedroom wing at either end of a central lounge and dining area, each wing with double basins, an indoor shower and a brass bath. Between the wings are a wrap-around verandah and a private pool. Wake-up times, drive lengths and mealtimes are set by the party, and not by a camp schedule.
Maasai warriors walk guests back along the boardwalks after dark.
Booking two tents in the main camp means sharing a vehicle and a guide with other guests. Here the guide, the vehicle and the pool belong to one booking. The kitchen and the guiding come from the camp, a walk away through the riverine forest. Maasai warriors walk guests back along the boardwalks after dark. The verandah and the plunge pool are yours alone.
Dereck and Beverly Joubert met at school and later built their working lives on film. They moved to Botswana in 1981 and started their film company in 1985, then spent decades documenting lions and leopards as National Geographic Explorers-at-Large. In 2006 they founded the conservation and safari company that still owns and runs Jahazi Suite at Mara Plains. Other work runs alongside it. Rhinos Without Borders has moved 87 rhinos out of high-poaching areas, and the big cats grant programme they began with National Geographic continues.
Dereck Joubert is said to have walked the approach route repeatedly before settling on it, arriving at a single flat-topped acacia framed against the horizon. The suite stands on raised decking made from recycled railway sleepers, threaded under the tree canopy so it stays largely hidden from the plain. Entry is through carved hardwood doors from the Swahili coast. Inside are canvas ceilings and campaign furniture in leather and brass, deep reds and purples drawn from Maasai dress, air conditioning over the beds and fans turning above. No cement went into the build.
After dinner the sound carries: hippos in the pools, the sawing cough of a leopard.
The Olare Motorogi Conservancy has a reputation for a dense population of big cats, and the guiding is built around them. Night drives are possible here because the land is private, not reserve. Vehicles are open-sided Land Cruisers fitted for photography, with fold-down screens, camera supports and power for charging, and a professional camera body, a set of lenses and Swarovski binoculars wait in the suite. Guests also cross south into the Maasai Mara National Reserve, where the Mara River crossings run between July and October.
Coffee on the verandah at first light comes with whatever is moving along the river below. After dinner the sound carries: hippos in the pools, the sawing cough of a leopard. In between there are no set mealtimes, and meals are served on the pool deck, in the private dining room, or out in the bush. A morning that starts with a lion following a scent line can run through lunch, with food packed and taken out, and an afternoon can end with drinks on the plains and a slow drive home under a spotlight.
accommodation
Two bedrooms, taken as one suite by a single party. Each has a walk-through wardrobe, double basins, its own toilet, an indoor shower and a brass bath, with air conditioning over the bed and a writing desk. Between them, the lounge and dining area open onto a verandah and a private pool, under canvas on raised decking.
activities
Day and night game drives in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, where off-road tracking and spotlit drives are permitted, plus guided walks with an armed guide. Day trips south into the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Hot air balloon flights over the plains at sunrise. Visits to a nearby enkang, and beadwork with the women of the Maa Trust.
conservation
Conservation fees help fund the conservancy's rangers and the leases paid to Maasai landowners, who moved livestock off the land to let the grass recover. The Koiyaki Guiding School trains local school-leavers into guiding work. Bridges built with Bridging the Gap Africa keep schools and clinics reachable in the rains.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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By scheduled light aircraft from Nairobi's Wilson airport to the Olare Motorogi airstrip, about an hour to an hour and a quarter in the air, then a game drive of roughly half an hour to forty five minutes in to the suite. The road transfers at the Mara end are part of the rate.
The flights themselves are included too, from Wilson or from another camp on the same routing, provided you stay at least two nights. On a single night they are charged separately, which is one of several reasons a one night stay here rarely makes sense. The scheduled aircraft can make an intermediate stop or two and the times firm up close to the day, so if you want to fix your own timings we can put a private charter in instead.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, advises antimalarial tablets for travel to the Maasai Mara, and the CDC recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria for travellers to all areas of Kenya below 2,500 metres, which includes the whole of the Mara. The conservancies on the northern edge sit around 1,600 to 1,800 metres, well under that line.
We plan safaris rather than give medical advice, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it is worth a check close to departure because both sources revise their guidance. The suite sits on a river bend with hippo pools below the decking, so cover up once the light goes and use repellent through the evening rather than only at night.
Yes, from six years old, and this is one of the better arrangements in the Mara for a family precisely because it is taken exclusively. Two bedrooms, a shared lounge, your own guide, your own vehicle and your own butler, with the main camp a short walk away for anything you need.
Because the whole suite is yours, the usual questions about sharing rooms and paying for a private vehicle fall away: the vehicle is already yours and the day runs at your pace rather than a shared one, which with children is worth more than it sounds. Leopards work the riverine fringe within earshot and the camp is unfenced, so children stay with an adult outside the suite and are walked back after dinner.
Yes, in the suite itself. It is deliberately not provided in the public areas or in the vehicles, which is a choice the camp has made rather than a limitation, and in practice it works well: messages and photographs go out from your own room, and the fire and the game drive stay free of screens.
If someone in your party has to be reachable at set times, tell us before you book and we will confirm what is possible for your dates.
The Mara is good all year, and the conservancy on the northern edge holds its resident lion, leopard and cheetah whatever the season, which is the argument for coming outside the crowds. July to October brings the wildebeest herds up from the Serengeti and the river crossings with them, and it is the busiest and dearest stretch. January to March is dry, quiet and excellent for cats. April and May are the long rains, green and very quiet, with some camps closed.
Pack layers rather than heat: the Mara sits high, so mornings on an open vehicle run around twelve to fourteen degrees and need a fleece and a windproof, while afternoons reach the middle twenties. Add neutral colours, a wide brimmed hat, strong sun cream, a light waterproof for the afternoon storms in the green season, and binoculars. Everything into soft bags for the light aircraft.
Three, and two is the minimum worth booking. At two nights the flights from Wilson are included; at one they are not, and you would spend most of the stay travelling. Three gives you full days with your own guide and vehicle, which is what you are paying for here.
The rate covers the suite, all meals, all drinks including the premium spirits and the champagne, laundry, the conservancy and park fees, the scheduled game viewing in Olare Motorogi with a day in the national reserve during your stay, the airstrip road transfers, and your own vehicle and guide. Outside it sit the balloon flight, spa treatments, some of the cultural visits, and a conservation and community contribution charged per person per night for guests of every age, which funds the foundation's work in the conservancies. We set each of those out in the quote so the figure you see is the figure you pay.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
