Kandili Camp

By light aircraft from Nairobi's Wilson airport to Musiara airstrip, which the camp names as its preferred strip, then about forty minutes in by game drive vehicle. AirKenya flies the Mara from Wilson three times a day and Safarilink four times, and the half hour to an hour shown on their timetables is only the time to the aircraft's first stop. Both airlines put down at whichever of the Mara strips their passengers need that morning, so the arrival time at Musiara firms up close to the day.

Which rate package your stay is built on decides whether that transfer is already paid for: it is part of the two higher packages and charged per vehicle each way on the lowest one, so it is worth knowing before you compare prices. If you would rather not fit a shared routing at all, we can arrange a private charter, usually a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, straight into Musiara at a time that suits you. Driving up from Nairobi takes about six hours and is a reasonable road.

Yes. TravelHealthPro, which carries the UK's official travel health advice, describes a high risk of malaria in Kenya and recommends antimalarial tablets, treating only Nairobi city and ground above 2,500 metres as very low risk. The CDC draws its line at the same height and recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria for all areas below it, game parks included. The camp records its altitude as 5,200 feet, a little under 1,600 metres, which puts the Leopard Gorge Conservancy inside the risk area on both counts. The camp's own fact sheet calls ground above roughly 4,000 feet very low risk, a gentler bar than either official source sets, so plan on the official advice.

We plan safaris and are not medical professionals, so the decision belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, and it is worth checking again close to departure because both sources revise their guidance. On the practical side the tents are sealed against mosquitoes at night, and covered arms and repellent from late afternoon onwards do more than anything else.

Yes, and the camp sets no minimum age. Its child policy starts with under threes, who stay free of charge sharing with adults. From four to twelve a child sharing with an adult is charged half the adult rate and a child in their own tent three quarters, and from thirteen the adult rate applies. The conservancy fee is charged for children too, at a lower rate than for adults.

What actually decides a family booking here is the canvas, not the policy. A standard or superior tent takes three people at most. There is one interconnecting superior tent, a double and a twin joined by a lounge, which takes two adults and up to three children, and each of the two suites takes two adults and two children. So a family of five has one or two workable arrangements rather than a free choice, and we check what is genuinely free for your dates before quoting.

Yes to both. The camp's fact sheet says wifi runs throughout and that mobile signal is available, which is not a given on this side of the Mara. Power stays on twenty-four hours a day in every tent, from solar with a generator behind it, and there are charging points in the tents as well as at the bar.

The sockets are UK square three-pin, so British plugs go straight in and everyone else needs an adaptor. The camp asks guests to bring their own adaptors and converters rather than relying on a spare being free.

It depends which of the camp's three rate packages your stay is built on. The lowest covers the tent, all meals, a welcome drink, a guided nature walk in the conservancy, and taxes and service charges, but no game drives and no airstrip transfer. The middle one adds shared game drives capped at two a day, one sundowner and the airstrip transfers. The highest gives you a vehicle, guide and spotter to yourselves, a private sundowner, a private bush meal and selected drinks.

Three things sit outside all of them. Drinks, unless you are on the highest package, though bottled water is free. The Kandili conservancy fee, charged per person per night for adults and at a lower rate for children. And Maasai Mara National Reserve park fees for any day you go through Musiara Gate, on a ticket valid for twelve hours, which is why one long day in the reserve costs the same in fees as a short one and why a two night stay kept to the conservancy attracts no park fees at all. Bush breakfasts and bush dinners are charged separately and are not offered in the peak months. We build every one of these into your quote so the figure you see is the figure you pay.

Yes. It comes as standard on the camp's highest rate package, and on the other two a vehicle can be taken for exclusive use by the day, with one of the camp's guides bookable by the half day or the full day on top. A vehicle seats seven at most, so a family or a group of friends taking one for themselves is straightforward.

Sharing is the alternative, and there is a catch worth knowing before you book. The camp needs a minimum of two guests to run any extra activity at all, ordinary game drives and night drives included. A couple is fine. One person travelling alone on the lower packages would be waiting for someone else in camp to want the same drive, so we would put a private vehicle in the quote from the start.