Rekero Camp stands on the banks of the Talek River, inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve and close to where the Talek gives itself up to the Mara. A major crossing point lies roughly 150 metres from the dining area. That single fact changes everything, because the Great Migration can be watched from the deck itself, without ever leaving camp for the herds massing on the far bank.
The choice opens a long line of sight over sandbanks
The nine tents face down the river rather than straight across it. The choice opens a long line of sight over sandbanks, hippo pools and distant crossings, and Rekero’s position was set deliberately to hold it. Between July and October, close to 1.5 million wildebeest move through this part of the reserve, crossing both the Talek and, a short drive away, the Mara itself.
Ron and Pauline Beaton began hosting friends on safari from their farm near the Mara through the 1970s and 80s. Rekero Cottages followed in 1991, and the riverside camp that stands today came later. It was built in partnership with Jackson Looseyia, the Maasai guide later known to television audiences through the BBC’s Big Cat Diary.
many of the staff have worked at Rekero for well over fifteen years
That guiding pedigree runs through everything here. Looseyia helped train the original team, and many of the staff have worked at Rekero for well over fifteen years, reading the ground with a fluency that comes only from decades in one landscape. Wildlife filmmakers came for the same reason, and the camp served as a base for the crew behind DisneyNature’s African Cats.
The tents are classic canvas, raised on wooden platforms among the riverine trees, each with a private veranda over the Talek. A 2024 refurbishment lightened the interiors, trading dark timber for softer, more natural tones, though the canvas sides still draw up to open the rooms to the river. Two of them are family units, set closest to the main areas and pairing two en-suite bedrooms around a shared living space, one sleeping up to five.
Life centres on the enlarged main deck and lounge, reoriented to hold a wide view down the river. Behind the lounge, a small library doubles as a private dining space and keeps a collection of historic photographs from the camp’s earlier years. The meals are wholesome and freshly prepared, with the bread, pastries and ice cream all made in-house. Breakfast and lunch are usually taken communally at long tables on the deck, dinner by the fire or in the dining tent.
The tents are classic canvas, raised on wooden platforms among the riverine trees
Through the night, hippos grunt and heave in the pools below. The resident lion pride can be heard roaring across the water, and the dawn chorus carries kingfishers, weavers and fish eagles. Because the camp lies inside the national reserve, game drives run twice daily in open vehicles, with full-day outings reaching the Mara River crossing points in migration season. Night drives and off-road driving are not permitted, as reserve rules require.
Musiara, the sector Rekero draws on, is long-studied lion and cheetah country, familiar terrain for its guides. Walking safaris can be arranged with notice, though they call for a drive to permitted ground beyond the reserve, and a dawn balloon flight offers the plains from above before a bush breakfast. Children aged five and over are welcome, and the camp holds on to its family-run character, warm and informal and unhurried, with dinners shared around the fire.
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accommodation
Nine classic canvas tents on raised wooden platforms along the Talek River, Maasai Mara, each with a private veranda, interior lounge and en-suite bathroom with flush toilet and hot-water shower. Seven are configurable as double or twin; two family tents pair two bedrooms around a shared living area, one sleeping up to five.
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activities
Twice-daily game drives in open 4x4 vehicles inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, with full-day outings to Mara River crossings in season. Migration crossings are often watched from the deck. Walking safaris require a drive to permitted ground outside the reserve. Dawn balloon flights and Maasai community visits can be arranged.
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conservation
Rekero Camp supports the Maa Trust, focused on youth training and a women's beadwork project, alongside the Mara Elephant Project. The Twende Porini programme hosts children from local schools in camp to learn about wildlife and conservation. Long-term local employment underpins the guiding team.
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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Fly from Nairobi's Wilson airport to Ol Kiombo airstrip, about forty-five minutes to an hour in the air, and the camp is then a twenty minute drive, a transfer included in the stay. We book the scheduled flights and line the timings up with the rest of your trip, or we can arrange a private charter, usually a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, if you want to fly direct on your own timetable.
Scheduled or chartered, the bush planes hold you to soft bags of about fifteen kilograms each including hand luggage. The drive from Nairobi takes five to six hours for anyone who prefers the overland route.
It is, and the reserve's altitude does not change that. This stretch of the Talek lies at around 1,500 metres, well under the 2,500 metre line above which the CDC and the UK's official travel health advice consider risk to become very low, so antimalarial tablets are usually recommended for a Mara safari, with the risk edging up after the rains.
A travel clinic or your doctor will confirm the current guidance and the right tablets for you, and long sleeves and repellent from dusk onwards deal with most of the rest.
Expect warm, dry days and genuinely cool starts, with mist over the river at dawn and open vehicles that make a fleece essential on morning drives. March to May carries the long rains, November a shorter spell, and June to October runs driest.
Neutral colours, layers you can shed by mid morning, a hat and high-factor sun cream cover the basics, with a light rain jacket in the green months. Keep it all in a soft duffel for the flights, and pack binoculars for the birdlife along the water.
Rekero closes for April and May, the heart of the long rains, and runs from June to March. Within that season the crossings set the calendar: the herds hold this part of the reserve from July to October, the river action usually peaks around August, and those weeks book out furthest ahead.
June and the months from November to March are the quieter pick, when the resident lions and cheetah of the Musiara sector carry the game viewing and far fewer vehicles share the sightings.
Full board, house drinks apart from champagne, the twice daily game drives, transfers to and from Ol Kiombo airstrip and a limited laundry service all sit inside the rate.
Reserve entry fees are charged separately for each guest per day, as they are for every camp inside the national reserve, and balloon flights and private vehicles are also extra. We put all of it into your quote from the start, so the final cost is the one you planned on.
Yes. Wifi is free and runs throughout the camp, so staying in touch and backing up a day's photographs is straightforward and costs nothing extra. If being reachable matters for part of your trip, tell us and we will shape the days so the connected hours fall between drives.
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.
