Angama Mara

Guests can stay in one of Angama Mara’s 30 elegant glass-fronted tent suites with stunning views, all the comforts of home, and distinctive splashes of Maasai red. The roof and other three sides of the suites are canvas coloured in classic safari olive and cream hues to blend in with the natural surroundings and help provide a peaceful atmosphere. Every tent suite comes with a private outside deck that’s perfect for in-suite dining, sunbathing and safari viewings.

Each suite comes fully equipped with:

• En suite bathroom and complimentary toiletries
• Vanity table and hairdryer
• Writing desk with charging points
• Free WIFI
• Drinks cabinet and mini bar
• A safe for private belongings

Of the 30 tent suites, Angama Mara offers four sets of inter-connecting tents with all the amenities provided in Standard Suites for those staying with children or larger travelling groups.

Angama Mara likes to approach dining with a “less is more” attitude, valuing authenticity and quality in their cuisine above all else. Chefs love to plan exciting menus for their guests, indulging in foods from all corners of the world to get it just right for them. No drama, no hassle, just wholesome food made with care. If they like, guests can pick their own vegetables freshly from the 1-acre kitchen garden and assemble their own lunch salads just how they like them.

If a laidback dinner is on the menu, guests can dine in a lantern-lit forest off a barbecue à la carte menu. Any and every dietary need can be catered to without any issue – vegetarian, vegan, Halal, allergies, the chefs will take care of everything!

Game drives take place anytime between sunrise and sunset in the lovely Mara Triangle, home to beautiful foliage, vast herds, and Africa’s Big Five: the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. Unlike other safari game drive experiences, the team at Angama Mara decided to shake things up a little. Guests now get to sit in the driver’s seat – so to speak and have their game drives tailored specially to them, depending on what they have or haven’t seen before, what they’d like to see most, when they’d like to go, and how long they’d like to spend out on the plains!

Like game drives, walking safaris at Angama Mara take every guest into account. Depending on the time of day and duration, walks can ‘include picnic baskets, blankets, or even a lift back to the lodge.’ This is a fantastic opportunity to discover the smaller details of the Mara. The Naturalist guides can tell you all about the fascinating plants, birds, insects and animals of the area and the roles they play in traditional Maasai beliefs and customs.

Lift off into the sunrise and float across the plains with the wildlife passing by below. After landing, guests are treated to a champagne breakfast in the savannah.

Guests can visit Angama Mara’s on-site Photographic Studio for a private tutorial with their wildlife photographer to enhance and expand their skills so they can make the most of their time in the Maasai Mara. Photography equipment is available for hire and guests can visit the Mara on a private photographic safari to capture some timeless moments that you want to look back on after this epic adventure!

The Maasai people and culture are a core part of an experience at Angama Mara, both at the lodge itself and through the local community. Guests can try their hand at bead-crafting with some local Maasai ladies at the lodge’s craft studio; Maasai warriors perform for guests every sunset and welcome them to join in; and the lodge has hosted a number of ceremonies for Maasai people. There’s no sense of isolation or distance between visitors and locals and their cultures. Beyond the lodge, there are many traditional homesteads that welcome visitors, which is an amazing chance to gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the daily lives, challenges and experiences of the Maasai people.

Angama Mara is founded on the belief of running a profitable business in order to make a meaningful and sustainable difference to the nearby communities, and the wildlife and land that surrounds it. $10 per night for each guest goes to the Angama Foundation, which has been set up to achieve these goals. The Foundation has 3 main branches: education, healthcare and conservation.

The Foundation works closely with the Mara Conservancy to preserve and protect the Mara Triangle through a number of collaborative initiatives and projects.

• Collaring for Conservation – this is a project by the Mara Predator Conservation Programme that aims to collar and monitor lions to learn more about their movements and ‘the threats they face in order to better protect them.’
• Mara Elephant Project – this initially began as an anti-poaching project, but quickly expanded to also tackle and mitigate human-wildlife conflict concerning elephant conservation.
• Rhino One – in 2017 the Angama Foundation donated an anti-poaching vehicle, named Rhino One, to the Mara Conservancy to help with the much needed protection of rhinos in the area.
• Mara Raptor Project – the project aims to study populations of birds-of-prey, or raptors, to better understand their movements, behaviours and distribution to inform decisions on how to best protect them.

The Angama Foundation supports a number of schools in the local area to improve education on all fronts. Needs such as food, running water, security and classrooms are prioritised first, as they’re integral to the school’s daily functions, and things such as learning materials and eLearning initiatives come after. In 2020, the Foundation created a scholarship programme to support children in secondary education, with the aim of ensuring talented children are able to receive the best education possible regardless of their financial situation.

The Angama Foundation is also working to improve health and welfare within the neighbouring communities through the provision of medicines and medical advice. It supports a twice-yearly medical camp initiated by the Anne K Taylor Fund that offers free medical services and medication. The key aim is to establish regular access to healthcare while also providing education on how to lower health risks overall, especially in cases of non-transferable illnesses.

Angama Lodge has committed itself to reducing plastic waste to ensure a healthier environment for wildlife, the community and guests. Drinking water is supplied in reusable glass bottles, which has reduced the number of plastic bottle used by around 75,000 in 3 years, saving the lodge $30,000 in that time. Toiletries such as soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion are supplied in reusable porcelain containers that have further eliminated the presence of single-use plastics.

The EcoBrick employ single-use plastics and other waste materials to create building blocks that can be used elsewhere on the camp. Nearly 400 EcoBricks have been made so far, eliminating roughly 100 bags of plastic waste.