By Ferdinand Mwongela
The thundering hoofs as the massive herds of wildebeest trample their way across the Mara River in the Masai Mara is no doubt well documented. Masai Mara is known for its rolling plains and multitudes of animals, but even more for the herds of wildebeest whose migration across the Mara River between the Masai Mara Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is a crowd puller. Nature in its perpetual motion.
The lounge offers a warm luxurious spot for unwinding in the evening after a day of game drive. |
Even so, herein lies another gem within a gem. The Fairmont Mara Safari Club stands bang on the banks of Mara River at the edge of the Masai Mara Game Reserve and bordering the muddy waters of the river.
The Fairmont Mara Safari Club is in a class of its own, its proximity to the Mara River an added bonus. Tents are set up along the river lending guests the pleasure of standing outside their tents to gaze at the hippos, splashing, pushing and snorting, oblivious of the gazing eyes fixed on them from the banks.
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Distinctive identity
The steep embankment between the river and the tents means you can rest assured that the hippos will not make their way into the club grounds.
The Fairmont Mara Safari Club embodies the stature of the Fairmont brand, albeit differently. Not as grandiose as the Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club from which it borrowed its name or as historical as Fairmont The Norfolk that holds in its belly years of use and secrets from the colonial playboys of yore.
It has its own distinctive identity. It is the youngest kid in the Fairmont stable in Kenya and, if compared to its older siblings, it’s fun loving and its forte is luxury in the bush.
The swimming pool is ideal for an afternoon plunge. |
As the dusk falls, the night takes a life of its own; the occasional grunt or splash in the river, the chirping of insects in the background. A unique nightlife, you could say. It is at this time that you will see hippos slink out of the water and into the bushes to feed. They get back into the water early in the morning noisily like a bunch of schoolboys headed home from school.
Apart from being a quiet getaway, a stay here would not be complete without a game drive to see the animals that make the Masai Mara eco-system, or a visit to the neighbouring villages to see the Maa cultural phenomenon.
In the evening, lounging by the fire at the main building is simply romantic.
According to its history, the land the club sits on was an old hunting camp that had been converted to use for photo tours ending with the ban on hunting in Kenya in 1976.
