Romancing hippos' den

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 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.