Mara Plains Camp — Hotel in Siana ward

I ended my 10 days in the Mara with 4 nights at Mara Plains. As a long-time safari-goer, I was well aware of Great Plains' reputation and was fortunate to be able to include Mara Plains in my itinerary this time. I had high expectations, and found myself simply blown away.||It's all in the details here...little things other camps haven't thought of. The moment I crossed the footbridge from the car park to the common area, I noticed the lone acacia tree dead center on the plain that was our view from the dining room. It was as if the entire camp had been built centered around that one tree. I was warmly greeted by Dee (such a sweet person!) and settled into my first lunch. The food here is simply wonderful. I was always surprised and never left unsatisfied. With such an array of options for lunch and dinner, how could I be? And packed bush breakfasts were just wonderful.||More details...my guide left every morning with a stack of tins wrapped with black ribbon and tiny scroll that told me what my morning "bitings" were, little snacks to tide me over from pre-sunrise to bush breakfast. That same stack of tins would have my sundowner snacks later in the day. Also, each tent had a set of very fine binoculars and a Canon camera with 100-400 lens for guest use. I took them up on the binoculars, as I don't normally carry them, because why not?||The tent is exquisite. Polished hard wood floors, massive bed, copper soaker tub, and copper double sink and mirrors. Steamer cases as end tables. It felt "old Africa", as if I'd traveled back in time here. Just so pretty. All lit strategically so I was able to move about and find what I needed, or prepare for the day, without a hassle no matter how dark it was outside. A ceiling fan took the edge off warm afternoons while a yoga mat gave me a chance to get the kinks out after long days on game drives. Mine was the farthest tent on one end, surrounded on three sides by the river and its resident hippos. I found myself smiling being woken by them as much as I was the local lions. And yes, I miss them now that I'm back home hearing neighborhood dogs instead!||Dee and the other managers took such good care of me and I was never alone for dinner or most lunches. Dining here is separate and as a solo traveler I appreciated that they let my guide eat with me my last day and that the managers joined me for evenings.||My guide....Francis. He's such a friendly, upbeat, personable guy, not to mention a wonderful guide! It was a delight to spend four days with him. I learned so much about Great Plains, its mission and the wildlife around camp. His approach was to stop just outside of camp as we left each day and let me know what the initial plan is, then we'd await any "news" from other camp guides that might point us in another direction. I let Francis know my mission was big cats on this safari, and he certainly delivered. A couple times we ventured into Mara North and that felt like an adventure in itself, but paid off with wonderful leopard and cheetah sightings! I appreciate his laid-back, gentle approach and that he indulged me at lengthy sightings until I'd about exhausted all possible camera angles! He is truly a gem and I would love to ride along with him again!||A very special thank you to Rolex, Fred and Fred, all of whom took such good care of me and felt like friends by the time I left. Nothing seemed too much to ask and they often seemed to know what I needed before I did! On my last morning they surprised me with a cook-to-order breakfast out on the plains, which was so special and very memorable. There's nothing like champagne and eggs after an incredible lion sighting to cap off the safari!||Great Plains and Mara Plains does safari up right. They just have all the details down pat. It's almost a curse knowing it exists, because I sit here 8000 miles away longing for...

This is a very easy 5 star review as everything about Mara Plains is top notch, right from the minute you arrive at the beautifully hidden entrance, the rope walk over the little stream to the camp (where you’ll often see hippos wallowing down below), to the very atmospheric main tent, lovely rooms, and of course the fantastic staff. ||Due to a booking mixup on the part of my tour operator, I was generously upgraded to the family suite, an absolutely huge tent with 2 bedrooms and a small private pool. The space was honestly wasted on me as a solo travel but it was a very nice gesture nonetheless, and for completeness I used both the bedrooms during my 3 nights at the camp. ||Too many thoughtful touches through the camp to list - they do a very cool thing where they vary the dinner arrangements a little bit some nights, so one night you might sit out in the open for a different experience, they provide you with binoculars and their own high quality camera, a memory stick with all your photos at the end of the trip, hot water bottles in the room. Two of the Great Plains staff, Georgina and Savanna (apologies if spellings or names have been butchered here) hosted me for dinner one night which I very much enjoyed. ||The safari experience was also incredible. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the fully open vehicles the camp provides are a HUGE luxury compared to some of the more restrictive alternatives I saw from other camps. My guide Daniel was excellent overall - really good English, very patient, great at spotting wildlife. My one bit of feedback would be, it would be highly appreciated if there were a little bit more silence during the really rare sightings - all too often there was radio chatter, conversation with other guides parked nearby, and even shutter clicks from his camera that sort of took me out of the moment. I understand that he ought to ping other guides about sightings, but that’s a quick thing that should not be a long drawn out conversation - in many cases there were 15 minute+ conversations that continued unabated, and looking back at some of the videos I took at least half of them were spoiled by this. That is probably my single biggest complaint about my experience overall. ||My other criticisms are all very minor: I think it would be nice if they served more freshly squeezed fruit juices given how much amazing local fruit there is in Kenya, there is some slightly dodgy rotting wood on some of the terrace areas (my foot almost went through when a plank cracked at one point) so this should really be addressed before an accident happens, and lastly I do think the night time escort from the room to lobby should be optional, especially after signing a release form. It feels a bit overkill - if my time has come, let it be...

Positives:

Management - the property has recently lost its regular manager, apparently due to Kenyan visa issues, so a relief manager has been brought in. The relief manager Sean (Shaun?) is lovely. He was very friendly and engaging, and when my husband got ill one day he was very accommodating. His fiancée Amy also works for Great Plains (in management).

Guide - Daniel, our guide, was amazing! He tried to make each game drive special. He also was taking photos on the property’s camera (much stronger than ours) and our parting gift was the 400+ photos he had taken on our various game drives.

Staff - the rest of staff were lovely, and generally very helpful.

Food - the food was nice (although we were a bit confused why the food was generally western / continental and unlike our other safaris little local cuisine was served).

Jeep - while it was not a comfortable ride it was very well equipped for game watching: 2 binoculars, a drinks fridge, and breakfast and evening snacks. We also had the option of staying out as long as we wanted to watch the game.

Game / Safari - was great, and if you want to see animals / game, and you have already been to Kruger (Sabi Sands) or Serengeti, then we would recommend Mara Plains Camp.

Negatives / Issues:

Cleanliness - during the 4 days we were there our bed sheets were not changed. This was after having visible signs of dead insects smashed on the sheets and on the second-to-last night a large coffee spill.

Bugs - the tents got a significant number of mosquitos and other insects. They really should consider investing in bed netting (similar to the tents in Singita). I suffer badly from bug bites and could not stay Deet-free (i.e. very strong bug repellent) outside of the shower. I also had to cover in Deet when I went to bed.

We were told on arrival that our rooms would be sprayed every night to reduce the bug population before bed - if they were spraying we did not see any evidence of it.

Pool - There is no pool to relax by during a hot day.

Recommend?

Yes, but only if you don’t mind mid-level style of accommodations and are not looking for the Londolozi / Singita-level luxury (our previous safaris). As a Relais & Chateaux member (as were our previous safaris) we were expecting a bit more . The animal /...