ANGAMA MARA
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Angama Mara

THE LODGE

 

Welcome to Angama Mara, a remarkable owner-run safari lodge inspired by the Swahili word for ‘suspended in mid-air’. Located high above the floor of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, Angama Mara overlooks Kenya’s Maasai Mara, considered by many as the loveliest game reserve on the continent.

 

Here guests will find a lodge where everything is as it ought to be: two intimate camps of just fifteen tented suites each, a private airfield and access to the Mara below, tailor-made safari days and a famously warm Kenyan welcome.

LOCATION

 

Angama Mara is about 270km almost due west of Nairobi.

 

ACCESS

 

6 Hr Drive form Nairobi by road, via B3. 1 Hr flying from Wilson Airport to Kichwa Tembo Airstirp.

ROOMS

Architect duo Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, and Jan Allan, Kenya’s King of Canvas, designed Angama Mara’s elegant and classical tented suites with an 11-metre wide floor-to-ceiling glass front. Each tent has the same breathtaking view – no one is better than the last – and every day, the sunrise provides guests with early morning theatre as the hot air balloons float gently by.

 

Highly polished parquet floors, distinctive splashes of Maasai red, a handsome drinks cabinet (with personal bar and safe discreetly tucked away), vanity with double basins, separate w/c, writing desk with ample charging points and tablet with guest information, WiFi, Africology guest amenities, a collection of East African books, a beautiful John Vogel woven screen, and a butler’s lobby allowing for the discreet delivery of early morning tea and coffee, all add to the comfort and delight of guests in their luxury tents.

 

And because Angama Mara welcomes children of 6 years and older, the lodge has four sets of interconnecting tents, which allow children to move freely between their tent and their parents’ in complete safety and privacy.

DINING AND WINING

A great safari is also about great food. Our guests want to be assured that what they eat is not only delicious, but also reflects and celebrates a sense of place. As important as the food itself is where it is served, and Angama Mara offers a dazzling choice of dining venues.

 

Inspired by what camp chefs might have cooked way back in the early days of being on safari, Angama Mara’s chefs prepare classic safari food focusing on it being perfectly cooked and freshly made, beautifully and simply presented. Our Kenyan chefs use only the best and freshest ingredients, celebrating the finest local produce for which the country is renowned: grass-fed beef, tropical fruits, prawns from the coast – amongst many others. The result is safari food which is simple yet delicious; unfussy but oh-so-good to look at; and always generous and joyful and sometimes surprising. Our 1-acre Shamba, or kitchen garden, offers an abundance of fresh produce and guests pick their own for a shamba-to-table lunch in the garden. At least a third of our menu is designed with vegetarian guests in mind, and together with a small stand-alone kosher kitchen, no dietary requirement or preference is too much trouble.

Finally – Angama Mara prides itself on perfect picnics and the best bread on safari anywhere. Our safari food is not fancy. Our food is good. And not a buffet in sight.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

 

To their immense delight, the chefs have worked out that guests could eat up to no less than twelve times a day. Not to say that guests have to eat that much, but just in case they might be peckish, there is always something delicious on hand.

 

On arrival at the lodge (after who knows what kind of journey) a little something is always welcome whilst unpacking. Lunch can be enjoyed on the tented suite’s deck, at the lodge, by the pool or best of all – a Mara picnic in the shade of a lone tree in the middle of nowhere. Try not to miss afternoon tea at the lodge – fruitcake, cucumber sandwiches and scones. Toast the sunset with bitings (a lovely East African word for snacks) with a classic East African mojito, known as a dawa, in the Maasai boma

 

Where to have dinner tonight? Maybe an elegant candlelit dinner in the lodge or a cosy dinner for two on the tent deck? Or perhaps Angama Mara’s signature family-style BBQ, where tall chefs in tall hats grill to perfection fat juicy steaks, prawns from the coast or Swahili-spiced kuku (chicken is Kenya’s most-loved dish). All this in a lovely forest near the lodge, lit with lanterns and a nightly chorus of hyenas.

 

After a restful night’s sleep, a knock on the door and a butler discreetly leaves fresh orange juice, steaming coffee and a newly baked something in the lobby. A good start to another day in Africa. Breakfast, too, is a widely flung affair – on the tent deck, at the lodge watching the hot-air balloons float by, or a picnic on the Mara plains amongst a herd of a thousand buffalo … who needs food?

AMENITIES AND FACILITIES

 

  Fitness Centre

 

Heated Swimming Pool

 

Free Wireless Internet Connection(WIFI)

 

 Laundry Service

 

 Bar / Lounge

ACTIVITIES

FLOAT OVER THE MARA

Wake up before dawn and fly over the Maasai Mara at first light, viewing Africa’s animals as you silently float above and past them – an experience for which the Mara is famous. Guests have a choice of two of the most renowned balloon operators in Kenya, both a short drive from the lodge, who offer the opportunity to follow the course of the Mara River, and land in the middle of the plains beyond

WALKING SAFARIS

THE GREAT RIFT ON FOOT: With access to over 2,000 hectares of wilderness along the escarpment, guests can embark on walking safaris as long or as short as one desires. Walks are escorted by Maasai naturalists, and offer prolific birding, sightings of the rare oribi antelope, breathtaking views along the Rift Valley and across the Mara below, and opportunities to learn more about Maasai traditions

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

A PHOTOGRAPHER’S DREAM: Manicured grassy plains, dotted Balanites trees, the steep-sided escarpment or the broad Mara River – breathtaking backdrops for photographers. And each season offers something new: storm clouds and lush green grass; Great Migration crossings of the Mara River; or a pride of lion relaxing under a tree

PICNIC WITH A VIEW

OUT OF AFRICA STYLE: As a nod to the romantic tale that was filmed on the very same site as the lodge is located, intimate picnics are offered on the crest of the Out of Africa kopje that is featured on the movie’s poster. Guests can climb the hill to discover an old-world picnic scene: checked blanket, comfy cushions, safari canvas chairs, wicker picnic basket, sparkling wine on ice and that view

MAASAI LAND

WHERE WE BELONG: The richness of the Maasai people adds a layer of culture and diversity to Angama Mara’s sense of place. Toast the sun as it drops behind the Rift Valley whilst Maasai warriors perform their customary dances in the traditional brush-packed half-moon boma; spend time in the Safari Shop’s craft studio; or visit a neighboring Maasai family at their traditional homestead manyatta

ON MAP