Mara Plains Camp

Mara Plains sits on a bend of the Ntiakitiak River in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, a private block of grassland leased from Maasai landowners that borders the national reserve. Only seven tents are raised on decking under a canopy of fig and croton trees, which keeps guest numbers low across a very large slice of country and means game drives are rarely shared with another vehicle.

The camp is run by Great Plains Conservation, and the conservation angle is not decorative: a nightly per-guest levy funds the Great Plains Foundation, and the conservancy model itself has converted grazing land back into wildlife habitat. Guests are lent Swarovski binoculars and, in the photographic vehicles, professional camera bodies and long lenses, which makes this a natural choice for anyone travelling to shoot rather than simply to look.

Interiors lean towards campaign-furniture romance rather than minimalism, with brass, copper and old trunks set against canvas. Rates are fully inclusive of meals, premium drinks, laundry and twice-daily drives, and the surrounding conservancy permits night drives and walking safaris that are not allowed inside the reserve boundary.