Governors’ Camp (Masai Mara)

A brilliant little kid’s club, is aimed at keeping your children happily entertained while on safari at Governors’ Camp.

The idea behind this club is to educate and inspire the youngest visitors. In ways that they would never have access to in their mainstream schooling systems abroad. Game drives are, of course, wonderful experiences in themselves to be shared with family. But there is so much more for your children to take away from their Kenyan safari.

Kids will get a green Mongoose Club branded water bottle, pencil and a bird and mammal checklist in a kanga bag. The activities are designed to be fun and informative. Providing your children with lifetime memories. You, as the parents, can take some well-deserved timeout. Enjoy a spa treatment, read a book or just have a siesta while the “chief Mongoose” who is a local Masai guide, and the rest of the friendly team keep your children as entertained and educated as they would like to be. Whilst of course, ensuring their complete safety at all times.

Some of the activities of the kids club:

Conservation and Environment

Unleash your children into the world of conservation! They can learn all about the importance of ecosystems, tree planting, Masai culture and visiting a local Masai school. For an environmental aspect, they’ll enjoy identifying animal tracks and footprints (they can make a plaster of paris mold too if they get lucky with a clear footprint!). Identifying birds and their different sounds and nests. Nocturnal animals and the easy use of the camera traps around camp. As well as learning all about the night sky and constellations through our telescope and laser star pointer!

If your children are the competitive sort (most siblings are!) – why not send them off for easy stroll around camp, accompanied by one of our Mongoose guides and armed with one of our specially designed kid’s nature booklet and checklist, to see how many birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and plants can be found during their stay with us. They should be able to spot most on the list just by simply exploring around camp. Governors’ Camp is in the best location after all! Keep up the fun by encouraging them to continue with ticking the boxes on their game drives too!

Just for FUN

Of course, there’s a just for fun section too and this includes easy cookery:
make your own pizza using one of our charcoal Eco-ovens. Or roasting popcorn and marshmallows over an open fire (a delicious pre-dinner treat to be shared on your family sun downer). They can also try their hand at target practice using handmade wooden bows and arrows. As well as making their very own piece of Masai beaded jewellery with the help of a Masai ‘mama’.

Game Drives

Governors’ Camps are located in a superb location in the Masai Mara and therefore the game viewing is tremendous. They use custom designed vehicles and exceptionally highly trained and experienced guides to give clients unmatched game-viewing and photographic opportunities in one of Kenya’s most prolific wildlife areas. If you’d like to stay out on your game drive for longer, the team will organize a delicious packed breakfast to take with you.

Having operated in the Masai Mara for 50 years now, the driver-guides have an unparalleled knowledge of the reserve combined with a deep understanding and respect for this precious wilderness area, its flora and its fauna.

Photographic Safaris

Three of the Landrovers have been modified into superbly designed photographic safari vehicles. They offer same-level seating throughout, cut out side panels in the middle row (to get those much desired low angle shots). Plus high roofs, fully folding windscreens and wide side paneling. The perfect place for resting a beanbag and long lens. These photographic safari vehicles are available on an exclusive use basis.

Walking Safari

Governors’ Camp Collection offers guided walking safaris in a private concession area adjacent to the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Guided walking safaris enable you to leave your vehicle behind and take a walking safari with one of the experienced and qualified naturalists. For the true thrill of the bush.

Down on the same level as the animals you will experience the untamed beauty of the Mara. Here the scenery differs from inside the Reserve and picturesque acacia trees dot the hilly landscape. You will also be accompanied by one of the Masai Scouts, who provide a wealth of information on the traditional medicinal uses of plants and Masai folklore. You will track game, unsure what waits round the next corner: giraffe, buffalo, hyena, zebra or even lion.

While out on a walking safari, you can catch the scents and sounds of the wild Africa. And uncover a hidden, fascinating and interconnected world of plants, tracks and insects. At the end of it all waits a sumptuous bush breakfast complete with sparkling wine. You can enjoy some game viewing as you are driven back to the camp through the Masai Mara. Walks are at an extra cost and take around 3 – 4 hours.

Wildebeest Migration

Situated right inside the Masai Mara Game Reserve, Governors’ Camps are ideally placed to let you be at the heart of the Great Wildebeest Migration. On many occasions, we have seen the wildebeest cross the Mara River right in front of Governors’ Camp.

Between the months of July and October, one and a half million wildebeest accompanied by vast numbers of zebra and gazelles, make the long and dangerous trek from Tanzania’s Serengeti, northwards towards this corner of Kenya.

Lines of animals stretch as far as the eye can see across the open plains. They come to give birth to their young and the grasslands echo with the sounds of the new-born. It is a time of plenty. But it is a time too, when the predators are drawn from all around; high above on the hot winds, the carrion birds, vultures and eagles soar. In the long grasses lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena prowl.

Most dramatic of all is the moment when the migration arrives at the Mara River; they must cross it to reach the rich grazing areas on the other side. It takes the bravest to plunge first into the swirling currents and thousands follow. Meanwhile, keen crocodiles cruise the waters.

Birding

Over 500 species of birds have been recorded in the Mara and it’s not long before you have a surprisingly lengthy list of recordings yourself! Governors’ Masai Mara camps are hidden amongst towering riverine trees which line a small stretch of the Mara River. There are “forest islands” which provide refuge for a stunning array of species that are considered almost impossible to find elsewhere in the Masai Mara ecosystem. The wetlands are home to scores of wetland birds such as herons, storks (saddle-billed & white), kingfishers, painted snipes, ducks, geese and crakes.

Strict forest-dwelling species such as Schalow’s and Ross’s turacos, black-and-white casqued hornbills, African paradise and African blue flycatchers, olive pigeons, violet-backed starlings, double-toothed barbets, meyers parrots and narina trogons are often seen within the camp grounds.

Out on the open plains, a variety of raptors (African fish eagles and tawny eagles to name just a couple), vultures (ruppell’s griffon, white-backed & lappet-faced), bustards, secretary birds, starlings, oxpeckers, lapwings, ground hornbills, coucals and cuckoos, seed eaters and bee-eaters can be found.

Hot Air Balloon Safari

The adventure begins just before dawn. Departure is from a perfect natural launch site behind Little Governors’ Camp, and flames from the hot air balloon burners light the darkness as the crews inflate their craft. The first pink tongues of sunlight flicker across the skies as the hot air balloon fills, then rises. Suspended in a basket beneath the rainbow colored canopy, you’re off for a wildlife viewing adventure with an entirely different perspective. What amazes most first-time balloonists is the absolute stillness. The silence as you float above the plains, the forest and the rivers of the Masai Mara.

Even if you’ve flown elsewhere, this is a unique experience. A hot air balloon safari when the wildebeest migration is on; is perhaps the best way to really grasp the enormity of this mass movement. Soar gently over seemingly infinite herds below, watch predators stalking their prey and look out for critically endangered vultures feeding their chicks on the tree tops.

The flight lasts an hour or so, drifting wherever the air currents take you, and with ample opportunities for photography and video filming.

After about an hour or so, your balloon safari finishes with a flourish. In the time-honored tradition of balloon flights the world over, toast your return to earth with sparkling wine while enjoying a delicious breakfast at a very special spot. The experience ends with a game drive back to your camp.

Governors’ Balloon Safaris offers the best flight path in the Masai Mara, following the natural winding course of the Mara River.

Masai Cultural Visits

Just outside the Masai Mara National Reserve is a Maasai community called Mara Rianda. There is a cultural homestead or Manyatta which consists of 48 x traditional houses surrounding a cattle enclosure. The Maasai community welcomes guests who would like to visit the manyatta and see a tribal way of life that has remained quite unchanged for centuries. Visitors are always struck by the grace and beauty of the Masai people. There is also a bustling curio market where guests can buy Maasai beaded wares.

In order to visit the Manyatta guests must pay for an entrance ticket. This money is extremely important to the community. It helps the community members to buy food, pay for secondary school for their children, and pay for cows. Cattle are the mainstay of the Maasai economy. During times of drought when their cattle suffer, the money earned from tourism helps the community to stay on their feet. Overall this revenue supports 98 different families comprising 300 individuals.

There are also cultural talks on Maasai culture and Governors’ community work. Culture includes the background of Maasai culture and customs, including their dress, diet, dance, food and ceremonies. Community work includes support given to the local primary schools, health care center and the monthly food drives during COVID19.