Walking Through the Mara

April 2020

A tick on my bucket list! I first visited the Mara Conservancies in 2012, staying at Kicheche Mara Camp in Mara North Conservancy and Kicheche Valley Camp in the newly formed Naboisho Conservancy. A few years later Kicheche Camps started their Walking Wilderness Safari, a 5 nights safari, spending 2 nights at one camp, walking across the Mara, and adventure fly camping for one night in the wild and then continuing onto the next camp – it was time to visit Kicheche again!

Kicheche Valley Camp

The safari was planned for February 2020 and as the date neared, Mara experienced unseasonal heavy rains making the walking safari impossible. Kicheche Camps were extremely accommodating and postponed our trip to March. Thankfully by that time, the rains disappeared (somewhat) and we were set to go, however, the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting the travel and tourism and camps and lodges had already started closing down. Thankfully I managed to fly out to Mara for my safari. The first two days at Kicheche Valley Camp were very relaxing and the excitement was growing for our walk in the wild. While at Kicheche Valley Camp we really enjoyed the game drives in Naboisho Conservancy. It’s amazing to see how much the conservancy has changed in the past 8 years.

The Walk Part 1

Day 3, after lunch, our luggage loaded in the car, we set off on foot. Our walk from Kicheche Valley Camp to Kicheche Bush Camp was split over 2 days, 13 Kms each day walking through the Masai Mara. We followed Peter, our armed ranger and Bernard, our guide in a single file occasionally stopping to understand animal tracks and learn about the flora that we passed. Herds of Elands and Zebras kept their eyes on us as we walked through their land. We came across the Mara Raptor Project vehicle and they were waiting for us! Stratton and his assistant were waiting for us to show us the research they were carrying out on a Secretary Bird’s nest. It was an amazing experience to watch the team carry out their research and we photographed the two chicks. I thought I was pretty fit to undertake this safari, especially since I do work out regularly, but i guess my legs were using muscles in a different way and boy were they getting sore! Bernard kindly enquired whether I would like to hop in the vehicle rest of the way, and though I decided to brave through and continue walking, but it was nice to know that the back-up was there.

The Fly Camp

When we arrived at our fly camp, the camp was already set up by Jackson and his crew. The bonfire was glowing and cold gin & tonics waiting after which the hot bucket shower was a refreshing treat. We enjoyed the dinner under the star-studded sky with a roaring fire. What a perfect ending to a wonderful day!

The Walk Part 2

The next morning we had the luxury of waking up at 7am, instead of the normal 5am Mara wake-up call! After a light breakfast we set off on the second half of our walk, another 13Kms to Kicheche Bush Camp. Our fly camp was set up near an area called Leopard Valley, so Bernard suggested we walk up to the plains in case the leopard was around and we didn’t want to scare her off. Our luggage was loaded into the car and as Jackson set off through the valley, he spotted the leopard with her cub! Jackson rushed to pick us up and took us to the leopard. What a thrilling encounter, and no other tourist vehicle around! Jackson dropped us back where he had picked us up (I secretly wished he had dropped us off further ahead – but my ego took over – I wanted to do the full walk) We crossed from Naboisho Conservancy into Olare Motorogi Conservancy and forgot our sore legs and tiredness when we arrived at Kicheche Bush Camp.

Kicheche Bush Camp

Our last two nights at Kicheche Bush Camp were spent on game drives with our experienced guide – James, encouraging us to explore more photographic opportunities and experiences. As always, I leave Mara with a heavy heart, but the wonderful experiences with Kicheche will hold me over til I return.