Olonana is an elegant bush camp on the banks of the Mara River just outside the Masai Mara Reserve's western boundary in Kenya, right at the heart of Big Game viewing country.



It's position enables the lodge to offer the best of both worlds with night drives, walking safaris, and day time game drives inside the reserve.

Olonana has 12 very large and spacious permanent tents, each with two queen sized beds, ensuite bathrooms and hot showers, and each with a large veranda with a great view of the river, where you will get great views of hippo especially in the evenings as you are enjoying your sundowner prior to dinner. Importantly the tents have floor to ceiling mosquito netting windows for your protection. One fear you need not have is walking back to your tent at night, because you will always be taken and fetched by a very nice man with a torch and a stick.

Dinner which is, as are all the meals, delicious can be taken in the dining room overlooking the river, or if you wish meals can be taken on the Siria escarpment overlooking the Mara plains, or deep in the bush as a picnic. If food is important to you then a Masai Mara Safari staying here will delight even the most jaded of palates.

What is unique about Olonana is that it exists in partnership with the Masai people, so you will have an opportunity to view the day to day lives of these proud people in a village close by. No other lodge in the Masai Mara offers this opportunity.

The facilities at Olonana includes a private butler service, an elegant lounge and library, and a swimming pool to cool of after one of the many game drives you will experience. Unlike some other camps there is a generator and solar power, so electricity is not a problem and the delicate eco system of the Masai Mara is little disturbed.

You will enjoy game drives in open vehicles giving an undisturbed view of the rich numbers of game including hippo, elephant, prides of lion, buffalo, hyena, giraffe, and several species of gazelle. You are also likely to see cheetah, leopard, and even rhino if you are lucky, and you can be sure your guides are well trained experts.

It isn't just the fact that your guides on your Masai Mara Safari are experts, it's the passion of the guides that makes all the difference. They obviously love what they do and this transmits itself over and over again. All you have to do is to ask if it is possible to view a particular animal, and if it is, then you will almost certainly get closer than you could ever believe possible. They go out of there way so willingly. The same is true of the staff at Olonana, for whom nothing is too much trouble. If you won't or can't eat something, then alternatives are readily produced, and always with a smile.

It is true to say that visiting the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya for part of your in Kenya Safari is a must, but to stay at Olonana is an experience you will never forget.