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On the Wild Side

Never a dull moment at Angama Mara and here we go again but this time something completely different. Well, not so different: same guiding excellence, same unparalleled game viewing, same warm Kenyan hospitality, same maverick approach to design, same delicious food, same sublime comfort but this time truly in the middle of nowhere
Angama Safari Camp being brought to life

We are delighted to introduce you to our new baby, Angama Safari Camp. Each time I have embarked on this journey of creating a new experience in the African wilderness I have put pen to paper capturing some thoughts as to what the character, personality, soul if you will, will be of this place and what it will offer for all who stay here. This thinking influences every touchpoint, both tangible and intangible. These words tell the story about what inspired us in crafting Angama Safari Camp.

A rocking chair safari in the heart of the Maasai Mara

Going back seven years when we first started seeking inspiration for turning the Angama Mara dream into bricks, mortar, staff and guests we drew on the romantic notion of Denys Finch Hatton taking the Royal Princes on safari across East Africa in the early 1930’s.

Much of Angama’s success can be attributed to merging that classical under canvas mobile safari feeling into a lodge that exudes a ‘lightness of being’ for lack of a better term: light footprint, floor to ceiling glass, canvas, wood, stack away doors, minimal clutter, comfortable furniture, a sense of transience all wrapped together by warm Kenyan service. Angama Mara doesn’t fall for fussy and that is very much part of its charm (so our guests tell us).

Ninety years later we have come full circle.

Angama Safari Camp being brought to life

The stories told of when Finch Hatton hosted the Princes as they travelled in a convoy of 7 Wolsleys across Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Belgian Congo perfectly capture the romance and adventure of the Golden Age of the African safari: canvas bars serving the finest wines; classical music during the evening meal; nightcaps and stories around the fire in folding camp chairs; only the finest crystal and china; picnics with chilled champagne served in crystal glasses; and four course meals on silver service. The camp even had an ice machine and a piano.

Sundowner bitings and a lantern lit dinner in the Mara

Angama’s little camp will delight our guests by capturing the essence of those glorious bygone days – romance, privacy, unconstrained freedom, stories shared around the camp fire, dinners lit only by starlight, gentle Kenyan service, the nights either wrapped in silence or filled with sounds of hyena and lions calling, the smell of wet earth and surrounded by a million migrating ungulates.

Safaris in the heart of the Mara Triangle, amongst the mega herds

The camp’s rules: stare at the fire; listen to the birds; read; take a nap; relax; watch the sun set; cook over the fire; breathe the fresh air; share a story. No one day will be as the one before. No one safari will be the same. Our guests will experience an overwhelming sense of ‘this is all mine’.

Hot air ballooning in the heart of the Migration

As with the lodge, the camp will have the best of the best of everything but always just the right amount of everything. In fact even less. The design, quite unlike any other mobile tented camp, will be fresh and uncluttered, making for easy living. Our purpose will be to give our guests a safari experience that distils the sophistication of simplicity right down to its very essence.

“If there were one more thing I could do, it would be to go on safari once again”, wrote Karen Blixen in her memoir Out of Africa.

One of the beautiful locations for Angama Safari Camp, in the heart of the Mara Triangle

Note from the Editor:

Angama Safari Camp will welcome our first guests in October 2020. Set in a remote wilderness zone in the south-western corner of the Mara Triangle, this sole-use seasonal tented camp accommodates 8 guests in 4 tents. Guests will spend their days on safari and nights surrounded by over a million migrating ungulates. 

Filed under: Inside Angama

Tagged with:

Angama Guest Experience , Angama Mara , Angama Safari Camp , Angama Travel , Angama Wildlife , Maasai Mara , the great migration

About: Nicky Fitzgerald

After more than 30 years in hospitality, starting with a small hotel at the foot of Africa and followed by a further couple of Cape hotels, most notably The Bay, and sixty plus safari lodges across Africa and India, Nicky has served more meals, puffed more cushions, filled more beds, trained more staff and opened more properties than she cares to remember. Nicky retired as Angama's CEO in July of 2022 and remains an advisor and delightfully opinionated member of the Board.

Browse all articles by Nicky Fitzgerald Meet the angama team

Keep Reading

This Week At Angama #139 2 October 2020 Something a little different this week as we bring you our wildlife blog not from the Mara, but rather a little further down south, from Angama's Johannesburg office By Laura Goldsworthy
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Join the Conversation (6 comments)

Comments (6):

Juliana Rotich

10 March 2020

Congratulations!! Cannot wait to come back and experience this too. See you soon! xx J.

Paul Toomey

22 February 2020

This new camp sounds perfect! Any indication of pricing? Also, is the border post at the Angama airstrip operational?

    Nicky Fitzgerald

    27 February 2020

    Dear Paul Thank you so much for your message - the rates for Angama Safari Camp can be found on our website www.angama.com The border post at Angama's airfield is not operational and I very much doubt it will be by high season. This is a Narok County initiative and completely out of our hands. Warm regards Nicky

Gemma Kemps

18 February 2020

Nicky - Congratulations! This is so exciting. I cant wait to read and see more about it. Will you be around the lodge in early July by chance? I am coming back 3 -5 July with my husband. I am so excited to show him how amazing the lodge is. This will be my 3rd time back. I believe in this lodge and the people that I literally feel like I am coming home. Hopefully we can have a drink or dinner when we are there. All my best, Gemma

    Nicky Fitzgerald

    19 February 2020

    Hi dear Gemma Thank you so much for your lovely message and yes, by some quirk of fate I will be at the lodge early in July and very much look forward to welcoming you back for your third visit. We will definitely have dinner together. Warm regards Nicky

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