On top of the world
On lovely Mara days, all the action will be on the deck and during those dramatic but brief afternoon thunderstorms, guests are safely tucked behind the floor to ceiling glass doors watching the spectacle unfold. As quickly as these storms roll in, they dissipate and back outside our guests go.
By night, the softly-lit architecture of the Maasai brick walls and the cone-shaped buildings that float on a lily pond hold guests’ attention. Especially the Library, a lovely quiet, handsome brick-clad oval room, which is perfect for private dining, and complete with WiFi, and a thoughtfully chosen collection of books and films on Africa. (Read the story behind the book and film collections)
A place of orientation, educational exploration and embarkation, the Map Room provides guests with a sense of place within the Greater Maasai Mara eco-system and further into East Africa. It is the starting point for guests on safari, as well as a place to reconvene afterwards to share experiences and wildlife sighting information.
A workspace of creativity and storytelling, the Photographic Studio is an exciting hub of imagery, content creation, teaching and sharing. Attend hands-on private photographic tutorials and editing sessions with the on-site Photographer or Studio Manager using the large-screen Apple desktops, loaded with the latest software. You can also print a small portfolio of your own photographs on the photographic printer and rent cameras and photographic equipment.
The Safari Shop showcases locally made and carefully curated items from jewellery and beaded belts to felt safari hats and Anna Trzebinski’s famous pashminas – a little piece of Africa to take home as a gift or as a memory for yourself. Leading off from the shop is the sunny and bright Beading Studio where Maasai ladies from the neighbouring community come daily to create bespoke items.
The lodge’s 12-metre rim-flow pool overlooks the Mara, surrounded by deck chairs, the perfect spot to bask in the sun with a good book. Around the corner is the Fitness Room with a selection of Technogym equipment – with floor-to-ceiling stacking glass doors – you will be hard-pressed to find a treadmill with a better view in all of Africa.
Explore Angama Mara’s one-acre Shamba (Kiswahili for kitchen garden), guided by a Shamba keeper who will explain the produce, encouraging you to pick and taste along the way. This is followed by a soil-to-fork lunch under towering moth trees. Crusty bread, local cheese, chilled rosé and the freshest of salads served with the Mara as a backdrop – what could be better?
Gather in a lantern-lit forest for dinner cooked over the coals. Guests dine family-style at long, wooden tables, off enamel plates with dishcloths for napkins. It’s fun, it’s relaxed and most of all, it’s delicious.
In a nod to the film, Out of Africa, which was filmed on the same site where Angama Mara now stands, the lodge offers intimate private picnics for two on the Out of Africa kopje featured on the movie’s iconic poster. Checked blankets, comfy cushions, canvas safari chairs, a picnic and sparkling wine on ice – everything you could need for elegant romance.
Traditional dawa (local mojito) in hand, toast the sun as it descends behind the Rift Valley from the vantage point of the lodge’s Sundowner Boma to the sound of Maasai warriors as they perform singing, dancing and jumping.
Angama Mara staff strives to deliver a guest experience that is not built on luxury, but rather something less tangible, more meaningful and always joyful and authentic.
The food philosophy of our bush kitchen set up high above the Maasai Mara is simple – our food is good; our food is never fancy. And not a single buffet in sight
Nothing is too much trouble to delight guests, meet our wonderful team who are always standing by with a big smile and ready to be of service
Meet one of Angama’s guides, Alice Maintaine, whose passion for wildlife and enthusiasm for her profession is utterly contagious
The property
The Angama Mara property overlooks what many safari travellers deem the finest game reserve on the continent, the Maasai Mara. Angama Mara’s tented suites stretch out over two kopjes, the third being the site where many of the most memorable scenes from Out of Africa were filmed
Tented suites
Angama Mara guests are accommodated in spacious Tented Suites, designed for comfort and reminiscent of a classical African safari, each with its own lovely view. Every detail has been considered: glass frontage, sweeping canvas, decks overhanging the Mara and gorgeous furniture
Safari Camp
Deep in the heart of the Mara sits a sole-use safari camp accommodating just eight guests in four ensuite tents, entirely separate from the lodge. This lovely camp captures the romance and adventure of the Golden Age of safaris yet with a lightness of spirit that will delight guests
