Best time to visit
When the light is right
The classic dry-season and migration window for the greater Mara runs roughly July through October, when wildebeest and zebra concentrations can push toward the northern Serengeti and Mara system.
East Africa · Safari & Conservancy
Kenya
Kenya with Exclusive Villa Collection: Olderkesi conservancy safari in the Maasai Mara with Cottar’s, and Sirai House, a private home on Laikipia’s Borana.
Now in Kenya
From Choose a departure city Approx. flying time, non-stop equivalent
East Africa · Safari & Conservancy
Kenya
Kenya, for Exclusive Villa Collection, begins in the Maasai Mara: private conservancy land on the Olderkesi corridor, tented safari living that still feels like the golden age, and an exclusive-use bush villa for families who want the Mara without sharing the house. We open the country through Cottar’s Safaris: Cottar’s 1920s Camp and Cottar’s Bush Villa, arranged privately by inquiry.
North of Nairobi, in Laikipia beneath Mount Kenya, Sirai House is a private family home taken whole: six suites on 250 acres inside the 33,000-acre Borana Conservancy, a stronghold for rhino, with a waterhole below the house and the family’s own aircraft 35 minutes from Nairobi.
We write Kenya for travelers who arrive by light aircraft into the Mara or Borana, and who want dedicated guides and private vehicles. Pair it with Botswana’s Okavango or Namibia’s desert lodges when a second African safari belongs in the same year.
Kenya belongs to our Wild Frontiers collection. Our Maasai Mara guide covers the conservancy in detail, and our Journal piece on private safari camps in East and Southern Africa compares the Mara with Botswana and Namibia.
Why visit
A reason to make the journey.
- A Mara that still feels private Olderkesi Conservancy access and Cottar’s long safari tradition keep the week about wildlife, guiding, and silence, not a public gate queue alone.
- Two stays, one bloodline 1920s Camp for classic tented safari; Bush Villa for exclusive-use family or group living, both under Cottar’s Safaris.
- Conservancy depth Thousands of acres of private conservancy context frame game drives, walking when conditions allow, and cultural encounters sequenced with the house.
Featured properties
Where to stay
Houses we know by name, each one we would send you to first.
Olderkesi Conservancy, Maasai Mara, Kenya
Cottar’s 1920s Camp
Cottar's classic Maasai Mara tented camp on Olderkesi Conservancy: eleven vintage-style suites, dedicated guiding, and plains light, personally curated by Exclusive Villa Collection.
Olderkesi Conservancy, Maasai Mara, Kenya: private hilltop villa with Mara and Serengeti outlook
Cottar’s Bush Villa
Cottar's exclusive-use Maasai Mara villa: five en-suite bedrooms, 25-metre pool, private chefs and guide, on a hilltop facing the Mara and Serengeti horizon, curated by Exclusive Villa Collection.
Borana Conservancy · Laikipia, Kenya: 250 private acres beneath Mount Kenya
Sirai House
A private family home taken whole: six suites on a 250-acre estate inside the 33,000-acre Borana Conservancy, in the foothills of Mount Kenya, with a team of more than 40.
Sub-destinations
Places within this destination
Towns, islands, and smaller landscapes that sit inside this one.
When and how
Light, season, and the arrival
Each season keeps its own calendar. We plan the transfer around it.
Seasonality
When to go
Green-season months (roughly November to June) bring lush grazing, fewer vehicles in some corridors, and excellent resident game. Migration peaks and the Christmas and New Year weeks are best reserved early.
Airport / logistics
Arriving without hurry
International arrival is typically into Nairobi (NBO / Wilson for domestic), then light aircraft toward the Olderkesi / Cottar’s airstrip corridor with a lodge transfer. For Laikipia, the Sirai Air Pilatus PC-12 NG flies from Nairobi to Borana Airstrip in about 35 minutes, then a twenty-minute game drive to Sirai House.
Month by month
The best months for Kenya
- Peak
- Quiet
- Rainfall
Seasons follow the notes above. Average daily high and monthly rainfall for 2015 to 2024 from ERA5 reanalysis, via Open-Meteo.
Luxury experiences
Hours we would keep
- Guided game drives 4×4 safari with Cottar’s guides when the calendar allows. Ask about a private vehicle for game drives.
- Conservancy walking & culture On-foot and cultural experiences when guides and conditions support them. Tell us if they matter most, and we plan around them.
- Camp & villa dining Mess-tent evenings or private villa chefs, with celebrations planned ahead.
Photo: Cottar's Safaris / Hammer Design
Journeys
Written conversation-first
Every journey here begins with a conversation: seasons, transfers, and houses are shaped with your advisor. Browse our journeys and collections, or begin here.
From the Journal
Stories from this landscape
Where we write about this place: the seasons, the houses and how the days are best arranged.
Journal · 6 min read
Gibb’s Farm: A Working Coffee Farm on the Rim of the Ngorongoro
Seventeen cottages and two farm houses among the gardens of a coffee plantation on the Ngorongoro Crater’s forested slopes: the farm we choose to begin, pause or end a Tanzanian safari.
Read the story
Journal · 6 min read
Safari, Privately: Camps and Lodges in East and Southern Africa
Cottar’s in the Maasai Mara, andBeyond Sandibe in the Okavango Delta and Sossusvlei in the Namib: private camps for a first safari or a fifth, and when to go.
Read the story
Journal · 6 min read
Three Generations, One House: Villa Holidays for the Whole Family
A lake house in Austria, a hilltop Residence on a Fijian reef, a staffed villa in Bali and a house on the Maasai Mara: where three generations travel well together.
Read the storyRelated destinations
Other destinations we return to
Landscapes that sit well beside this one.
Destination
Alaska
The great North of the Americas: the Alaska Range and its glaciers, salmon rivers without roads, and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, a short flight west of Anchorage.
Indonesia
Anambas Islands
The Anambas Islands: six islands, three marine reserve lagoons, and thirteen beaches in Indonesia’s Riau Islands, home to Bawah Reserve and curated by Exclusive Villa Collection.
Destination
Antarctica
Antarctica with Exclusive Villa Collection: the continent’s interior, reached by air from Cape Town, with White Desert’s three camps in Queen Maud Land, the South Pole and the emperor penguins.
Costa Rica
Arenal
The rainforest foothills of Arenal Volcano above La Fortuna, where Amor Arenal keeps thirty-one casitas on the edge of a forest canyon.
Destination
Argentina
Argentina’s wine country at the foot of the Andes, where The Vines Resort & Spa keeps thirty-three villas within 1,500 acres of private vineyards in the Uco Valley.
Destination
Austria
Austria with Exclusive Villa Collection: Lake Grundlsee and Villa Anna, an alpine-lake house arranged by inquiry.
New Zealand
Bay of Islands
New Zealand’s subtropical far north: 144 islands, sheltered coves and historic Russell, home to Paroa Bay and Sage Restaurant.
Destination
Belize
Belize’s Ambergris Caye corridor and a true private island: Cayo Espanto, a handful of villas off San Pedro.
Destination
Bhutan
Bhutan’s multi-lodge journey: Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey, Bumthang when the kingdom should feel like dzongs, valleys, and Aman lodges linked as one circuit.
Destination
Bodrum
Bodrum’s Aegean stone cottages: Turkish coast when the week wants whitewashed privacy, olive shade, and villa-scale Aman by the sea.
Destination
Botswana
Okavango Delta floodplains, private concessions bordering Moremi, and Exclusive Villa Collection’s Botswana stay through andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge.
Destination
Canouan
A Grenadines island that still feels like a private map: reef water, a quiet airstrip, and houses that keep their own shore, including Mandarin Oriental, Canouan on Godahl Beach.
Plan My Trip
Begin with a conversation.
Tell us the season, the company, and the feeling you want to keep. We will write back with a considered path, not a link to a search.
Write to an advisor