At Basecamp Masai Mara:
"My own view is that the Wilderness Camp is the jewel in the Masai Mara crown. It should be advertised as one of its major attractions, as in many senses, it distills the philosophy of the entire Basecamp enterprise."
Philip Bonner (Professor), University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Myself and my wife visited the wilderness camp run by Basecamp, Masai Mara, from 3rd to 5th June 2009. It was a truly memorable experience. To begin with, the location of the camp was utterly stunning, set on a hill overlooking a river valley and waterhole and then beyond a wonderful vista of hillside and savannah. Across that landscape an extraordinary profusion and diversity of animals roamed—a substantial herd of elephants coming down in the evening to the waterhole to drink, all kinds of buck, males jousting with one another at the beginning of the breeding season, lions, and endless forms of colourful bird life. In the evening, the guards took us on a night drive down the valley. In have been on many night drives in game parks in South Africa—this drive eclipsed them all, its highlight being a pride of lionesses and cubs only a couple of metres away.
Our accommodation was little short of spectacular. The cottage and dining area overlooked the valley, and we sat out on in both evening and morning on the veranda to watch game. We woke in the morning to the sun rising over the valley directly in front of the cottage, and sunlight streaming into our room, which was one among several breathtaking experiences.
Among the things that impressed me most about the camp was the professionalism of the Masai guides and cooks, and what struck me as a remarkably comfortable co-existence of the local Masai communities with their herds of cattle, and extraordinary numbers of game. One abiding memory was the sight of soccer goal posts a few kilometers to the right of our camp. As we left for Basecamp our guards explained that the broken goal posts at one end had been trampled by an elephant, and that when the elephants came the children playing soccer had to scatter in all directions. It summed up for us a happy co-existence of human society and nature. My own view is that the Wilderness Camp is the jewel in the Masai Mara crown. It should be advertised as one of its major attractions, as in many senses, it distills the philosophy of the entire Basecamp enterprise.
Philip Bonner (Professor)
University of Witwatersrand
South Africa
26 July, 2009.
