Mahali Mzuri

Mahali Mzuri reads less like a traditional safari camp and more like a piece of contemporary design dropped carefully into the Mara. Twelve tented suites, all of them raised on stilted platforms and reached by timber walkways, curve along the side of a green valley in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy. Their shape is deliberately sculptural, a taut canvas shell over a glass front, and inside the palette runs to deep terracotta, bleached linen and beaded panels made by Maasai women from the surrounding community. Each suite has a sitting area, a large bathroom and a deck that faces nothing but plains. The heart of camp is a chain of open sided tents: a dining tent with a curved banquette, a bar and lounge stocked for long afternoons, and a broad viewing deck built around a firepit where the day usually ends. An infinity pool is cut into the slope below, and the Nasaro Spa handles treatments. Because Olare Motorogi is a private conservancy shared by a handful of camps, vehicle numbers are strictly capped, off road driving and night drives are permitted, and the big cat density is among the highest in Africa. The camp is a member of Relais and Chateaux and holds Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice recognition.