Mara Sopa Lodge

Mara Sopa Lodge, officially Masai Mara Sopa Lodge, was one of the first safari lodges built in the Maasai Mara, and its lush, mature gardens show it. The lodge stretches along the slopes of the Oloolaimutia Hills, less than a kilometre outside the reserve boundary, and every building follows the design of a traditional African round house with a conical thatched roof. Its 99 rooms are spread across fifty cottages in two wings, each room with queen or king beds, mosquito nets, a safe, a dressing table, an en-suite bathroom and a sheltered veranda looking over the gardens to the reserve beyond. Twelve suites offer larger bedrooms with indoor and outdoor seating, and the honeymoon suite adds a sunken bath and sweeping views. At the heart of the lodge is a vast circular lounge with a central fireplace whose chimney rises to the top of the thatched roof, alongside the Jumbo Bar, a restaurant with an outdoor dining patio, a swimming pool with its own bar, and the Ol Murrani Bar beside an open-air campfire. Game drives enter the reserve through the nearby Oloolaimutia or Sekenani gates, and the lodge is about 250 km by road from Nairobi or an hour's flight to Keekorok airstrip.