Camps, Lodges, Ships & Innovations

To sleep beneath canvas in the bush, under a Milky Way so thick with stars that it looks like clouds, listening for the roar of lions in the distance...there’s no more iconic safari experience! Yet while a remote tented camp may evoke the classic ambience of old, it doesn’t mean you sacrifice modern-day comforts. Natural Habitat's Migration Base Camp in the Maasai Mara is a most refined way to experience the African wilderness. We place the camp in the best wildlife-viewing areas, where seclusion amid raw nature prevails. Inside the deluxe tents, however, you’ll find full beds with quality bedding and attached en suite bathrooms—surprising comfort and privacy—and your own veranda with director’s chairs out front, shaded beneath a canvas awning. Kerosene lanterns lend an atmospheric glow at night. Evenings in camp are magical, with dinner served on a white tablecloth under the stars, and nightcaps around a roaring fire. If you want a safari straight 'Out of Africa,' you'll find it at our Migration Base Camp in the Mara.

Our remote setting means we are far from tourist crowds, and we follow animals on our wildlife drives, not other Land Rovers. The Maasai Mara's herds and predators are legendary, and rightly so: perhaps Africa’s most famous safari destination, this vast tract of savanna in southwest Kenya is known for its great wildebeest migration, abundant lions and the rich culture of the Maasai people, traditional pastoral herders who have grazed cattle here for centuries. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is the northern part of Tanzania’s vast Serengeti ecosystem, centered on the Mara River, the lifeline for the region. The reserve’s 580 square miles are home to nearly 100 species of mammals and 570 recorded bird species, making wildlife viewing here impressive at any time of year. The migration, of course, is incomparable, when nearly two million wildebeest, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle move in long, flowing columns across the plains toward the new grass that comes with the rains. There is also a chance to see the classic Big Five—elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard. Cheetah, giraffe and varied antelope are also common sights.

Conservation of wildlife and the environment in Africa never happens apart from the people who live in and near fragile areas that need protection. In addition to supporting communities by virtue of our safaris, which offer direct economic benefit through our hiring of local staff and the purchase of local goods and supplies in the communities proximate to where we travel, our Natural Habitat Migration Base Camp also supports other regional projects to sustain local people and the environment.