Mara & Lakes District Horse-Riding Safari

Your scenic charter flight will take you from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport to the Naibosho airstrip in the spectacular Masai Mara. Marvel at the fertile highlands below as you fly over the crater-studded floor of the Great Rift Valley. Enjoy your first game drive of the tour straight after landing – an hour’s drive from the airstrip to your camp in the Mara. Settle into your comfortable tent at Olare Lamun (meaning ‘rhino salt lick’), nestled in a grove of acacia trees beside a beautiful streamlet. Savour a delicious lunch before heading out on a sunset ride.

Discover this remote area of the Masai Mara on game drives, horseback or a guided walk from Olare Lamun. The Mara delivers excellent, year-round game viewing thanks to its diverse population of resident game like lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and other species like hyena, zebra and giraffe. And of course, the staggering number of wildebeest that arrive in the Mara during the annual Migration (from July to November).

Set out on your first day of riding! You will cover a total distance of 50 kilometres or 31 miles across the rolling plains of the Mara, galloping among herds of wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and gazelle. And, if you are lucky, you might also spot elephant and buffalo. Stop for a 2-hour lunch break in a scenic spot, before heading off again through big game country. As you reach the edge of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in the late afternoon, you will be welcomed at Olare Orok tented camp set beside a tranquil seasonal stream.

Go on morning and evening horse rides to explore Kenya’s flagship conservation area. Enjoy up-close photographic opportunities while discovering the Mara on expertly guided game drives, spotting big game like lion, elephant and buffalo.

Your mobile tented camp, Olare Orok provides spacious sleeping tents equipped with comfortable beds, torches, gas lanterns and hurricane lamps. Each tent has a bathroom tent with traditional hot bucket-showers. Fall asleep every night to the distant calls of the Mara’s lion and hyena.

Enjoy another day on horseback, heading west across the grass plains until you reach the renowned Mara River. If not in full flood, you will ford the river at one of the famed wildebeest crossing points under the watchful eyes of the resident hippos and crocodiles. After an exhilarating river crossing, you will continue across the Mara Triangle and stop for a well-deserved picnic lunch and siesta. To reach your next tented camp, you have to ascend the Soit Ololol Escarpment and make your way through a forest until you are welcomed by a tranquil glade. You will be met at camp Soit Ololol with some of the most sensational views of the Masai Mara landscape.

After a delicious English breakfast, you will ride along the top of the escarpment and marvel at the jaw-dropping views over the Mara. See a multitude of plains game below and, if you are lucky, you might spot the solitary Mrs Ross’s or Schalow’s turaco. Follow a rocky cattle track as you descend the escarpment on foot, before stopping for a scenic picnic lunch in the pleasant shade of some acacia trees. Enjoy a scenic ride through the Mara Triangle after lunch. Make your way back up the escarpment on horseback, following a game trail that showcases huge herds of buffalo. Arrive back at camp Soit Ololol in time for dinner and a tipple of your choice beside a crackling campfire.

Descend the escarpment for one last time and head back towards the Mara River – crossing at the same wildebeest spot as on Day 6. After a picnic lunch in the wild, you will continue riding along the river until you reach your campsite for the evening – set on the banks of the Mara River. Settle into your tent after dinner and fall asleep to grunting and chortling hippos in the river below.

After breakfast, you will start your road transfer to the Lake Nakuru area via Kericho – located on the edge of the Mau Forest and renowned for its large-scale cultivation of tea. Enjoy another delicious picnic lunch, before arriving at the gorgeous Deloraine House in time for afternoon tea followed by a walk through the lodge’s stunning bird-filled gardens. Savour a wholesome home-cooked dinner and retreat to your room after eight soul-stirring days on horseback.

Deloraine House is less than an hour’s drive from Lake Nakuru, one of Kenya’s best-known soda lakes and home to a colossal number of migrating flamingos during January and February. A day trip can be arranged to the lake, complimented by a delicious picnic lunch.

As one East Africa’s leading equestrian centres, Deloraine offers various horseback activities like scenic day rides as well as polo. If you have the chance, take a day ride through a protected forest in the Rift Valley – a magical adventure in search of rare black-and-white colobus monkeys.

Or simply unwind and drink in the lodge’s fantastic facilities like a tennis court, croquet lawn and refreshing swimming pool. Deloraine is the perfect destination to kick off your shoes and relax after an epic horse riding safari through the Masai Mara.