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Kenya Safari

Rekero Camp

Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

The Great Migration as seen from Rekero Camp
Return to Map of Masai Mara                     Image © Rekero Camp

View images of Rekero Camp:  Rekero Camp Images

REKERO CAMP - MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE, KENYA
Rekero Camp is situated at what is often recognized as the prime site within the Masai Mara Game Reserve, close to the confluence of the Mara and Talek River, ten minutes from the main Wildebeest crossings during the migration. The camp overlooks large pools populated with hippo and crocodile, and offers some of the finest big cat viewing in Africa.

The camp is set up seasonally (June to October and December to March) and caters for up to fourteen guests. Gerard and Rainee Beaton and Jackson Ole Looseyia own and host this unique camp. Their team of Professional Maasai Safari Guides and camp crew have worked together for years, providing guests with an in depth and truly memorable Masai Mara experience.

The Beaton family arrived in Africa in 1889, helping pioneer Kenya's conservation movement in 1946. The conservation tradition continues today at Rekero, where the camp offers old time hospitality and a unique insight into the Masai Mara's wildlife, cultures, flora and fauna. Wildlife viewing can be done on foot with experienced Masai and Il Dorobo guides, or in custom four wheel drive vehicles, which allow intimate, yet unobtrusive access to the animals.

Accommodation            For images of Rekero Camp, click Rekero Camp Images
Rekero offers seven spacious tents, all of which have the capacity of being a double, twin or triple, and one tent is a family tent (sleeps 5). All the tents have terraces overlooking the Talek river and en-suite bathrooms with flush loos and safari showers. There are no hair dryers in the tents. Kerosene lanterns are situated in front of the tents to provide subtle lighting to the exterior and front. There is mineral water for drinking in the tents.

Camp facilities include:
Dining tent.
Laundry services provided.
Variety of board games & books on Africa.
Gift shop (with gift items and essentials).
Wheelchair access in main public areas.
Safe box at the office.
24-hr power to provide lighting through a solar powered inverter system.
Electrical items can be charged from a central point - no power sockets in the tents.
Mobile phone networks do work – Safaricom tends to work in camp and Celtel from higher ground.
No Credit card facilities.

Children
We suggest that the minimum age for children is 8 years old, however this is flexible.

Other Items of Interest
Air-conditioning/ room fans No
Mosquito Nets No - Not necessary
Pool : No
Showers : Indoor bush showers
Power : 240 volts
Private 4x4 safari vehicle If available, extra cost
Laundry Included - except ladies underwear
Shop : Yes
Malaria Area : Yes

Activities & Wildlife
Wildlife viewing and bird watching can be done on foot with experienced Il Dorobo and Masai guides or in custom-built four-wheel-drive vehicles, which allow intimate yet unobtrusive access to the animals. Visits to one of the guides village can be arranged, walking can also be arranged in advance in an area outside the reserve. Picnics in the bush and sun downers also feature. Trips on a hot air balloon can be arranged at a local lodge at extra cost.

Wildebeests at Rekero Camp, Masai Mara

Daily Schedule
Your hosts will discuss the activities available at the camp and each day can be tailored to a guests needs. However generally a day tends to follow the following plan:
06h00 - Wake up with tea or coffee
06h30 - Depart on the morning game drive. Will stop for a picnic breakfast
during the morning
11h00 - 12h00 - Return from morning game drive
13h00 - Lunch followed by a siesta
16h00 - Meet for tea followed by departure for the afternoon game drive
18h30 - Return from afternoon game drive
20h00 - Meet for drinks around the fire followed by dinner

Scenic Balloon Flights
Dawn flights over the Mara are really the only way to appreciate the true vastness of this Mara / Serengeti ecosystem.

Additional Options
Morning walks
Cultural visits to local villages
Day trip to Lake Victoria for fishing day
Scenic flights over the Masai Mara

Balloon flights involve an early start depending on the preferred take off site. Usually guests would leave Camp at 5am for a 45 minutes drive up the Talek River to meet the Adventures Aloft balloon crew. After a safety briefing, take off is at first light to catch the sunrise while floating over the endless grass plains to a well deserved champagne breakfast.

Culture and Partnerships
The Masai Mara is the home of one of the great fighting tribes of Africa, the Msasai, and also to small clans of Il Dorobo, the traditional hunter gatherers of this part of Africa, whose culture is disappearing rapidly.

Perhaps the greatest part of what makes the Rekero experience so special is the interaction and mix of cultures that the guides and the local Masai share so readily with their guests. A cultural visit to the local Masai and Il Dorobo communities, with whom the Beatons have a close association, together with an insight into bushcraft, is a truly humbling experience.

Masai Mara & The Great Migration
The Masai Mara Game Reserve and adjacent Conservation area totals 750 square miles and forms the northern tip of the Serengeti / Mara ecosystem. The Masai Mara offers wonderful scenery and an amazing abundance of wildlife.

Every year it hosts what is now recognized as the greatest show on earth, 'the migration', which takes place between July and October. Over a million wildebeest and two hundred thousand zebra pass through on their endless journey, following the rains and in search of grass. Here you are able to witness the spectacular river crossings and the frenzy of predator activity.

The precise timing of the migration changes annually, arriving in the Masai Mara as early as July, but more commonly in August and September. The Mara River is the greatest obstacle they have to face,as the currents can be strong and the banks steep, but it is the gigantic Nile crocodiles that is to be their biggest obstacle! Over a million wildebeest and two hundred thousand zebra are on this endless journey in search of fresh grasslands. Typically the herds continue their journey south in November but have been known to stay into January.

Conservation
The Rekero Camp team, led by Gerard, Rainee, and Jackson feel very strongly about the preservation of Kenya’s unique and precious wildlife and environment. The company mission statement reflects this:
“To promote Kenyan tourism through the provision of a high quality safari experience encompassing an insight into animal behaviour, flora, fauna, and local cultures.”

Their environmental policy is best summarised as follows: - “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints”

To provide greater focus on Community Conservation we have extended our fund raising activities. We place equal weight and therefore division of funds towards education and the environment, including wildlife (as they are inextricably linked) in part of the Mara Conservation Area known as Ol Chorro Losoit, where Rekero Camp’s HQ is located. It is from this area that many of the Rekero Camp employees originate.

This area represents an important animal corridor and combined with the surrounding lands making up the Masai Mara Conservation Area provides an extended eco system which is vital to the preservation of the wildlife within Masai Mara National Park itself.

Seasons
Rekero Camp is open year round except April, May and November, when the camp closes for the rains. The temperature never exceeds 85F/30C during the day and rarely drops below 60F/15C at night. The warmest time of year is December / January and the coolest is June / July.


Top           Return to Map of Masai Mara           Return to Map of Kenya

Wildebeest & Zebra Migration Routing & Schedule for Kenya / Tanzania:  Great Migration Schedule

For History and General information about Kenya, click More Kenya
For information about the Kenya's National Parks & Reserves, click Kenya Parks



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