Big Cats of the Maasai Mara

Photo Safari - November 2027

US$ 11,500 per person sharing

US$ 1,500 single supplement

Big Cats of the Maasai Mara

Photo Safari with Laura Dyer

When people think of Africa, they think of Kenya’s Masai Mara. The vast rolling plains, the sheer density and diversity of wildlife, and the thrill of the wild. This is Africa as it is meant to be.

Taking in two of the wonderful conservancies of the Mara (Mara North and Naboisho), this safari showcases the some of the best that the Mara has to offer. The Maasai Mara Conservancies are incredible and successful conservation stories where the land is owned by the community and not by the government as is the case in the Mara Reserve. Tourist density is low and vehicle numbers at sightings are limited meaning that we can enjoy being with the wildlife without the scenes and sounds of hundreds of vehicles surrounding and crowding the animals. I will only lead trips to the Conservancies.

The Mara is known for incredible numbers of predators, particularly big prides of lions which roam these vast plains in numbers not usually seen elsewhere in Africa, but in reality it is the sheer density and diversity of wildlife that truly amazes.

Big skies and open plains, the Maasai Mara is an African icon.

Tour Summary

  • Where: Kicheche Mara Camp & Kicheche Valley Camp

  • Nights: 9 (10 days)

  • Group Size: 3

Dates & Prices

  • November 2027: 11 - 20 November 2027 - Spaces available

    Price: US$ 11,500

    Single supplement $1,500

Tour Date Notes

November: November usually marks the beginning of the ‘short rains’. These come in the form of afternoon thunderstorms and this can make for incredible photography and dramatic skies. The Mara is also relatively quiet compared to the peak migration season of July-October meaning fewer tourists and more flexible opportunities for photographing the wildlife. The temperatures are beginning to rise towards 30ºC during the day, cooling off if it rains (20ºC) and pleasant at night. As always, the mornings and evenings on the vehicle can be chilly so fleeces and/or warm jackets are essential. There is no need to pack waterproofs as the camp provides ponchos to keep you dry should it rain. I love this time of year in the Mara. The skies are incredible and the wildlife plentiful.

Explore the Maasai Mara

Safari Highlights

  • The safari begins in Nairobi with a night at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel inside Jomo Kenyatta Airport as most international flights arrive late into Nairobi. Laura will meet you at the hotel. The next morning we will all meet before transferring to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport for a short domestic flight to the Maasai Mara (~ 45min).

    After the last morning drive we will depart the Mara for Nairobi making sure to coordinate with any onward travel plans you may have.

  • The Kicheche camps are located in the private Maasai Mara Conservancies where tourist density is low and vehicle numbers controlled ensuring that we can enjoy quality time with the wildlife without the chaos that often comes in the National Reserve.

    Off-road driving is permitted allowing for better positioning and photographic opportunities. Additionally, we are completely flexible with no restrictions on when we can be out in the mornings nor when we have to be back in the evenings maximising our use of the best light.

    We will ensure a maximum of 3 guests per vehicle so there will be plenty of space to store gear and move around freely.

    • 1 night at Four Points by Sheraton Hotel before transferring to the Maasai Mara

    • All conservancy fees

    • Internal flights to and from Nairobi Wilson Airport.

    • 4 nights at Kicheche Mara Camp

    • 4 nights at Kicheche Valley Camp

    • All food and beverage (excl premium brands)

    • Laundry (for cultural sensitivity, ladies underwear will not be laundered but washing powder is provided in every room for this purpose).

    • 15kg excess baggage per person ensuring there is no need to worry about your camera gear

    • International flights

    • Premium drinks

    • Tips and gratuities for staff (optional)

    • Visas and/or any vaccinations

    • Additional excess baggage charges

    • Optional extra activities (eg. hot air balloon)

  • The emphasis of this trip is both learning in the field, where Laura has many years of experience under her belt, and in-camp mentoring and guidance in-between drives. With her understanding of animal behaviour as well as how to photograph wildlife, she will spend time explaining the process and settings needed for excellent photography.

    Between drives, the small group means there will be ample time for individual attention - learning new skills as well as one-to-one time to edit images and discuss any subjects you would like on an individual basis. The goal is for you to leave with stronger skills, and a beautiful portfolio of images to illustrate the Maasai Mara, as well as a greater understand of the wildlife that call this wilderness ‘home’.

Laura Dyer riding in a safari vehicle in an open grassland, wearing a baseball cap and a sweatshirt, with a cloudy sky overhead.

Meet your guide

Laura is an award-winning wildlife photographer with many years' experience exploring Earth’s wildest places from the plains of Africa to the frozen ice of the polar regions. Having grown up in South Africa, she spent all her free time in the bush and has an extensive knowledge of wildlife behaviour. With 20 years of safaris under her belt she knows how to anticipate, visualise and capture the perfect shot.

“I love teaching guests how to capture those perfect moments on safari and seeing their faces light up when using a new technique or nailing a shot for the first time - creating memories that last a lifetime. It is a real privilege for me to see and be a part of these experiences and I absolutely love it.”

Learn more

Details

Day 1: Arrival and Four Points by Sheraton

On exit from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport arrivals hall in Nairobi, you will be met by a driver who will transfer you to the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel - approximately a 5 minute drive from the terminal buildings.

Days 2-6: Kicheche Mara Camp

We will all meet up as a group in the morning at the hotel for breakfast before transferring to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport for our 45 min flight into the Mara, landing at the Mara North airstrip. We will be met by our Kicheche guide for a short 30 min drive to Kicheche Mara Camp.

Laura has spent many many months at all the Kicheche camps so knows the areas, the guides and the wildlife intimately. Kicheche Mara Camp is a classic tented camp hidden in a beautiful valley in a prime wildlife area of the Mara North Conservancy. The luxury tents are laid out alongside a seasonal stream from where you can observe the resident birdlife and plains game beyond. The location is ideal as game viewing frequently starts in the camp itself and there is prime wildlife habitat on all sides providing an ideal base for your safari in the Masai Mara.

Our group will have a vehicle to ourselves which means there will be plenty of space for our gear. The vehicles are incredibly comfortable with large open sides and good support for our lenses. The roof is open to the skies allowing a panoramic view as we drive. In the event of rain, the top and sides can be quickly covered and transformed into a closed vehicle.

Following the morning drive on the 16th, we will pack up and transfer by road to Kicheche Valley Camp (approximately 1 hour).

Our Focus

Mara North is arguably the most beautiful of the Mara’s conservancies with rolling valleys, riverine forests and vast plains dotted with acacias together with the Mara River flowing through it where hippos abound. Mara North also usually boasts good numbers of lions with several prides present on the conservancy. Leopards are prolific, particularly near the Kicheche camp and the guides are exceptional at locating and finding these often elusive cats. Cheetahs are often present here as well, and more often than in the other main conservancies and large herds of elephants and buffaloes complete the big game species.

Our focus, therefore, will be on the big cats and using the landscape to elevate our photos. Silhouettes are a speciality of the area with the plateau above camp perfect for this kind of photography as the false dawn blushes the eastern horizon. Cheetahs often climb termite mounds to better search for prey and to keep watch on predators and the Mara has incredible skies meaning wide-angles or small-in-frame wildlife shots are often on the shot-list.

We will do a morning and afternoon drive with an optional image review and editing session in between where I will be on hand to provide personal assistance and help you learn to edit your photos, or discuss new skills or techniques learnt or practiced during the morning.

Days 6-10: Kicheche Valley Camp

Following the morning drive, we will pack up and transfer by road to Kicheche Valley Camp (approximately 1 hour).

Kicheche Valley, located in acacia woodlands in a secluded valley of the Naboisho Conservancy, is an intimate luxury tented camp. The six luxurious tents, built in a unique style incorporating high eco-standards, are set on platforms and provide the perfect base to see the stunning wildlife and wilderness. The personal touch of our hosts and limited numbers of guests will ensure a memorable stay at this special location.

After our last morning drive, we will pack up, enjoy lunch and transfer to the Ol Seki (Naboisho) airstrip (~15 min) for our afternoon flight back to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. Here we will be met by a driver who will transfer us back to the Four Points by Sheraton where we can relax and enjoy some food and drinks before onward international travel.

Our Focus

Naboisho Conservancy has one of the greatest concentrations of lions anywhere in Africa with prides often numbering 20-40 individuals. There is arguably nowhere better to see these incredible predators and the leopard viewing if also prolific with 4 adult females making their territories in the conservancy - often with cubs. As with our time in Mara North, our focus will be on the big cats and given that Naboisho is famous for its lions we will put in good time with them looking to photograph them on the wide open plains at sunrise and early morning. Naboisho is also famous for its density of giraffes that make daily migrations from the surrounding villages into the conservancy before returning in the evenings. In November there are often big stormy skies on the horizon in the evenings and these scenes of journeys of giraffe on open, stormy plains makes for excellent photographic opportunities.

If cheetah are on the conservancy, it is particularly rewarding to put in time with them hunting and if you have not yet seen a cheetah at full speed in pursuit of prey it really is a sight worth waiting for.

As in Mara North, we will do a morning and afternoon drive with an optional image review and editing session in between where I will be on hand to provide personal assistance and help you learn to edit your photos, or discuss new skills or techniques learnt or practiced during the morning.

Lioness sitting in tall golden grass in the Maasai Mara.
A female leopard walking through tall grass under a warm, golden sunrise.
A cheetah standing on grass in the Maasai Mara at sunset with a colourful sky and distant trees.
A lion walking through a sunlit Maasai Mara plain at sunset.
A group of zebras grazing on grass in the Maasai Mara at dawn with a lioness stalking towards them, with a mountain in the distance.
A young male leopard standing on grass with sunset filtering through the foliage in the background.
A herd of elephants walking across the plains of the Maasai Mara at sunrise with dark storm clouds overhead.
A cheetah with her cub resting paws on her back.
Two cheetahs, an adult and a cub, nuzzle each other in a golden-lit savannah of the Maasai Mara.
Two lion cubs in a grassy area, one standing and the other lying down, with the standing cub looking at the camera.
Silhouetted tree with a mother leopard and her cub on the branches against an orange-yellow sunrise sky.
A cheetah sitting on the grass at sunset with a warm orange glow, surrounded by trees.
A cheetah cub resting against the back of his mother in a grassy plain at sunrise.
Two cheetah cubs sitting in tall grass during sunset, backlit by warm, golden light.
Giraffes on flat plains of Naboisho under dark stormy sky with heavy rain in the distance.
Group of zebras standing on grassland with dark stormy sky and a tree in the background.
A lion walking across a grassy plain at sunrise with blurred trees in the background.
Two tall East African crowned cranes standing on a branch at sunrise, with golden light illuminating their feathers.
A silhouette of a giraffe standing on open plains under a night sky with many stars, a bright moon, and some clouds at dawn.
Group of six giraffes walking on grassland under partly cloudy sky.
Silhouette of a giraffe walking on the grass with a cloudy sky in the background.
A solitary tree illuminated at night under a star-filled sky with the Milky Way galaxy visible and a female leopard in the foreground.
Three cheetahs resting on grass, one with focused eyes looking at the camera, two appear to be looking elsewhere.
A leopard walking on rocks in a natural environment with cloudy sky in the background.
Silhouette of a mother giraffe and her calf standing on the plains with a colourful pre-dawn sky of pink, purple, and orange hues.
A young leopard cub with blue eyes in a green, leafy environment.

Pairs well with

  • A family of elephants walks the Amboseli lake bed in the shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro

    Amboseli

    In the shadow of Africa’s tallest mountain, roam Africa’s largest animals. Witness Elephants as never before in this unique landscape. Famous for its Big Tuskers, Amboseli is a near-mythical place where it truly feels as if you are stepping back in time to how African elephants are supposed to be seen. Undisturbed. Gentle. Awe-inspiring. Feel the herd and understand its dynamics like nowhere else on Earth.

    Explore
  • A white rhino against the orange blush of dawn.

    Laikipia

    Home to Kicheche’s Laikipia camp Ol Pejeta Conservancy has the highest concentration of black rhinos anywhere in Kenya and also is home to the world’s last two remaining Northern White Rhinos - both females and part of a concerted conservation drive to bring them back with fertilised embryos after the last male, Sudan, died in 2018.

    Explore