Ol Seki Mara Camp
Set on large, dramatic rocks, overlooking the seasonal Il Supukioi River, Ol Seki Mara Camp enjoys panoramic views in a gorgeous wilderness setting teeming with game. Located in Eastern Koiyaki, north of the Masai Mara game reserve, Ol Seki provides a rare opportunity to enjoy wildlife viewing in a pristine setting. This oasis of inspired and beautifully designed tents is nestled amongst Cordia, Acacia and Ol Seki (sandpaper) trees – the Maasai symbol of peace and for which the camp is named. A perfect setting to take in the abundance of wildlife and birds, many of which are seen from the tents in the valley below.
The camp boasts uniquely designed round tents on wooden platforms taking maximum advantage of the stunning panoramic views. The simple modern architecture creates an exciting living space in the 6 luxury “Nina” tents, each boasting a 270 degree panoramic view of the famous Maasai Mara, along with 2 brand new tow bedroom “Suited tents”. Traditional colonial décor coupled with all the modern amenities provide guests with a genuine safari experience.
Each uniquely designed bedroom tent remains completely hidden from the next, providing every client with the utmost privacy and seclusion. The abundance of wildlife in the Koiyaki area allows guests to enjoy big 5 game viewing in a pristine and untouched surrounding away from the hustle of mass tourism.
Elegant candle lit dinners, romantic dining for couples, bush picnics, sundowners out on the plains and a resident masseuse – a delight for all senses. With privacy in mind, the ambience of the traditional mobile safari camp has been extended to heights never dreamed of in this peaceful and magical setting.
Indulge yourself in luxury at Ol Seki – live and breathe this space that is Africa.
Game drives – day and night to see the wildlife and beauty of the conservancy
Bush walks - get up close with the landscape and wildlife on guided walks
Cultural & village visits
Visits to local Koiyaki Guiding School
Local N’dorobo talk and demonstration
Bush breakfasts & lunches
Sundowners
Note: Hot air balloon safari’s and other activities can be organised on request
Our Ethos
As a member of the Ecotourism Society of Kenya, Ol Seki makes every effort to maintain sustainable and responsible tourism within the Maasai Mara. Ol Seki contributes directly to the Maasai community and is proud of the strong relationship held between the camp and the residents of the Koiyaki community. Ol Seki Mara Camp is always there for the community!
Our Silver Ecotourism Award
Ol Seki Mara Camp is proud to have been accredited a Silver Award by the Ecotourism Society of Kenya, for upholding their ecological standards and for their commitment to the community nearby.
The two new family units at Ol Seki have followed the same design as the original tents and a great deal of thought has gone into their low environmental impact.
Ol Seki pledges to plant an indigenous tree for every guest visiting Ol Seki to offset their carbon footprint.
Assistance to the Community
Ol Seki has pledged their assistance to the Koiyaki community and they have been helping in many valuable ways, providing transport for those in need. With the assistance of the Ol Seki tractor, they helped to dredge the dam prior to the rains. The community now has a dam full of water and they are thrilled! Ol Seki’s tractor has been used to help in the building of the school classrooms and trenches for the pipes of the new water borehole.
Milk is bought for the staff from the nearby village, Paya, to which guests are taken, and locally reared goats provide dinners for the camp staff. It is a traditional village, with wonderful patina on the leather beds and the wooden supports, and guests are always surprised to know that this is not a tourist trap but a working enkang, with the calves and little kids all sleeping together in the one hut. Funds from visits to the village help to educate the children and the experience provides a fascinating insight to the guests of Ol Seki and to their children. Their hand made craft work is on offer to the guests encouraging the women in the groups to maintain their traditional skills. It is interesting to see how the women of the village used to walk to the weekly market at Nkoilale in the first year of operation, returning home well after nightfall. The following year, they were able to buy donkeys to help them carry their goods. Now, with a little pocket money to hand, they have been empowered and are able to rent a small pick-up to carry their shopping home.
Born Free Foundation
Ol Seki Mara Camp is proud to have been one of fifty sponsors for the Pride of Kenya fundraiser (http://www.prideofkenya.co.ke) part of the Born Free Foundation (http://www.bornfree.org.uk). Pride of Kenya is a mass public appeal art event featuring 50 decorated life size fibre glass lion sculptures which will be auctioned for lion conservation projects, as part of Born Free’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. Jan Allan designed and entered the Lion, named Simbaiosis, on behalf of Ol Seki. The Lion was then bought back during the auction, helping contribute to the KES 13 Million raised for the charity. The Lion can been seen at the camp, where it is displayed as a symbol of Ol Seki’s dedication to conservation efforts for the Wildlife of East Africa.
Olesere Primary School
Olesere Primary School has 170 students enrolled. It covers pre-unit through Year Five (about 4 to 13 years old). The school itself is very basic and our foremost goal is to improve the learning conditions as they are very spartan. Thanks to the new and inspired Headmaster, there is noticeable pride in the school by both the community and the children. The school now has five classrooms and a pre-school unit. They are looking to build at least another three classrooms in conformity with Kenya’s 8:4:4 system. Ol Seki would welcome any donations channelled through Tusk Trust.
A few years ago a free primary education scheme was started in Kenya. The budget for each student per year is 400 Kenyan Shillings – just over 3 pounds/$5USD. This is to cover teacher salaries, materials and texts. The government does not give money for building schools so often you will find classes taking place under the not-so proverbial acacia tree! Olesere, fortunately, has five classrooms, a staff room, outhouses and two water tanks, as well as a dedicated team of teachers. Teachers are paid very little and irregularly but this team is energetic and very willing to make do with the little they have to raise the school’s standards.
The new school kitchen at Olesere Primary School, was designed by Jan Allan for the community. Contributions by guests of Ol Seki have given the school access to government monthly donations of food, and the children will now receive school lunches. The dining room attached will double up as an assembly hall and meeting place for the community, and the attached store will be invaluable. Ol Seki would like to thank those guests whose donations made this happen – in particular, Dick Turpin of Artemis and seven year old Sophia Butler. An exciting contribution was the community’s agreement to put up a percentage of their game viewing fees towards this project, and so it is their own kitchen too. The funds were channelled through Tusk Trust and we should like to thank Tusk Trust for their continued support to the landowners and families in this area.
We are working with the teachers, students and parents to make Olesere a great school. One of our main goals is to give the community and the school ownership of this project – we aim to work WITH the school instead of FOR them. They are keen and willing to do what they can towards this goal. Need assessments for the community have been made by the NGO, World Concern, who concur that education is a priority. They have built teachers’ houses for the school. Listed below are the school’s priority needs.
Desks – Currently there are four or five students sitting at desks made for three. The school has had wood donated and Ol Seki would like to provide labour, training and tools to complete the construction of the desks.
Softboard – As the classrooms are constructed of rough wood, there are large gaps in the walls and it can be quite windy. Teachers have asked for some softboards to create classroom displays. Several of these have been installed already and display materials laminated as a gift from Ol Seki.
Playstructure – The students don’t have anything to play on and the teachers expressed an interest in a climbing structure, slide and/or swings. This would cost about 500 pounds sterling.
School Materials and books, display items maps, charts, etc – We have received several generous donations which have been greatly appreciated.
Trees – Ol Seki has planted a large Euphorbia candelabrum to create shade and several well grown indigenous trees have been planted as a wind-break.
Koiyaki Guiding School
Ol Seki Mara Camp is proud to be one of the largest donors to the school by contributing $10 USD per bed night to the school.
The neighbouring Koiyaki Guiding School has the following goals.
- To enhance conservation of the Maasai Mara wildlife by converting this region into an economically viable conservation area
- To equip local people with the professional skills needed for them to participate in, and promote conservation and wildlife management
- To provide financial benefits from tourism to the local communities thus underpinning advantages of conservation for their own lifestyle
- To reduce encroachment of wildlife habitat by farming communities and thereby reduce man-wildlife conflict
We have had many Koiyaki Students on attachment during their school holidays, giving them practical training, and we are proud to have on our staff, the first woman graduate guide, Betty Maitai. Our camping and conservancy fees and donations to the school have provided an income for the community, which has enabled further EU donor funding. On a practical side, we have a close working relationship with the school and have offered free bednights to both donors and lecturers. We have also assisted with a succulent garden at the school. In March 2009, the student guides went on a Field Trip to Nairobi and the coast, stopping off for a curry lunch and Talk on Succulents at Sue Allan’s. Last year, Ol Seki arranged lecturers for the school, giving free accommodation. Dr. Andrew Agnew, the well known botanist, currently finalising his third edition of ‘Upland Kenya Wild Flowers’, spoke on Plant Taxonomy and Rupert Watson gave a workshop on Conflict Resolution.
Melinda Rees, the Ol Seki Camp Manager, was born to a mobile expatriate family; by the time she was 18, she had lived in 7 countries, on 5 continents. The longest period of time was spent in East Africa, with 7 years in Nairobi, Kenya. Holidays were generally spent visiting yet more countries and cultures, providing her with personal experience of a wide range of locations, peoples, cultures, cuisines and transportation devices.
In 1993, the gypsy feet finally returned permanently to Kenya due to “the incredibly hospitable, friendly people, stunning landscape and fantastic wildlife. I have never felt ‘at home’ in the same way anywhere else in the world.”
James Maina is our Assistant Camp manager. James grew up in a small village on the outskirts of Nairobi where he completed his primary and Secondary education. He went to college to study Information technology and electronics and started his working career as a computer lab technician in a college in Nakuru town.
While at this college James was selected to be one of the teachers that identified secondary schools in remote areas for computer installation and training. His first post was in the tiny village of Molo, in the Mau Forest Escarpment area and it was here that his lifelong fascination with the wilderness was able to flower. A member of the Kenya Wildlife Club since an early age, James was always interested in the birds, plants and animals of Kenya and being stationed in a remote area allowed him to spend plenty of time in the wilderness, honing his knowledge.
After 3 years of exploring the ‘bush’ in this area, James’s career took him to Somaliland for a couple of years before his return to Nairobi where he was then offered a job at the Ol Seki Camp as Administrator and store man. Here James studied and passed his Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association exam and became a qualified Bronze level guide. He spends much of his free time at the camp guiding guests and giving our visitors the benefit of his enthusiasm for Kenya’s wilderness.
Evans Bitinyu was born in the Western part of Kenya, near the ancient rain forest of Kakamega and Lake Victoria. Being from one the ‘bread basket’ farming area of the country it was perhaps inevitable that he was interested in food!
Evans joined the Hemingways Hotel Watamu as a trainee chef in 1993 and was then snapped up after his training and qualification by a large private household to act as the Chef. Evans then moved to Nairobi in 2002 where he expanded his skills at the Kenya Utali Hotel College before another job running the kitchens at a large household.
He was approached by the owners of Ol Seki in 2005 and has been the Executive Chef here at the camp since the camp started. His simple yet elegant dishes are a favourite with our clients and many guests have headed home with a few of his recipes in hand to try at home. Perhaps an Ol Seki cook book is due!
Please find some additional information about Ol Seki Mara Camp:
