Set Departure on Horseback

Offbeat Safaris

Maasai Mara, Kenya

Maasai Mara on horseback

Riding amongst Africa’s animals on horseback is an active, exhilarating and adrenalin fuelled safari. You are no longer an ‘arm-chair’ traveller but a real participant riding right amongst the wildlife that abounds in Masai Mara eco-system.

The riding safari outfitter, Offbeat Safaris, is one of Africa’s top horseback safari operators with over 25 years’ experience organising mobile riding safaris in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Laikipia Plateau. The Mara ride travels from east to west (or vice versa) across the Mara Plains including a ride up onto the Soit Olololol escarpment for those classic views across the expansive wilderness.

Home for your traverse across the plains is a ‘mobile tented camp’ – meaning it is erected and dismantled each time you move from one site to the next. The camp has between 4 and 6 mobile tents each with an ‘en suite’ toilet and shared ‘bucket’ shower facilities which are most welcomed after a day in the saddle. The tents are setup in a twin/double configuration and are comfortable and spacious enough for your afternoon siestas and a good nights’ sleep at the end of a long day. Informal meals are hosted in the mess tent or around the campfire with delicious English breakfasts, lighter lunches and three course home-cooked dinners prepared by the cheery camp staff on open fires. There is also a library mess furnished with comfortable chairs, a writing desk, and a fully stocked bar – the perfect place to unwind and share your tales from the day.

If you wish, you can extend your safari by enjoying the colonial elegance of Deloraine House, the home of Offbeat Safaris. Deloraine House was built in 1920 by Lord Francis Scott and is a grand example of early Kenyan colonial architecture. Here you can enjoy magnificent gardens, a croquet lawn, tennis court, swimming pool and around 80 horses, including polo ponies, to ride through the surrounding countryside and enjoy at your leisure.

A trip with Offbeat Safaris is a journey like no other combing the adrenaline-fuelled wilds of Africa and the sophistication of colonial glamour.

8 UNFORGETTABLE DAYS

Please note:

This example itinerary is based on the 7-night Mara Riding Safari. With four different camp locations you will literally ride from one side of the Maasai Mara to the other, covering over 250km. Rides in Amboseli and Laikipia are also available – please enquire.

DAY 1 | OLARE LAMUN | 2 NIGHTS

You will either be collected at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport or if you have arrived earlier from your Nairobi Hotel and transferred to Wilson Airport for your flight at 10:00 am to Naboisho. It is a beautiful flight passing over the fertile Kikuyu Highlands before reaching the Great Rift Valley. You will fly across the volcano studded floor of the Rift before reaching the Loita Hills and Naboisho Air strip. You will be met by your guide and there will be an hour’s drive to camp, which sits in a grove of acacia trees by a small stream at the southern edge of the Loita Plains at Olare Lamun (the rhino salt lick). Lunch will be served and you will have a little time to relax before meeting your horses and setting off on your first gentle evening ride.

DAY 2 | OLARE LAMUN

After an early morning ride come back to camp for a light breakfast and then set out for a game drive and walk up a hill nearby called Oloiburmut returning to camp for a brunch/lunch. There will be time for a siesta and at around 4pm, drive up the hill to visit the local Maasai Village.

DAY 3 | OLARE OROK | 2 NIGHTS

This is the first moving day. Break camp in good time as it is the longest ride of the trip covering nearly 50kms but you will meet the vehicles to break the ride with a picnic breakfast and lunch along the way. Riding across the rolling open plains the game generally becomes more plentiful as you approach the Mara ecosystem. You should see herds of zebra, topi, giraffe, wildebeest, gazelle, and there is a good chance of seeing elephant and buffalo as well. Reach camp on the edge of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve on the Olare Orok lugga late afternoon. From camp you are likely to hear lion and hyena at night and the abundance of game is apparent everywhere.

DAY 4 | OLARE OROK

A full day of morning and evening rides from camp with the option of driving into the game park for some good photographic opportunities. From the land rovers you can get much closer to lion, elephant and buffalo than you are able to do from the horses.

DAY 5 | ESCARPMENT

Second moving day – head west across the Mara plains and reach the Mara River on the Park boundary. Hopefully ford the river (unless in complete flood) at one of the famous wildebeest crossings and then head south-west across the Mara Triangle for a picnic lunch before ascending the Soit Olololol Escarpment to reach the camp in a forest glade overlooking the whole Mara ecosystem.

DAY 6 | MARA RIVER | 2 NIGHTS

Today, descend the escarpment again and ride through the Triangle once more to the same wildebeest crossing on the river. Head in a North Westerly direction and after a picnic lunch find your final campsite set up on the banks of the Mara River. Close by there are some hippo pools and their grunting at night is a special feature of this camp.

DAY 7 | MARA RIVER

With a full day camped on the river, follow the same morning and evening ride routine and take the opportunity to cross the river close to the hippo which is an exhilarating a highlight. A walk or drive will be on offer after breakfast providing another good opportunity to take photographs.

DAY 8 | END OF SAFARI

Enjoy a final early morning ride before breakfast, say goodbye to your horses, then travel by road to the airstrip to meet your flight back to Nairobi. If you wish, build in time to see Nairobi and do some shopping.

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NEED TO KNOW

Set departures December to March & June to October
Maasai Mara migration rides are best done from July to September
7 to 10 night safaris are available
Rides operate in the Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Laikipia Plateau
Minimum 5 | Maximum 12 guests
Weight limit: 95kgs for riders

Multiple dates available
Single supplement may apply
Flights and insurance on request
Terms and conditions apply – please request a copy of our booking form for all details.
Price is subject to change due to currency fluctuation and unforeseen changes beyond our control
Please contact us for pricing, dates and a full itinerary

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