Mara Explorers

20/06/2024

Bush camping in the Masai Mara with 🤩

20/04/2024

On safari last week with 🦓🐘🦒

17/03/2024

Hiking Mount Kenya to Lenana peak at 4985m via the Sirimon Chogoria crossover route last month with our friends Mara Expeditions and Helen in Wonderlust 🥶🤩

20/02/2024

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of Ole Keene school and it's students!

We have recently visited the school several times to deliver porridge and follow up with the development progress and our sponsored students. We are happy to say the school is looking very much improved! The headmaster has now managed to secure a lot of funding and development from Better World Canada who are now constructing new dormitories for the students and teachers houses and it is looking like a great school.

With this in mind, as 2024 progresses our aim is to provide a regular supply of porridge for the kids and to concentrate on funding some activities for the students to give them further exposure and some wildlife and environmental conservation knowledge.

After discussing with the headmaster we are first planning to send all the grade 1, 2 and 3 students on a game drive into the Maasai Mara at the end of March when the term ends! This will be the first time most of these kids have been into the Maasai Mara reserve despite growing up right next to it. It will cost around 100,000ksh ($700 / £560) to hire three school buses and provide a lunch for the kids during the full day game drive. We are currently concentrating on raising funds for this.

Also in the plans for this year are some conservation lessons from a young Ole Keene resident who completed a BSc in conservation management in Nairobi university two years ago, and a multi day trip to Nairobi for some of the older grade 7 and 8 students who have never left the Mara to visit some of the main Nairobi attractions like the national museum, giraffe centre and Uhuru park.

We will keep you updated with progress!

Ole Keene is a Maasai community just 3km from the Sekenani gate of the Maasai Mara N… Laura Dowler Maina needs your support for Ole Keene School - Maasai Mara

18/02/2024

Crescent Island Game Sanctuary in Naivasha is only accessible via boat. Home to wildebeest, giraffe, waterbuck, impala, gazelles, and of course hippos in the lake, it's a great place to spend a morning or an afternoon wandering around the island with the resident wildlife 🦒🐾🦛

28/01/2024

Hells Gate National Park in Naivasha is the only national park in Kenya where you can walk and cycle inside due to the lack of active predators. Located on two tectonic plates it is also a hotspot for geothermal energy. You can spend a morning or afternoon cycling the 16km round trip to Ol Jorowa gorge and back amongst the Zebra, Giraffes, Impala and Rock Hyrax 🚴‍♀️🐾😊

14/01/2024

There's nothing like an early morning hike up Mount Longonot to make you feel good...(and hot & sweaty 😂)

06/01/2024

A few highlights in Solio Game Reserve from one of our recent Christmas safaris 🐾🦏🦒

05/01/2024

30/11/2023

Sand River rocking another glorious sunset 🌄

27/10/2023

Please note important changes to KWS park fees which will be in effect from 1st January 2024.

27/10/2023

Please note important changes to Maasai Mara park entry fees which will be in effect from 1st January 2024.

01/10/2023

Looking for something different to do around Nairobi.... try a coffee farm tour!
Kenya's Fairview Coffee Farm has been in operation since 1909, you can take a tour of the farm and learn all about the coffee making process and how to identify a good quality coffee bean 😁🫘☕

20/09/2023

A BIG 'Thank You' to everyone who has donated to our Ole Keene School fund so far!!

While the school was closed for long August holidays we were able to get quite a lot done on the classrooms. They do now have window panes, doors and have all been painted. The guttering to the water tank has also been done 😄

We haven’t yet been able to do the book and bag shelves for the kids equipment but for now the porridge flour has become our priority.

Unfortunately fuel costs in Kenya have risen staggeringly over the past year which has pushed up the cost of all basic commodities and the cost of living in general. The cost of a 90kg bag of flour has basically doubled since pre pandemic days and it now costs almost $100 per bag inclusive of transport to the school. Due to the fact the porridge has been irregular the enrolment in the school has also fallen and therefore in agreement with the principle of the school this is what we will concentrate on fundraising for at the moment.

Please keep spreading the word and sharing our GoFundMe page https://gofund.me/113b7692 so that we can try to get our Porridge Project up and running properly again 😊

17/09/2023

Mount Elgon National Park.
Located on the Kenya/Uganda border this park is home to Kenya's second highest peak with a 4222m altitude.
In this beautiful remote park you have the option to take a multi day hike from the Chorlim gate to the peak. Alternatively if you are a bit mad like us you can drive to the furthest point where the road ends and hike the last 8km to the peak and back in 5-6 hours (heads up..it's a pretty tough hike 😅... but stunning).

27/08/2023

Nights with us around the bush TV are never boring 🔥🍖🍻

27/07/2023

Tsavo west views for miles 🔥
📸 credit

08/07/2023

A beautiful Maasai Mara sunset with the rains 🌅

20/06/2023

Making memories to last a lifetime.

10/06/2023

Weekend mode 💤

09/06/2023

Are you thinking of joining a fun and friendly small group adventure tour in Africa soon?! If so, our friend Helen in Wonderlust has a small number of spaces remaining on some of her tours this year and plenty of space for next year, don't miss out!!

Rock My Adventure is a small group Africa tour company for solo travellers, founded by Africa Travel Blogger, Helen in Wonderlust. Experience the REAL Africa we know and love!

30/04/2023

Trying something different! A Swahili cooking class at Mida Creek Nature Camp in Watamu 😋
📸 credit safarizeit

26/04/2023

As always we are thankful to all of our past and present sponsors who have made a huge difference to the lives of many students and their families over the past 10 years in Kenya.
We get a lot of inquiries from people who are interested in sponsoring a student and unfortunately due to the pandemic a couple of our students did lose their sponsors as they were no longer in a position to continue paying fees for them.
We have also been approached by the principal of Ole Keene about a little girl who developed cerebral palsy due to contracting meningitis and she requires a special needs school which the family are unable to pay for, we would love to find a sponsor for her too.
School fees in Kenya do vary depending on if it is a public or private school, day or boarding (lots of students from remote areas have to board because of the distance to their school which makes it more expensive) and what grade the student is in. As an example, school fees for a student in our local Ole Keene boarding school are around $240 per year and for high school it can be around $400 per year. It can also be a long term commitment of several years.
If you would be interested in sponsoring a student please let us know 😊

23/04/2023

Highlights from our recent camping trip to Entasekera and the Loita Forest 🏕️
Located 3-4 hours from Narok on unsealed roads, access is certainly not for the faint hearted, but once you arrive you can shut off from the outside world, you will find indigenous forests to hike in, rivers to cool off in, stunning views over Lake Natron and even hippos!

16/04/2023

This month we are raising money for our local Ole Keene Primary & Junior Secondary school!

Many of you who have stayed with us and travelled with us will have visited our local school in the Maasai Mara and will know over the past 10 years we have been running the Porridge Program and helping with development and community projects at the school and with the students and teachers.

Just before the Covid pandemic we had embarked on a project to construct new classrooms at the school but since then life has been difficult for a lot of people and raising funds hasn't been easy.

We are very thankful that donations from our partners have enabled us to keep up the Porridge Program running up to date but funds are now almost depleted and 3 years later we would really like to get the classrooms finished!

They are currently functioning but with no glass panes in the windows and no shelves for books or student bags. They are also in need of some final painting, decorating and guttering for rain water harvesting.

Please share, spread the word and donate a little something if you can so we can start to make a difference again :)

More details for anyone interested are in the link!

Ole Keene is a Maasai community just 3km from the Sekenani gate of the Ma… Laura Dowler Maina needs your support for Improving Ole Keene School - Maasai Mara

09/04/2023

A few highlights from our Amboseli, Tsavo West and Tsavo East safari with safarizeit which finished at the coast this week. It's so nice to see Amboseli green again after an awfully long drought ❤️

02/04/2023

Last weekend we distributed food to some of the families hardest hit by the recent drought. We spent the night camping in one of the most remote villages which was a lot of fun!
Thank you so much to Brooke and Alina who stayed with us way back in 2015 for making it possible ❤️
Thankfully we've finally had some good rain over the last couple of weeks which we hope will continue and life will get easier again for all Kenyans 🙏

19/03/2023

A few highlights from our Lake Nakuru and Mount Suswa camping safari last week 😍

12/03/2023

Having an amazing time bush camping in Sand River last week with lovely guests 😍