Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp

If you’re debating between Elewana Sand River and Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp, you might consider that Elephant Pepper is in the private Mara North Conservancy, not the National Reserve. This means that there is a five vehicle limit during game drives and you won’t be faced with forty vehicles surrounding one cheetah. Additionally, Mara North Conservancy is one of the best examples of community conservation in the world. It was created when about 900 Masai families chose to donate their land to form the Conservancy. It is managed cooperatively to keep traditional pastoral ways of living alive and maximize habitat for wildlife. This was our second visit to Elephant Pepper Camp and it was as lovely as the first. The camp is unfenced which means you need to be escorted to and from your tent when it’s not bright daylight - you’ll understand why when you see the elephant dung on the path and hear the hippos munching loudly next to your tent at night. But we always felt safe with the fantastic camp security who kindly point out all of the wildlife activity that is happening nearby. The tents are beautifully furnished and surprisingly insect free (no gnarly spiders!) and our room steward Ronald kept it squeaky clean. We loved the early morning fire circle with coffee, tea and biscuits before game drives - and also the same fire at night upon our return for drinks before dinner. The camp has a beautiful main tent which serves as a lounge, dining room and bar. There’s also a separate library tent with games and a little shop cabinet with locally made crafts and essentials. The chefs Peter, Kifetu, and John Mark at Elephant Pepper Camp are incredible - we were always stuffed but had to taste everything - it was all so good! Our butler Robert was so kind and we were thrilled to see him again! He continued teaching us more words in Swahili which we loved. Leperes was our guide and we loved learning about his connection to the land as his family is part of the cooperative that manages Mara North Conservancy. Leperes gave us lessons in spotting wildlife, explained the symbiotic relationship between grazing the land with livestock and creating suitable habitat for wildlife, and had a lively energy that made our game drives fun and engaging. He also has a great photographer’s eye and we took some of the most gorgeous photos during our trip. We also felt privileged to experience the Masai market, only on Thursdays, in the village of Aitong. We met our market guide David who explained how the bustling market worked and also helped us navigate the vendors where we purchased some beautiful cloth and beaded jewelry directly from the makers. Mara North Conservancy is a magical place and Elephant Pepper Camp is the perfect place to experience the magic. Big thanks to Zed the manager for making us feel so at home!

Thank you for such a wonderful trip for my family. We have been most impressed by the world class service, attention to detail, phenomenal cuisine (which should deserve global recognition) and just how you so lovingly, caringly and passionately look after your guests (friends!). Your safari guides ar ejust amazing ( we saw amazing game and action thanks to their passion) I travel a lot, and I can confidently say that your property (ad Elewana in general) are amongst the very very best properties in the world! Please pass our sincere congratulations to all your team members. Keep it up and Keep making our country proud! See you soon!

this was a magical, once in a lifetime holiday with three days at Elephant Pepper Camp. It is an all-male run camp headed up by Moses and his crew, almost all Maasai. My husband uses an electric wheelchair and all the staff could not have done more to help him get around the camp. The wildlife viewings were superb, ably guided by Frances. The setting is magnificent with open savanna views and giraffe, zebras, elephant etc wondering by. We loved the genuine warmth and humour of the Maasai warriors. We had a memorable experience although I would say that if you are fully disabled and heavy, it may not be the best holiday choice for you.