BlackBook Getting It Right Angama Safari Camp, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara Roaming Holiday More private and remote than classic safari lodges, mobile camps are showing intrepid travellers a wilder side of Africa. By Kym Backer The mobile safari has always been a romantic, if somewhat rugged, way to see the great African landscapes – following wildlife across the savannah, setting up camp along the way and leaving no trace after moving on to the next secluded location. As travellers begin to head back to the continent this year, they’ll find new roving camps that emphasise the glamour of it all, without any of the grit. The timing for a return to Africa’s great wilds couldn’t be more ideal, says Nicky Fitzgerald, owner of the Angama 32 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
A private viewing of elephants in the wild with Siruai Mobile Camp “Nature-based tourism is definitely top of mind,” Fitzgerald says. “Right now, I think people want to run away towards nature” PHOTOS FROM LEFT: PARIS BRUMMER, SCOTT RAMSAY Mara safari lodge in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. “Nature-based tourism is definitely top of mind,” she says. “Right now, I think people want to run away towards nature.” Fitzgerald’s second camp, Angama Safari Camp (angama.com), is poised to meet that demand. Launched last October, the retreat is designed for a single group at a time, with four guest tents that remain on location for no more than two weeks before moving to a new site, leaving only a bit of flattened grass behind. Established, in part, to chase the Great Migration – the annual trek of millions of wildebeest from Tanzania’s Serengeti plains to the Maasai Mara that takes place from July to October every year – the mobile camp offers the chance to observe the natural event up close, yet far away from the popular tourist spots. Still, it’s all just as chic and comfortable as Angama Mara, with tents furnished with the same mattresses and duvets as at the upscale lodge, and a similar aesthetic combining bright red, khaki, copper and brass. The difference, says Fitzgerald, is “when you’re at Angama Mara, the lions are calling from below, but when you’re down in the mobile camp, they’re calling from right outside your tent, and that’s thrilling and chilling at the same time.” Other safari companies are going mobile too. Hidden away on more than 17,000 hectares of private ranchland in northwestern Laikipia, Kenya’s Safari Collection – known for its Giraffe Manor lodge on the outskirts of Nairobi – has pitched its first travelling tents with Siruai Mobile Camp (thesafaricollection.com). Totally off the beaten track, the roving retreat takes guests on walking safaris to hippo-filled watering holes and fishing expeditions on the Ewaso Narok River. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, outfitter Cookson Adventures (cooksonadventures .com) chases the best weather and wildlife conditions before pitching its four solarpowered tents furnished with Persian rugs and king beds. Guests can go walking in the bush to spot rhinos, skydive over salt pans and track big cats with the local San people. Farther east, African Bush Camps has launched Migration Expeditions Botswana (africanbushcamps.com), a six-tent camp that travels the salt flats of Nxai Pan National Park to follow the dazzling zebra migration and see the famous Kalahari lion prides. It also journeys into Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park along the Zambezi River for fishing and walking safaris. • PLEASE CHECK THE LATEST GOVERNMENT ADVICE BEFORE BOOKING TRAVEL OR DEPARTING ON ANY TRIP CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 33
