On our recent trip to Laikipia and Northern Kenya, we decided to spend some time at the gorgeous Mugie Conservancy – it was the perfect break between Maralal and Lake Baringo.
We decided not to camp this time and instead stayed at Ekorian’s Mugie Camp – a place that is simple, yet classic and intimate in its’ bush charm. With only six tents, it has the perfect blend of being spacious, yet intimate. From the camp set-up to the options of activities available including playing golf, kayaking in the dam where elephants come to drink, to the intimate wildlife encounters, it is a magical place. We were very impressed with their focus on being eco-friendly and on promoting conservation of wildlife and the environment.
Donna, Liz and the team warmly greeted us on arrival to the camp – we had reached there at 9am as we wanted to make the most of our one night stay. The first thing on our agenda once we had settled into our luxurious tent was to get our laundry from the past few days done – this was a service they provide as part of the package and that evening we had our nicely washed and ironed clothes back in our tent.
After a quick cup of tea, we headed off on a tour of the conservancy in one of the camp vehicles – a Maruti Gypsy. Our superb team of guides organised a great itinerary for our short visit, after discussing our expectations from the visit to Mugie.
We started at the golf course and then made our way to the main conservancy headquarters, where we met Tala, the resident giraffe.
This was followed by a visit to the farm, the school for the children in the area to finally saying hi to the security bloodhounds. The two bloodhounds have been specifically trained for scent tracking and they can track poachers or thieves. It is possible to enjoy a walk with the hounds and see a demonstration of their skills, though we did not manage to do so as our visit was quite short this time.
Once at camp, a beautiful lunch was set up for us at the poolside. Fresh salads were the name of the game, and were just what we needed in the heat of the midday sun. We were so busy eating, I decided to put the camera down and did not get any photos of the fantastic spread. It was great to learn that the camp has its’ own vegetable garden which is fertiliser and chemical free. Whatever is not grown is sourced locally, supporting the communities in the area.
The grounds at Ekorian’s Mugie Camp are teeming with birdlife and that made for a great afternoon of photography for me, not leaving time for all the other activities which include volleyball, traditional archery and spear throwing, a trampoline and of course swimming. The pool is chemical free and with fresh water.
The evening was spent on a game drive seeing some of the beautiful Northern species like the Grevy’s zebras and then we went lion tracking.
We found them doing what lions love to do – sleeping.
This was the perfect cue for us to go for our sundowner, before heading back to camp.
We headed to our tent for a refreshing hot shower with the amazing toiletries which have natural ingredients, and plastic free packaging. This was just one of the many eco-conscious things we found at the camp. The other things we noticed were that they use solar power, and in an aim to minimize on plastic, they collect rainwater and boil and filter this for drinking. They provided us with refillable water bottles for our game drives and water in the tents was given in recycled wine bottles. I also found out that the drinking glasses are also made from recycled glass bottles by a local artisan.
We had a great dinner in the mess area. I love how they change the meal locations throughout your stay.
Finally before heading to bed, we decided to spend a little time trying our hand at some astrophotography – the night skies were just beautiful.
The nights at Ekorian can get chilly, but that made it perfect for some great sleep under the warm duvet.
The next morning, we were up early for another game drive, which of course means a great sunrise!!
We were also fortunate to have a great encounter with two cheetah brothers. Mugie also tracks the cheetahs so that they can try and keep the corridors where the cheetahs move open in an effort to try and conserve this endangered species. The cheetahs looked like they had just eaten a great meal and unsurprisingly, after posing for us for a while, went off to have a rest.
We then stopped for a cup of ‘chai’ (always needed in the early mornings) and were met with a short encounter with a bat eared fox mother and her babies not far from where we stopped.
We were also meant to go kayaking that morning, but decided to give it a miss as the heat of the day was already upon us and our stomachs were starting to rumble with the thought of breakfast.
Our very short break at Mugie had come to an end and we felt that there was a lot more to still do. We would recommend that anyone going thinks about spending three nights there as there are so many activities to experience.
If you would like to experience all that we have written about and more, than contact us through our contact page or email info@kampurtraveldiares.com to organize this amazing experience for you.
When you travel with us, part of the proceeds go to furthering education for children in Northern Kenya.
We would like to thank Ekorian’s Mugie Camp for providing some of the photos of the camp (as stated in the captions), including the cover photo.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall