October 30, 2007

Africa & Mideast | Kenya

The Kenya Club

By Nicole Cotroneo

At Mara Safari Club you can float above croc-infested waters, while Masai warriors keep the lions at bay.

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Each year thousands of wildebeest cross the crocodile-infested waters of the Mara River on their way to Kenya’s Mara plains. The “Great Migration” is some of nature’s grandest theater — and Fairmont’s new Mara Safari Club is your front row seat. Set right on the river, at the border of the Masai Mara National Reserve, 50 luxurious guest tents have private verandas, four-poster beds and plush hand-woven rugs. Take afternoon tea en-suite or head to the lodge, where the dining room is cantilevered over the water. But with ton-plus crocs swimming about, you might want to consider the club’s riverside freeform pool surrounded by pillowed sun beds.

For safer encounters, Fairmont can arrange a “hot-air balloon safari” with a sparkling wine breakfast on the plains. Or you can catch a 40-minute plane ride to Lake Victoria, where you’ll be stalking mammoth Nile perch in the world’s second largest freshwater lake. Or, do as the natives do — take a walking safari with a local Maasai warrior dressed in full regalia “to scare away the lions.” Though for that one, they’ll make you sign a waiver.