Elephant Pepper Camp

Location: Situated in the Mara North Conservancy, the camp offers a more intimate safari experience with limited vehicle traffic and abundant wildlife. Guests appreciated the proximity to nature, serene views, and the immersive setting amidst the savanna.

We just had an amazing 4 nights here. Every single member of the staff made us feel so welcome and special. The chef is fantastic and the food was 5 stars. I would especially like to thank Moses, Rinka, Emanuel, Amos and Dickson who took such good care of us. They even planned a private dinner for us on our last night that was so romantic! Thank you to everyone — we will be back.

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!