Olare Motorogi Conservancy

In the northwest of Maasai Mara National Reserve lies the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, one of the most enviably wild conservancies in the Mara ecosystem. This private conservancy offers one of the most exclusive Kenya safari experiences and is a leading private conservancy, combining low visitor numbers with vast, open wilderness, thus creating personal and unhurried safari experiences.

Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve is renowned for its big cats: lions, leopards and cheetahs, alongside other wildlife species such as giraffes and herds of elephants. Also, the conservancy is a key migration corridor with herds of wildebeests and zebras and gazelles on their annual migration.

History Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Olare Orok and Motorogi Conservancies were covering a vast area of 35,000 acres of prime grasslands, riverine forest and acacia woodlands before 2006, which was populated by rural homesteads and grazed in an uncontrolled manner by large herds of cattle, sheep and goats. The ecosystem was overgrazed, and the sustainability of the habitat for both people and wildlife was being destroyed. After numerous meetings with the local Maasai people, it was agreed that a new community conservation vision should be tried to address the sustainability of their land and to add value in both income and conserving vegetation so that a combination of wildlife tourism and sustainable rotational grazing would create a win-win situation for both the Maasai landowners and the wildlife of the Maasai Mara ecosystem.

Moving from a bednight system of payment to a monthly rental from the safari camps and lodges has given the Maasai landowners a reliable, steady income.

The management of the conservancy, together with facilities and elders, brokered the removal of homesteads and the reduction in domestic livestock herd sizes within core conservation areas; in particular, diurnal refuge areas for predators were left completely free of domestic livestock. As a result, the Conservancy has once again become a haven for big cats and part of the Annual Wildebeest Migration Route.

Facts About Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve

The formation of Olare Orok Conservation bordering Maasai Mara National Reserve in May of 2006 was a landmark date for conservation; this was the date when a deal was brokered with the 277 Maasai landowners that has since become the template for the Mara Community Wildlife Conservancies and a blueprint for the sustainability of the Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem.

Later, the conservancy expanded to also encompass Motorogi lands, thereby becoming Olare Motorogi Conservancy.

The Conservancy is managed by Olpurkel Ltd, a not-for-profit company whose shareholders are the operators controlled by a board of equal representation from both the landowners and the tourism partners, along with the representatives from the Maa Trust. This is to ensure that the Conservancy is run in a fashion that maximises the benefits for all the interested parties, no matter how diverse their interests and needs are. This has led to an interesting blend between conservation and traditional pastoralism. A recipe incorporating the puritan elements of conservation with the commercial needs of making the conservancy self-sufficient, combined with traditional knowledge gathered through centuries of experience.

The Olare Motorogi Conservancy has adopted a holistic approach to grazing and pasture management within the conservancy, an approach that is not far removed from the traditional Maasai system where the elders would decide on which areas were grazed and which were left for leaner times. The “Kudu Moja”, or one herd system, is where the landowners control and graze this short grass before moving on to the next designated area.

The short-grass areas, once vacated by the livestock, became hot spots for short-grass-loving herbivores. Water catchments are planned and constructed with these grazing patterns in mind, ensuring that there are close watering points for both cattle and wildlife. Also, roads and fire breaks are planned to minimise the environmental impact of visitors in the conservancy while maintaining the quality of experience for visitors.

Tourism in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy is limited to a maximum of 94 beds in five light-footprint camps. This equates to a ratio of one game viewing vehicle for every 2,100 acres, a move that is aimed at maximising the client’s wilderness experience and minimising the environmental impact of tourism. The management has a policy of employing from its landowner community wherever possible and encourages its partners to follow suit, maximising the benefits derived from conservation tourism. Also, the conservancy has strict environmental policies and stipulates that the environmental footprint of its operators is kept to a minimum, insisting on semi-permanent camps with no foundations, proper garbage and waste disposal policies and adherence to a strict code of conduct about both camp operations and the behaviour of their clients and guides whilst in the conservancy.

The Conservancy’s management works closely with the Maa Trust, which supports the Conservancy and helps spread the benefits of conservation to a far wider community than the immediate recipient landowners.

Also, management works closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in animal health and welfare and has assisted research foundations such as Living with Lions and Colorado State University with research and collaring programmes, like the recent collaring of 18 wildebeest from the Loita herds to study their known migratory route.

Wildlife in Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve

Olare Motorogi Conservancy is popular for having the lowest vehicle density in the Maasai Mara region and the highest concentration of big cats anywhere else in Africa. In the conservancy, there is only one guest bed per 350 acres, leaving the land unadulterated for the wildlife to roam freely and thrive, as nature intended.

The conservancy has an area of 35,000 acres of rolling grassland, hills, escarpment and the Motorogi Plains.

Game viewing in Olare Motorogi Conservancy starts right at your doorstep. Guests have access to the thousands of acres of exclusive, low-vehicle-density tourism land in the conservancy, home to extensive areas of important habitat for a vast number of wildlife species.

Olare Motorogi Conservancy is one of the richest wild ecosystems in the world.

Lion Prides in Olare Motorogi Conservancy

Some lion pride territories meet in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, providing interesting encounters as the different prides battle for dominance.

• The Tony Lapham Mara Predator Hub: Launched in November 2013, this hub is in the heart of the Great Mara, dedicated to the memory of Tony Lapham, representing Kenya Wildlife Trust’s commitment to undertaking innovative predator research and monitoring conservationists with a particular fondness for the Maasai Mara and its big cats. Today, Tony Lapham would have been deeply concerned by the increasingly grave threats facing predators.
• The Predator Hab, located in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, is a simple, efficient and highly functional base adjoining the Maasai Mara National Reserve. It allows the research team to undertake a long-term conservation-focused study of the cheetah and lion together for the first time.

Where to Stay in Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve

There are 5 luxury camps in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, offering accommodation to visitors of the lodge; these tented camps offer exclusive wildlife, campfire and canvas experiences to their clients. None of these camps is larger than 24 beds, and all abide by environmentally friendly guides of construction and operation in the Conservancy’s Code of Conduct.

• Kicheche Bush Camp
• Mahali Mzuri
• Mara Plains Camp
• Olare Mara Kempinski
• Porini Lion Camp

How to Get to Olare Motorogi Conservancy near Maasai Mara National Reserve

Olare Motorogi Conservancy can be accessed by road and air.

By Road: It is a journey of 5-6 hours from Nairobi

By Air: The Olare Motorgi Conservancy has its own bush airstrip, Olare Orok Airstrip. From Nairobi’s Wilson Airport, there are scheduled flights by Safarilink and Air Kenya that take roughly an hour to Olare Orok.

Also, there are flights from Samburu National Reserve, Nanyuki, Naivasha and Mombasa. Private charters are also possible.