Mara Under Canvas

Location

The northern Serengeti is not the Serengeti of the brochures. Down on the southern plains, the grass is short, the horizons are clean, and a cheetah hunt plays out like a nature documentary. Up here, the landscape thickens. Acacia woodland closes in, the terrain rolls and dips, and the Mara River cuts through it all, a permanent, brown, hippo-heavy artery that the wildebeest must cross or die trying.

This is where Mara Under Canvas positions from August through November, within the national park and under TANAPA regulations: no off-road driving, a 50 km/h speed limit, and vehicle limits at sighting areas. The rules matter. They shape the experience as much as the wildlife does, and anyone expecting the free-range driving of a Kenyan conservancy will find the Serengeti operates differently. What the park gives in return is scale: two million animals moving through an ecosystem that has never been fenced.

The camp operates two potential sites in the northern sector. The primary position sits near the Mara River, where game drives reach crossing points without extended transfers. The secondary site, used when logistics or conditions require it, may demand longer drives to the river. Which site the camp occupies during any given season is worth confirming before booking, because the difference between a twenty-minute drive to a crossing and a ninety-minute one is the difference between two attempts in a morning and one.

The migration sequence here runs roughly July to November, with August the peak month for river crossings. Lions are a daily certainty along the banks — Very High likelihood through the season. Cheetah favour the open grassland between woodland patches, at High likelihood. Hippo and crocodile are resident in the river year-round. This is Big Four country, not Big Five; rhinos are extremely rare in the northern Serengeti, and any operator who implies otherwise is selling geography that does not exist.

For photographers, the Mara River crossings are the main event: thousands of animals funnelling into a single frame, with predators stationed at known points. The open grassland between the river and the woodland delivers strong light conditions and unobstructed sightlines. A serious migration trip, planned around August, with the primary campsite confirmed, is the strongest use of this camp’s position.

Rooms

The ten double tents and one family tent follow a uniform format: canvas, ground-level, with a private veranda facing whatever stretch of savannah the camp has claimed that month. Beds are configured as king or twin. Specify when booking. The palette runs ecru, purple, coral and chocolate brown, which sounds busier than it looks against the dust and dry grass outside.

Each tent has an en-suite flush toilet, hand basin and bucket shower. Solar panels deliver 24-hour electricity for reading lights and charging. There is no air conditioning, no television and no safe. Wi-Fi exists but attracts supplemental fees for extended use, which is the camp’s polite way of suggesting you look up from your phone.

The family tent connects two canvas units with a shared bathroom and private porch, sleeping four to five. There is no kids club, no childcare and no fence around the camp. Families with younger children should weigh that honestly. Minimum age policies vary in published sources; confirm directly with the operator before booking. Children under three stay free; those aged three to sixteen receive discounted rates.

Canvas amplifies everything. Hyenas at two in the morning sound closer than they are. The afternoon heat sits heavier without climate control. None of this is a flaw — it is the point. A mobile camp earns its keep through position, not plumbing.

Communal Areas

The campfire is the centre of gravity. Two communal tents (one for dining, one for lounging with books and board games) provide shade and shelter, but the real social life happens after dark around the fire pit, where chairs are arranged and the sounds of the plains do most of the talking.

Dining is full board, served buffet-style in the mess tent or, when the weather cooperates, outdoors by lantern light. A single set menu each evening rather than à la carte, with dietary requirements handled given advance notice. Afternoon tea and biscuits bridge the gap between drives. House wines, soft drinks and sundowner cocktails are included.

There is no pool, no spa, no gym. The camp makes no apology for this, and nor should it — the infrastructure follows the migration, and anything bolted down would miss the point. Evening entertainment is a gin and tonic, a fire, and whatever decided to roar last.

Activities

Game drives anchor everything here, and the format is straightforward: twice daily in open 4×4 vehicles, morning and afternoon, with a full-day option for those who would rather stay out than return to camp for lunch. The northern Serengeti rewards patience. The terrain is rolling woodland and savannah bisected by the Mara River, and the game drive routes shift as the camp repositions through the year. From July through October, the drives are oriented around the river crossings, where the herds gather, hesitate, and eventually plunge. Mara River crossings are High likelihood during this window, though the exact day and hour remain the wildebeest’s decision, not the guide’s.

What the camp’s guides bring is familiarity with the migration’s internal logic. The sequence is not random: zebras move through first, cropping the tallest grasses; wildebeest follow on the shorter shoots; Thomson’s gazelles arrive last for the tender herbs. Reading this pattern,  knowing which bank, which bend, which morning is the difference between watching a crossing and watching an empty river. Lions are Very High likelihood across the Serengeti, cheetah High on the open grasslands, and leopard Opportunistic. Wild dog sightings fall firmly into bonus territory.

The camp’s conservation contribution is more tangible than most. One dollar per guest per night funds the Serengeti de-snaring programme, operated alongside Frankfurt Zoological Society and TANAPA. The numbers are not decorative: roughly 50,000 snares have been collected to date, each one a wire loop that would have tightened around something worth considerably more than a dollar. TWC Foundation has also funded boreholes at the Kogatende, Mareau, and Nyamamua ranger posts, practical infrastructure for the people doing the fieldwork.

Beyond the drives, hot air balloon flights operate over the northern Serengeti from July to October, weather permitting. Sundowners and campfire evenings round out the day, though neither competes seriously with the main event.