Call of the wild at Angama Mara

12 Dec 2016
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2 min read
A remarkable new safari lodge balanced on the rim of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, where the sky melts into the endless plains in a vista so wide it takes your breath away. Where the romance of canvas combines with dramatic guests areas, this is a fresh approach to safari lodge design.

Angama is the brainchild of Steve and Nicky Fitzgerald, a husband-and-wife team best known for their management of Conservation Corporation Africa, which later became andBeyond, for nearly 15 years. Together they effectively set the modern standard for high-end safaris at properties like Ngorongoro Crater Lodge in Tanzania and the Ngala and Phinda camps in their native South Africa. Their formula was simple—luxe accommodations, expert guides, infectiously friendly service, and a commitment to doing good.

The Swahili wordangamameans “suspended in midair,” and the buildings do seem to float, perched on platforms that hang over the escarpment, with glass doors that fold open completely so that even when you’re inside, you still feelinsidethe view.

Angama Mara is home to two separate camps with fifteen luxurious suites at each with its own central guest area. Unlike many of their lodge competitors, the guest suites at Angama Mara are hyper modern in style, canvas sides and dramatically tented roofs with the ten metre wide, floor-to-ceiling glass windows of each suite being the focus, to take full advantage of those incredible panoramas. All suites are fan cooled, with ensuite, a Super King bed and private decks which overhang the Mara below.

Every creature comfort can be found here—a big soaking tub,open stone shower, and a stocked bar with Italian glassware.

The guest areas at the two camps sit on the edge of the Ololoolo Escarpment, and are the perfect setting for guests to read, dine and relax. The Pavilion, which sits between the two camps, is home to a fitness centre gym with a drop-dead view, an infinity pool, a gallery of African crafts and artworks, as well as a studio where local Maasai women create bespoke beaded items.

The Mara Triangle offers outstanding game viewing opportunities for guests, without the number of visitors who explore the better known Mara national Park. Together, these two areas make up the great Maasai Mara Reserve, which is home to 95 different mammal species including black rhino, lion, cheetah, leopard and elephant, as well as being on route for the Great Migration – and all of this is within easy reach of Angama Mara’s guests.

Find out more about Angama Mara here |www.angama.com