Name: Cottars 1920s Camp
Address: Maasai mara, Serengeti National Park, Serengeti National Park, Serengeti National Park, 00100, Tanzania
Rating: 10

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Cottars 1920s Camp

We went to Cottar’s for our honeymoon and truly had the most incredible time. We stayed for 5 days and every day was fantastic. From the impeccable decor of the tents to the food to our incredible guide, our stay could not have been better. The staff was like family by the end of the trip and they all went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and accommodated. I also have a number of dietary restrictions that they were so respectful of and accommodating for. The game viewing was also great - our guide, Neebo, was fantastic. We saw 4 of the big 5 including leopards (just missed a rhino which is hard in the Mara!) we cannot wait to visit again

Had an awesome stay at cottars. It's  was a perfect place to relax after I had a busy 10 days.
Excellent food and friendly staff. The tent was beautiful, the biggest I've stayed in. Lots if free activities to enjoy, I did the massai warrior school and taught the staff how to play croquet.

We spent 5 glorious days at Cottars with a large group of friends last week.  The entire trip was phenomenal!  The food was delicious and all the staff are truly exceptional.   This was a trip of a lifetime and we would certainly recommend Cottar’s.  Our time spent at your lodge exceeded all of our expectations.  Thank you so much Cottar’s for such a phenomenal experience!

This was our last, third, safari camp of our ten-day travel, and what a fantastic place to finish. The staff was extremely welcoming and attentive to all details. The accommodations were very spacious and comforting. All of the meals were delicious and very accommodating to our schedule. Our guide was very informative on all of our rides. The whole staff was exceptional. I truly cannot say enough great things about our experience at the camp. We really like that they own their own property, so you are not always competing with all of the other safaris in the area.

What an amazing experience! Our family can't say enough great things about Cottar's and the excellent service provided to us. From early morning safari drives to watch lions, cheetahs and leopards to a memorable visit to a Masai village, we were blessed!

Cottar's far exceeded our expectation.  It is, without a doubt, the best safari camp in Kenya. The camp is just as pictured- elegant, comfortable, picturesque, and secluded. The service was incredible and tailored to our needs. Our guide Mako was a true professional and knew exactly where to take us on safari. The animals were stunning. Our respect for nature and Africa deepened. Everyone at the camp was friendly and lovely.  We felt like we made life long friends in just a few days.  Our only regret was that we didn't stay longer.  Stay a minimum of four nights- and take the bush bath!

This was our second stay at Cottar's Bush Villa, for our family of 5 adults.
Cottar's is so much more than a luxury camp, it truly offers an amazing and unique Safari experience - That's what I said in 2019 and it's still true today!

The Villa is amazing, with 5 large bedrooms overlooking a spectacular view of the Mara and Serengeti...but it's the staff that makes it truly special.  William catered to our every need, arriving with a smile.  Phoebe kept everything spotless and did the most amazing job with our laundry.  The food was outstanding, with the chef catering to our "picky" eaters.  The desserts were some of the best we had in Africa.
Pampered doesn't even begin to describe the experience they provided.  They even did a bush breakfast, complete with table cloths, fresh flowers and cooked to order eggs - all setup on the banks of the sand river so we could enjoy the view of eland and zebra's.

Game drives were incredible.....again, not just because of the animals but the guiding.  Douglas is exceptional...yes, he is a Gold Star guide but even more than that, he is engaging, funny and truly a friend.  Going out of his way to make our stay at Cottar's the best Safari Experience possible.  We saw leopard, cheetah, elephants (my wife's favorite) and the elusive Mara Rhino...he also took us to the Mara river to see the migration - 200,000 Wildebeest is a sight to behold (and not forgotten).

Cottar's offers a "Warrior School" as a side activity.  I'm sure this is normally for kids; however, my two grown sons had the best time with Moses and Lettie, a highlight for certain.  
You would enjoy this regardless of age.

The Camp also has a resident Eland w/ baby...such a treat to see.  It's an experience to be able to interact with such a  beautiful creature.

I have to say - You might arrive at Cottar's as a guest, but you will leave as a friend.

Looking forward to our next stay.....

Cottar’s 1920s camp, as the name suggests, is a safari camp. What that means is that unless you’re staying in the amazing 5-bedroom, brick-and-mortar Bush Villa, you will be staying in a very large and beautifully decorated canvas tent.  We were coming to the camp from incredibly nice and more modern accommodations elsewhere in Kenya, so it took us a bit to adapt. But altogether, we really enjoyed our stay and the overall experience. Some comments:

Lodging: we stayed in a family tent, which comfortably sleeps four people. As a plus, it has 2 separate, full bathrooms, which is handy for getting ready for the early morning drives. As a con, it has no views. Our tent just opened up to a grassy area. For killer views, you’ll need to stay in one of the honeymoon suites (for 2 pp) up the hill. I also thought that it was a bit too dark inside the tent at night but, alas, it is a tent.

Experiences: While game drives are main attraction, they provided a variety of fun activities during our stay. We didn't get to do all of them, but there was beading (lovely older Masai lady teaches it without speaking a word of English); a quick but interesting typical dance show; outdoor ‘bush bath’ in canvas bathtubs (definitely a highlight if your tent has a view…); archery; massage; electrical bike rides (charged extra); or just lounging in the Disney-esque main hall. A highlight was a visit to a nearby Masai village (also a small extra charge), where we got to learn a bit more about the local culture. With a full camp, there was a bit of competition for some of the more scarce resources (e.g., massage, outdoor bathtubs, or bikes), so it might be wise to plan and book those ahead in spite of their advice to let your days just flow flexibility.

Staff: This is where Cottar’s really shines. Everyone there is soooo nice and friendly. You have a dedicated safari guide who will manage your day-to-day activities (and eat most meals with you, which was perhaps a bit too much for us...). The tent comes with an assigned housekeeping person, laundry is done daily (same day), the wait staff is super nice, the office and shop staff is very helpful - and it looks like they really enjoy working together. They do try to go above and beyond.

Game: We were there in June before the start of the ‘great migration’, which meant fewer tourists, but we didn’t get to see the hordes of zebras and wildebeests that come from the lower part of the ecosystem (Serengeti in bordering Tanzania) to the upper part (Mara in Kenya). But we did see everything else you would expect in a safari (except for a rhino - next time!), including lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, antelopes, and tons of elephant families. The latter won’t be there once the migration starts so there is a trade off. There is a lot to see close to the camp itself, but the actual Masai river is over four hours away on a loooong and bumpy (but beautiful) jeep ride.

All said, Cottar's was a great stop. Highly recommend it!

We decided to finally push through despite repeated cancellations and rebookings. This place has been my dream camp to stay at. They surely did not disappoint.

We have stayed at a lot of beautiful hotels, resorts and properties throughout the world. I can surely say that more than the beauty of the property itself, the quality of service was excellent. It’s one of those places make you feel like you are part of their family. 

We had some hiccups, due to pesky COVID. The staff rallied to make our stay as worry free as possible.

Thank you for going above all our expectations.

Thank you Perris, William, Phoebe, Isaac and all the staff, for our good food, nice warms beds, and keeping us safe at night.

Special mention to Wilson, our guide, for taking good care of us. Helping us see great wildlife and taking our numerous pictures. You made our safari experience unforgettable.



My husband and I were at this camp for three a nights in October 2019.  It truly was beyond anything I could possibly imagined.   And I had high expectations!!!
I could write a novel but will try to keep it a short as possible.
We were met at the little airfield by a man named Niboo. He ended up being our spotter for the next three days. Animals were right on the airfield!!  We starting taking pictures. He laughed and told us not to waste our time on aminals so far away.  before  we even go to camp we saw families of warthogs and families of baboons both with babies. We saw herds of zebras , giraffes , a momma cheeta with her three babies, water buffalo.  And believe it or not three different lions. Gazelles were as plentiful as deer . Elephants thus far were a bit in the distance but we saw them .
We arrived at the amp and it was amazing.
 Our “tent “ was decadent with king bed running hot water all amenities . Lovely deck to sit . We heard nightLy visitors. Zebras . Monkeys. My husband heard lions roaring one night .
. We had our own person to help us out with anything we could possibly think of. Lucy. (Thank you ) arrived with coffee an treats every morning before our morning ride. When we came home our place was cleaned and perfect. She encouraged us to take a bush bath and arranged it fo us .  Well worth it.  Do it !!!
The meals were great. Things may be different now but we were at that point all encouraged to mingle with other guests and guides and spotters to exchange stories  and pictures .
We took our breakfasts on the road  by choice. We had everything from fresh hot coffee and omelets and croissants while watching lions or cheetahs in front of us .
The absolute high lite was Enoch . He was our guide.  we were with him upwards of 12 hours a day including relaxing at meal times. His skill is beyond skill. A gift maybe. With one snort from gazelle he could tell we would find a leopard . With one odd look from a zebra he would know there was a lion. He and niboo really were an amazing team that found us animals and situations we never imagined. But we were always safe .
This is getting a little long so I will just say. I would go back thereina flash.  And recommend this camp and especially Enoch and niboo 
It was life changing

Serengeti National Park

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A must visit in the Masai Mara!

Our guide, Enock, and our tracker, Salash, were very professional and we had great game drives.  Richard, our room steward keep our room neat & tidy and got our laundry washed.  Peris was the camp manager and made sure everything was running smoothly.  The food was amazing.  The entire staff was very friendly and helpful.

I have stayed in several different properties in the Mara and found the tent could use some updating.  Also, I was sharing this room with a friend and there were two beds.  However, one was a double and the other a single.  If the furniture was rearranged differently, two double beds would be able to fit into the tent.  For the amount of money being charged for this property, the bed situation was unacceptable.

That is the reason I did not give this camp an excellent rating.

very good experience 

Amazing Trip of a Lifetime!!!

Perfect end to safari

BEST vacation ever!

We as a family of 5 have just returned from Cottars.
We had a fabulous time however given the stratospheric daily price ($6000 s day) we unsurprisingly had very high expectations and in some regards these were not met.

The negatives first:

The family tents have views of bushes / trees and at best a nearby hillside. As other have said they do not have the sweeping views over the Mara you see in pictures from the main mess tent or the couples tents or the bush villa. This was a huge disappointment to us given that part of the reason for staying at Cottars was the views. 

The family tents have a fire place but even with all the tents flaps open it got quite Smokey inside the tent and I had concerns about the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. (As most campers know you never cook inside a closed tent for that reason) I do think as a minimum they should have carbon monoxide alarms in the tents with fireplaces.

The family tents are dark. For sure it’s a tent so what do you expect? Well at this price point enough lights in the tent so it is not gloomy in the dusk / evening ( the honeymoon tents have some pendant chandeliers). There are only only 4 table lamps for the whole of the tented area.

The bathrooms are very tired and need updating in my view. Decent lighting / mirrors / nice stone tiles are all required. They are in the hard standing part of the tent. 

Privacy in the family tents was minimal. 
I was expecting some drapes between the bedroom areas and the living area. However though there are drapes between the children’s bedroom and the rest of the tent. The adults bedroom is open plan with the living  area and fireplace with no drapes. So that if your children are at the table or by the fire there is no privacy from them when you are in bed.

As a result if all of the above I would not recommend a family tent. Minimal views, fireplace safety issues, dark, minimal privacy between bedrooms. In preference I would rent 2 double tents for a marginal increase in cost.

The final negative and also quite a big one is food.
The food was ok but nothing more.
There was no choice at lunch and dinner you got whatever the chef decided to cook that day.
Dinner was always soup, followed by a main course followed by desert. 
Some main courses like the cod were great. Others like the ostrich stew were barely edible. At $6000 per night for 5 I expect a lot more.
Cottars fell massively short on this. Desert on 2 nights was fruit salad! 
Really I would be expecting choices of high end steaks, lobster etc and presented in a fine dining way at this price point. Cottars food was edible but nothing more and to not have a choice is pretty unforgivable at this price point. 
I know they are in the Mara but plenty of other places in the Mara manage this as do high resorts on their own islands in the Maldives.  So their relatively isolated location is not a valid excuse. 
Included wines were basic. Drinkable but nothing more.

The positives:

There is much to love about Cottars

The staff were all lovely and our guides were great.
Being in its own private reserve it is lovely and quite and it was great to see animals without lots of other vehicles around.
The 1920s feel is lovely (baring the above).
The main mess tent has a great communal feel and it was very enjoyable to have cocktails every evening with other guests. The African night dancing was a highlight.

So would I return?
Probably not with the current metrics.
Either the quality needs to improve or the price needs to come down.

Good but not perfect

Amazing and Wonderful Safari Experience

We just came back from Kenya and I am still dreaming of  our four nights under canvas  at Cottars. My husband and I have been to Kenya over forty times since 1995 and yet we still had some   surprises in store on  our most recent safari. First of all the camp itself is set up in a  wonderful way. There are two gorgeous  big tents full of antiques , old books,  silver candelabras , British colonial furniture and lots  and lots of old photos.Instantly you are taken back to a bygone day of the first safaris ( hinting ones and then photographic ). It was so nice to have time almost stand still for four days and to  forget all the trouble of the outside world as we immersed ourselves in nature.

Both of our guides were simply outstanding......we had been recommended Matura ; but together our two guides were an incredible team. After being on safari too many times to count we were amazed to see three leopards together and spend a couple of magical hours watching this  leopard family interact Never have we seen that before. Another cool highlight was having twenty lions walk towards us and then lie down all around us......they were looking for shade not us. We just loved the landscape and never tired of the drives ....the mountains, the sand river, the rocky areas and the long grass were all intoxicating. And, how nice to come back to absolutely the most fantastic meals cooked by Boniface.
   Our tent opened up to an open grassy area so it was not dark like some tents can be. Each morning we woke up to a  herd of grazing leaping impalas and the resident very friendly eland. Nothing is more delightful than waking up to the smell of  coffee and watching animals through the netting. Another highlight was "the canvas bath".Thank you Lucie for wiping up all the bubbles that spilled out and for the bubbly too. We are still laughing about that bubble bath in the wild.
   Our servers Gladys and Joseph were always there to get us whatever we needed to eat or drink and the manager Bruce was always nearby if anyone needed anything.  Next time we will try the honeymoon suite since I heard it was a little newer and more updated. Our tent had a great view and nice space but could use a little refresh, We were lucky that no one was in the tents near us; so it was truly a peaceful retreat. A BIG shout out to Laurent who helped get us to Cottars.....and flew up for lunch at the very lovely pool site. I will make it a priority to sit by that beautiful pool when we come back.....there just was not enough time even being there four nights. Asante sana to ALL!

Cottars 1920s Camp

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