Sanctuary Olonana

Sanctuary Olonana is situated by the Mara River at the foot of the Siria Escarpment, in the northwest of the world famous Masai Mara. This small boutique camp has 14 luxurious, spacious tents with 24 hour solar power. Each tent has floor to ceiling mosquito netting, en suite bathroom and a private veranda that overlooks the river, where you can relax and spot game.

The main dining area also overlooks the Mara River, and is one of our favourite settings for an evening meal or a relaxing drink after a day game viewing in the bush. The grunting hippos provide the background mood music! The food here is delicious – some of the best we’ve had in the area. It’s well presented and as fresh as you can get with over 75% of the vegetables grown in the camp garden.  The small library area provides a lovely spot for a quiet read.

Conservation and community involvement

Sanctuary Olonana is a camp that takes conservation and local involvement very seriously. Their Wetlands Project is ground breaking; it enables the camp to conserve water by treating ‘grey’ and ‘black’ waste water in a unique system of four different treatment pools, which eventually allows the water to be returned to the Mara River. Guest can visit the treatment pools and on a recent site visit we were surprised how interesting it is to see these conservation methods in action. 

The camp is closely involved with the nearby village of Enkereri. They have supported the building of two new classrooms for the older children as well funding a bio gas project which saves the women from trekking many miles in search of firewood, and helps to save the threatened fragile woodland near the Maasai villages.

At the small camp shop Maasai handicrafts are sold and guests have the chance to see the local woman at work. The camp provides the training that enables them to produce high quality work that is suitable for export and supplies them with new and recycled material.