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Every park, every fee — verified July 2026 117 Masai Mara camps compared

Inside the Reserve · $$ Mid-range

Matira Bush Camp

Classic tented in Masai Mara National Reserve (central & east)

Location Inside the Reserve
Style Classic tented
Price tier $$ Mid-range
Best for Full-day drives · Guiding · Value

About Matira Bush Camp

A guide-owned camp deep in the reserve run by the Matira team, whose day-long tracking drives have a cult following among serious wildlife watchers.

The area: Masai Mara National Reserve (central & east)

The reserve proper — 1,510 km² of open savanna managed by Narok County, holding the Mara and Talek rivers, Musiara Marsh and the classic migration crossing points. Camps here put you inside the action with no daily transfer through a gate.

What it's like

Highest wildlife density and the front row for July–October river crossings, balanced against more vehicles than the conservancies. Off-road driving and night drives are not permitted inside the reserve.

Getting there & fees

Fly to Musiara, Keekorok, Ol Kiombo or Mara Serena airstrips, or drive 5–6 hours from Nairobi via Narok. Reserve fees: US$100–200 per adult per day depending on season.

Staying inside the reserve means reserve fees (US$100 Jan–Jun / US$200 Jul–Dec per non-resident adult, 12-hour tickets) apply for every day of your stay. See our Masai Mara fee guide.

More stays in Inside the Reserve

Luxury tented · $$$

Tor's Camp

An understated luxury camp in the riverine forest of the Olare Orok, inside the reserve itself — big-cat country minutes from the tents. Tor’s philosophy is getting the essentials exactly right: exceptionally comfortable beds, considered interiors, flexible private game drives, and a mess tent that crosses Swahili-coast charm with gentleman’s-club ease. One of the few luxury camps actually within the reserve rather than a conservancy.

Luxury tented · $$$

Governors' Camp

The grande dame of Mara camps, pitched on the Mara River at Musiara Marsh since 1972 — the very plains where Big Cat Diary was filmed. Large, storied, and superbly located.

Luxury tented · $$$$

Governors' Il Moran Camp

The most exclusive Governors’ property: ten huge tents under ancient fig trees on the Mara River, with hand-carved beds and the same storied game country.

Luxury tented · $$$$

Rekero Camp

Asilia’s legendary nine-tent camp hidden on the Talek River with a famous crossing point in front of the mess tent — during migration the show comes to breakfast.

Luxury tented · $$$$

Sala's Camp

The Safari Collection’s southernmost hideaway on the Sand River, with views to the Serengeti — traditionally the first camp in Kenya to greet the migration.

Luxury tented · $$$$

Sand River Masai Mara

Elewana’s 1920s-styled camp on a secluded bend of the Sand River — brass, canvas and colonial romance in the reserve’s quiet southern reaches.