Porini Lion Camp: Our View

Porini Lion Camp is located in the Olare Motorogi Private Conservancy which is, in our opinion, the finest conservancy in the Masai Mara. This camp offers a totally authentic close to nature bush camp style experience which safari purists will love. It has a stunning, wild, location overlooking vast grass plains where wildlife can often be seen. The camp is unfenced and animals frequently roam through so it delivers a 24 hour safari experience! Even when relaxing in camp there will be something to see and guests will fall asleep at night to the sounds of the wild, like lions roaring or hyenas calling.

With just 11 rooms the camp is small and intimate. The tented rooms are relatively simple and similar in style to what you might find on a mobile camping safari. But they have the added benefits that a permanent camp can offer,such as bigger tents, proper beds, flush toilets, and electric lights. So they are perfectly comfortable.

Porini Lion Camp Safaris have very strong conservation ethics. The camp is deliberately designed to be low impact on the environment and is operated by Masai staff and guides from local communities. Its location in the Olare Motorogi Private conservancy means you have quick access to one of the best game viewing areas in the Masai Mara region and you will avoid the crowds that are often an issue in the main national reserve.

Porini Lion Camp is not for clients looking for luxury accommodation or a fine dining hosted camp experience. But it is a perfect option for clients whose main focus is the game viewing experience and who are looking for a comfortable, good value camp. It is important to remember that it is located in one of the most exclusive private conservancies in the Mara region and that most other options in the Olare Motorogi are more than double the price! Porini has other camps in the Mara region in the Naibosho Conservancy. Combining these camps is a good option for clients looking for a longer stay in the Masai Mara as transfers between the camps arefree. They also have camps in Amboseli, Lakipia and Meru Park and often have special offers for multi night stays. So this makes them competitively priced for clients wanting a longer Kenyan safari which includes several regions.

Porini Lion Camp: Quick Facts

• 11 spacious tents (10 twin & 1 family) with ensuite bathroom with bush (bucket) shower
• Superb location in the Olare Motorogi, one of the best private conservancies in the Masai Mara
• Day & night game drives
• Village visits and hot air balloon trips (both additional cost)
• WiFi tent
• Children 8 years and over permitted
• Camp is unfenced with wildlife roaming through camp 

Porini Lion Camp: The Details

The 11 tents at Porini Lion Camp are spacious and breezy with most of them located so they have views over the vast grass plains that surround the camp. The Ntiakatek river flows past the back of the rooms although on our last visit the bush was very dense and you could not really see the river. The tents are quite simply furnished but have everything needed for a comfortable stay, with proper beds, chairs, a desk, and canvas wardrobe. Soft rugs on the vinyl floors help to make things feel a bit cosier! The ensuite bathroom has a flush toilet and a ‘bucket’ shower (similar to ones used on mobile camping safaris) which the camp staff will fill with water on request. 10 of the tents are twin/double and there is a family tent too. The family tent is actually 2 tents connected by a central lounge area so itprovides lots of privacy whilst still feeling safe when staying with younger children.

Facilities at Porini Lion Camp are also quite simple with a lounge and dining tent and a small WiFi tent – note that the internet here may not be very fast!

The emphasis at Porini Lion Camp is very much on providing a wild bush safari experience with exceptional game viewing. We especially love the fact that the camp is unfenced and thatyou are right in the heart of the wildlife here. Wild animals can be roaming through the camp at any time and as soon as you leave camp there will be things to see. The main activity offered is game drives and they will usually stay in the private conservancy for this. The Olare Motorogi has the reputation of offering some of the best game viewing in the whole Mara region with resident lion prides and an abundance of other big cats here. It is also one of the most exclusive private conservancies with just 5 small camps in total. This means that, unlike the main national reserve, it is never crowded even in peak season and this is a huge advantage.  Like all the other private conservancies there are no migration river crossing points. But Porini Lion Camp offers a free full day trip into the national reserve if clients stay 3+ nights and this would definitely be worth doing in migration season to try and see a river crossing. And the camp is well located for this as it not too far from the national reserve and the main river crossings.