Olderkesi In Kenya: The Maasai Mara’s Newest Conservancy

I spent four days in the Olderkesi Conservancy in Kenya, staying at Instinct of the Mara with Secluded Africa. I was not asked to write this blog post but I’m doing it anyway because they are doing important conservation work here and the world needs to know about it!

This is all my own research and honest opinion. No AI was used to write this post – this place is so new Chat GPT doesn’t know about it yet! When it does catch up, it’ll probably be plagiarising me…

I don’t accept freebies or payment in exchange for positive coverage. This post may contain affiliate links.

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The Maasai Mara is one of the world’s top safari destinations, but with that fame comes a price – it’s very popular and at times can feel touristy and crowded.

That’s why many Kenya safari experts will tell you that the best place to go on safari in Kenya is not the Mara itself but one of the conservancies that frame its borders.

So the opening of a brand new conservancy – a new place to visit, with more space for wildlife and almost no other people – is great news for safari goers and animal lovers alike.

Its name is Olderkesi Conservancy.

But how do you start a new conservancy? Surely the land belongs to someone, and people live there? What happens to them?

These were some of the questions I had when I visited, and if you’d like to find out the answers, or just want to know more about this unspoiled part of Kenya, read on.

About my visit to Olderkesi Conservancy

I visited Olderkesi Conservancy as part of a three-week trip to Kenya.

On that trip I also went hiking with Maasai guides in the Loita Hills, photographed in an incredible wildlife photography hide, and stayed at the beautiful Cardamom House beach hotel near Mombasa.

In the Olderkesi Conservancy I spent four nights at Instinct of the Mara, one of only two lodges in the area.

I had heard that the team from Secluded Africa, who run the lodge, had been working to create this new wildlife conservation area, and I wanted to see the place for myself and learn how they did it.

So during my time there I not only did the usual safari stuff like game drives and nature walks, I also interviewed the team about their work and met some of the locals to learn their views on this groundbreaking project.

Here’s what I discovered…

The Mara Conservancies

Before I begin, it’s worth me explaining the system of conservancies in the Masai Mara, because it’s important to understand how that works. 

You’ve heard of the Maasai Mara, of course. Alongside the Serengeti in Tanzania, with which it shares a border, it’s probably the most spectacular safari destination in the world. 

The main part of the Maasai Mara (known as the Mara for short) is the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is managed by the Kenyan government and reserved exclusively for wildlife – people cannot live or graze their cattle here. 

It’s open to tourists and there are no limits on numbers, though there are strict rules about where you can go and what you can do. 

As a result, the Masai Mara often experiences high numbers of cars and congestion, particularly around big cat sightings and during peak migration seasons.

Around the edges of the National Reserve are the Mara conservancies.

These are privately-managed areas of land leased from Maasai communities, who receive income from renting their land out for tourism and conservation. 

Unlike the Reserve, conservancies limit the number of camps and vehicles, ensuring a more exclusive and low-impact experience for visitors, while preserving habitats and wildlife corridors.

But of course if you want to create a new conservancy area, you can’t just barge in and claim it. That land belongs to the local Maasai people, who may be using it to live or graze their livestock.

Convincing them to give it up may require good negotiating skills, the ability to show them the benefits of conservation to their community, and often a lot of money.

Read more: Kenya Vs Tanzania: Travel Experts Decide

Creating a new conservancy in Kenya

The Olderkesi area sits southeast of the Masai Mara, right next to the border with Tanzania. 

Until recently, most of it was not a conservancy, but community land, where the local semi-nomadic Maasai lived in single-storey mud and stick houses and grazed their livestock. 

There was only one camp in the area – the famously glamorous Cottars 1920s, a super high-end luxury lodge said to have hosted royalty and celebrities including, allegedly, William and Kate, Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightley and Robert Redford. 

Around it is a small amount of protected land negotiated by Cottars a few years ago. This is the original, or ‘phase one’ of the Olderkesi Conservancy.

Apart from this small protected area, Olderkesi wasn’t great for wildlife. With cows, sheep and goats eating all the grass, and lots of people around, animals were either scared off or there was occasional human-wildlife conflict.

Few tourists came here – the local people continued their traditional way of life, and the wildlife and the visitors went elsewhere.

But recently, in a political move, the Kenyan government decided to parcel up the community land and allocate it in individual 30-acre plots to members of the local community. 

Rather than share the open land for grazing as they have done for many generations, the Maasai people were being encouraged to set up private farms and build fences round them. 

“This would have been catastrophic for the movement of wildlife, especially the famous wildebeest migration which passes through this area,” Richard Corcoran, Secluded Africa’s Managing Director, told me.

“It’s also terrible for the Maasai economy and way of life, which revolves around livestock. Carving everything up and building fences would be a disaster.”

“In Maasai families they typically have a lot of children,” Richard continued. “Imagine a man has five sons and divides his 30 acre plot between them. In a few generations no one will have more than a small field. Where will they put the cows?”

To prevent this from happening, and inspired by the success of other Mara conservancies like Mara North, as well as his own Mbulia conservancy in Tsavo West, Richard leaped into action. 

Read more: What Happens On An African Photo Safari: Are They Any Good?

Introducing the Oltulelei Conservancy

Early in 2024 he and his team began negotiating with the new landowners to lease their plots and combine them to create ‘phase two’ of Olderkesi – a new conservancy called Oltulelei.

Most of this land was uninhabited and only used for grazing – but the few families who were actually living there were compensated and given grants to build new, better homes away from the wildlife corridors. 

People who used the area for grazing cows have been allocated new areas to graze, in rotation, giving the land time to recover.

Everyone who owns a plot of land in the new conservancy area will now receive an annual rent payment in return for leaving the land to the wildlife.

When I visited, the first payments had just been made. While there are still some areas where negotiations are ongoing and people still need to move, Kenya’s new Oltulelei Conservancy is officially open for business. 

Animals were already moving back in – I saw zebras, giraffes, dikdiks, impala and even a hyena during my stay. And by the time you visit, that will only have increased.

Read more: 40 Safari Photography Tips For Stunning Wildlife Photos

Visiting the Olderkesi Community

As ever I’m sceptical of claims of ‘giving back’ and worry about ‘greenwashing’ – even though I have stayed with Secluded Africa before and know just how brilliant they are.

So when I heard they were moving some people off the land to create the new Oltulelei Conservancy, I wanted to find out what that really involved, and whether people really were going to be better off.

Or whether they were being forced to make sacrifices in the name of conservation. Or worse – profit.

My guide Henry took me to the villages, where I was able to see old, collapsed houses that have been abandoned, as well as visit residents in their new, much stronger and better homes. 

Several people, including local woman Nomali, pictured below, told me how pleased they are with the new conservancy. Now they get an income from the land, and the money raised from tourists’ conservation fees will also go towards supporting things like education and healthcare. 

I also spoke to several staff members from the lodge, who are employed from the surrounding villages. Everyone I spoke to told me the new conservancy is a win-win for the community, the wildlife, and visitors like you and me. 

Read more: Hiking Kenya’s Beautiful Loita Hills On A Walking Safari

Olderkesi: Big Game to yourself

Since Olderkesi is so new, it’s one of the least-visited and most pristine conservancies with only two lodges, meaning you get the entire area of rugged hills, small rivers and acacia woodlands pretty much to yourself. 

It also borders the Maasai Mara’s southeast corner, which is one of the least visited parts of the park. 

Known as the ‘southern low use zone’, this area receives fewer visitors thanks to its distance from the main gates, lodges and airstrips.

This means that when you cross through the gate from Olderkesi into the park, you’ll see far fewer other cars and you won’t have to put up with the infamous ‘Mara traffic jams’ you see in the more congested parts of the Reserve.

Read more: What To Wear On Safari: My Detailed Safari Packing List With Photos

Where to stay in Olderkesi

There are only two places to stay in the Olderkesi Conservancy – one is the high-end Cottars 1920s, and the other is Instinct of the Mara, which was founded just before the pandemic and then put on hold, finally opening in 2022. 

While it might not be quite as luxurious as Cottars, it’s still extremely comfortable, and offers excellent service and activities in a part of the Mara where very few other people go.  

If you want to find out more about the lodge and what it’s like to stay there, check out my separate post: Instinct of the Mara Review: Exclusive Wildlife In Kenya.

Secluded Africa and the Secluded Trust

One of the things I loved about Instinct of the Mara, and in fact all of the Secluded Africa properties I’ve stayed in, is the company’s ethos. 

This is no big corporate money-making machine that sees guests as customers and nothing more. 

It’s a family operation, run by three best friends and many of their family members. Secluded Africa is all about putting people before profit, prioritising conservation, communities and the environment above everything else.

Everything they do is rooted in the belief that tourism should benefit both nature and local communities, and that luxury is not about expensive imported furnishings but about exclusivity, great service and unforgettable experiences.  

Every detail is personalized, from the no-fixed-schedule safaris to meals tailored to individual preferences, ensuring that guests arrive as strangers and leave as friends. 

Or, at least, that’s exactly what happened to me, and why after visiting last year, I went again this year and hope to go back next year too.

Read more: A Kenya Safari Holiday: How To Plan The Perfect Trip For You

The Secluded Wildlife Trust

Running hand-in-hand with the tourism side is the Secluded Africa Wildlife and Conservation Trust, a philanthropic arm focused on uplifting the local communities.  

When you stay at a Secluded property you pay a daily conservation fee, which funds local conservation efforts including wildlife protection, education and healthcare, infrastructure development, and now, the brand-new conservancy in Olderkesi.

That means that if you visit, you get the joy of having the wildlife to yourself and the warm glow of knowing that your money is going to help preserve the conservancy and support the local community.

You can find out more about the sorts of things the Secluded Trust does by reading Kipalo Hills Lodge In Tsavo West, Kenya: My Complete Review.

Want to see more of my photography or travel writing? Have comments or questions? Come follow me on Instagram, Threads or Bluesky and share your thoughts!

Things to do in the Olderkesi conservancy in the Masai Mara

Just like at all Kenya safari lodges, there are masses of things to do in the Olderkesi conservancy.

But the unique thing about staying in a private conservancy is that a lot of the rules they impose in the main Reserve don’t apply. That means you have loads more options of things to do than if you stay inside the Maasai Mara itself.

What’s more, inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve you have to pay $200 a day park fees, but if you stay in the Olderkesi conservancy there is no additional charge (unless you want to visit the park for the day).

So here are some of the things you can do if you stay in the Olderkesi or Oltulelei conservancy.

• Game drives and wildlife watching – with no other cars around. You can even drive off-road, which is banned in the main park.
• Night safari (you’re not allowed inside the main park after dark).
• Walking safari (it’s forbidden to get out of the car inside the Maasai Mara).
• Guided birdwatching walks.
• Sunset drinks round the campfire (fires are banned inside the Maasai Mara).
• Stargazing.
• Community visits to the local villages.

If you want to find out more about any of these activities, there’s more information in my separate post: Instinct of the Mara Review: Exclusive Wildlife In Kenya.

Read more: Using The Canon R5 For Wildlife Photography: A Full Review

Olderkesi: Who is it for?

If you’re looking for wildlife viewing and getting in touch with nature, but prefer getting off the beaten track and away from the crowds, Olderkesi Conservancy could be one of the best places to stay in Masai Mara.

It doesn’t have the vast open plains or huge herds of herbivores that you get in the main reserve, but what this remote conservancy gives you is privacy, bespoke personal service, and the wildlife to yourself.

I didn’t see as many animals in the conservancy as I did in the Maasai Mara, but I also saw not one single other car the entire time I was there.

And you may also see some of the more shy animals which are spooked by the higher vehicle numbers in the Maasai Mara.

Over time, the wildlife numbers will increase, but the vehicle numbers will not, because only people staying in the two lodges can visit. So now is the time to get booking!

Read more: A Kenya Safari Holiday: How To Plan The Perfect Trip For You

Read more: First Time Safari Facts: 18 Surprise Things To Know Before You Go

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Where to next?

If you enjoyed this post, check out some of my other safari and Kenya posts.

• Wildlife Hide Photography Tips For Safari Photos Like A Pro
• Top 50 African Birds: A Safari Photo Guide
• Is Cardamom House In Vipingo The Best Beach Hotel In Kenya?
• 10 Unmissable Wildlife Adventures In Africa – By Travel Experts
• Leroo La Tau In Botswana: See The Incredible Zebra Migration
• Chobe Safari Lodge In Botswana: A Complete Review With Photos
• Ol Doinyo Lengai Tanzania – Climb the Terrifying Mountain of God
• Uganda Animals: The Amazing Wildlife of Uganda
• 28 Brilliant Things To Do In Uganda

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