Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp

Accommodation at Elephant Pepper Camp is chic and comfortable, with double beds, and en suite bathrooms providing a luxury experience in the bush. The fine curation of these rooms fosters a beautiful comfortable atmosphere which plays to the strengths of its landscape with its naturalistic emphasis. Wilderness meets comfort in these well-appointed rooms, where the enrichment of the Maasai Mara’s safari experiences is met with an uncompromising dedication to comfort, assured by Elewana’s attentive staff.

Set underneath a grove of fig and Elephant Pepper Trees, the 8 (4 doubles & 4 twins) spacious luxury safari tents are larger, brighter and offer more spacious bathroom areas following a 2014 refurbishment. Combined with Indian Raj Campaign furniture, mixing dark wood with intricate brass fittings, the tents have a classic, elegant feel, and enjoy a spaciousness which ensures privacy. From their personal veranda or hammock, guests can watch wildlife roam on the savannah plains. Following the instalment of running water throughout the camp, guests may retain civilised luxuries within the bush, enjoying en suite bathrooms with hot water showers following the day’s activities.

All tents can fit one extra bed, to accommodate children under the age of 16 years. For families, the camp’s brand-new Family Tents are recommend.

Elephant Pepper Camp’s two Honeymoon / Family Tents are the ideal accommodation for couples that want extra space and privacy and for families. The spacious suites each comprise of an en suite master bedroom and a sitting room, which can be converted into a second bedroom for children under the age of 16 years. The lush bathrooms have double wash basins, flush toilets, and hot water showers. Located at either end of the camp, the Honeymoon / Family Suites offer spectacular views over the savannah plains from your private veranda.

The camp offers dining under tented cover, or al fresco, enjoying the marvellous views from the veranda for a truly beautiful dining experience! An open-air, sunset dinner brings a tangible air of romance to any evening meal, with exquisite food being served to guests in an unforgettable dining experience. Further, the camp’s bar underpins a mainstay safari tradition, the sundowner! Nothing compares to the majestic equatorial sunsets with a glass of champagne in-hand.

The Elephant Pepper Camp guides are based in camp, in the Maasai Mara, and know their backyard intimately. All the guides are Bronze or Silver level Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association certified, and some of the camp’s guides have guided in this area for 20 years!

Elephant Pepper Camp has open game drive vehicles. The current fleet are new, specially fitted, 4×4 Toyota Land cruisers. The vehicles are unrivalled with feature enhancements specifically designed for comfort and photography – open sided with 3 rows of seats, photographic equipment stands, and charging sockets. Guests will share game drives unless “exclusive use of vehicle” has been pre-booked at an extra charge. This is the best part of the Maasai Mara – a year round game viewing experience like no other!

Elephant pepper guides are often asked why the game viewing in Mara North Conservancy is better than in the Mara Reserve. The explanation is because cattle are not allowed into the Reserve, therefore from the months of November through to June, the grass is high within the Reserve, and the plains game, followed by their predators tend to avoid the Reserve, and stick to the Conservancy which has balanced grazing, and lush short green grass. During the months of July to October, when the zebra and wildebeest migration flood into the whole Mara eco-system, the grass in the Reserve is trampled and eaten, and game viewing is similar within the Reserve and within the Conservancy.

During the months of June to November, the majority of the zebra and wildebeest in this vast eco-system congregate on the lush fertile plains of The Mara, gathering nutrient, before returning south to the plains of the Serengeti at the end of the year, although of course, very many are resident within The Mara.

Of this vast wilderness, 70,000 acres, is the private conservancy of Mara North Conservancy. Gamed riving in this area is limited to only the camps based here. Being private, yet central to the vast Maasai Mara eco-system, the Elephant Pepper guides have easy access to the reserve, zebra and wildebeest crossings, and outstanding game viewing within the conservancy.

The great migration of thousands of zebra and wildebeest coming north from the arid Serengeti plains looking for fresh grazing mill around the whole of the fertile Mara eco-system for as long as the grazing lasts, usually about 4 to 5 months. The Mara River crossings happen during the middle of the day, when the animals are thirsty, come to the river to drink and are pushed across by the crowds of animals behind them. The camp recommends staying out for the whole day with a picnic lunch; the Elephant Pepper Camp drivers know all the crossings, including the smaller private areas that you can enjoy a few hours by the river away from the crowds.

Elephant Pepper Camp offers pre-dinner game drives with red-light spotlights. Game Driving at dusk and early evening opens up a whole new world – hunting predators, aardvark.

Take the time to leave the car behind and enjoy the small things – animal tracks, flowers, and micro-ecosystems. The camp boasts experienced walking guides, who work together with Maasai from the local area, that can take you on a delightful ramble from camp – a whole new perspective of the eco-system around you. Elephant Pepper Camp is also perfect for young explorers! The Camp’s experienced Guides love organising fun walks for kids within the camp. Little ones will learn how to make a fire, throw a rungu, fire a bow and arrow and track wildlife. As a memento of their adventure, children can take home their very own cast from the tracks they discovered!

Take a moment to sit back, enjoy the spectacular views, the smells, the colours, and the gentle breeze. Bush breakfasts are a chance to enjoy a full breakfast, al fresco, in the middle of the plains, surrounded by wildlife. “Sundowners” are a safari tradition – after a day of safari; stop, watch the spectacular sunset; traditionally with a gin and tonic in hand!

Known for their beautiful beadwork, spear in hand and bright red coloured “shukkas” (blankets worn as clothes); the Maasai are our hosts, it is they who have kept this land pristine, living in harmony with their cattle and the incredible wildlife that the Mara is home to. They are a people who are proud of their heritage, and although they find some of the new western trappings useful – mobile phones, motor bikes, they prefer to continue to live in their traditional way. Many of the Elephant Pepper Camp staff are Maasai, and enjoy welcoming you to their home, not far from camp.

The Maasai live in semi-permanent huts known as Manyattas and it is the role of the wife to construct the hut from cattle dung and grass. The families will show you round their home for a fee (payable separately, ask the manager for details), and will want to take the opportunity to sell their traditional handicrafts – bargain hard! Elephant Pepper Camp works closely with the community, and there are ways that you can get involved.

Over the years, Elephant Pepper Camp has hosted many beautiful weddings, blessings, and renewal of vows for the camp’s guests. From small simple ceremonies involving merely a glass of champagne at the end of a game drive, to elaborate three-day events, with over a dozen guests taking over the whole property. Discuss your ideas with your travel agent, or contact Elewana Elephant Pepper Camp for more information.

Elewana is dedicated to sustainability through conservation work, and community support, and ensures that 50-75% of its staff are members of the local community, especially in camps set within community conservancies. This has allowed rural communities to enjoy a steady stream of income, and rely less on livestock and agriculture which provide increasingly uncertain streams of revenue in an age of climate uncertainty and changes in weather patterns. Continuing on the agricultural vein, Elewana ensures that wherever possible, local produce is sourced at their camps, reducing the length of supply chains, and curtailing the detrimental environmental impact of food exportation which makes up the vast majority of the agricultural industry.

Elephant pepper Camp has put forward immense efforts in constituting the Mara North Conservancy. Elewana reports:

“Elephant Pepper Camp has been the driving force in creating the Mara North Conservancy (MNC) which covers a core parcel of over 70,000 acres bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve to the north and effectively increasing its size by 20%. The conservancy, established in 2009, provides some of the Masai Mara ecosystem’s prime game viewing, whilst guaranteeing over 800 Masai landowners stable revenue, transparent financial management and the preservation of the ancient balance between wildlife and traditional pastoralism.”

The effective expansion of the Maasai Mara through the MNC has supported the ecosystem of The Mara, building the stability of the landscape, which provides for both the wildlife, and the indigenous communities on The Mara

The Land & Life Foundation is the charitable face of the Elewana Collective, which is committed to supporting local people and wildlife within its areas of operation. With subsidisation by Elewana itself for operational costs, 100% of each donation goes directly to the benefit of neighbouring communities, schools, and the ecosystems around Elewana camps.

With properties in some of the most biodiverse areas on the continent, Elewana has embraced the responsibility of contributing to the protection of both the habitat in which the wildlife lives, as well as specific vulnerable and endangered wildlife species. Pioneering efforts in “Parks Beyond Parks” initiatives have helped to establish the protection of these ecosystems outside of the fixed boundaries of National Parks and Conservancies. In total this initiative has helped protect land between both Kenya and Tanzania extending to over 1.36 million.

The Land & Life Foundation have endeavoured to provide tangible benefits to the communities living around Elewana’s protected areas, and believe that it is a responsibility they must hold up as an integral feature of sustainable tourism in East Africa. With the support of donors, the Land & Life Foundation is continually working to improve the infrastructure within rural areas, to improve access to healthcare and education to many disadvantaged communities in Kenya and Tanzania.

The foundation continues to communicate, and work closely with these developing clinics and schools in order to better ascertain the needs of these institutions in real-time as they become more and more established, whether the most effective aid be infrastructure, supplies, or training. In the past 5 years, the foundation has provided healthcare to over 1285 patients, and has trained clinicians from 5 clinics to serve over 40,000 people. The primary schools supported by Elewana and the Land & Life Foundation have received over $300,000 in donations over the last 5 years, providing the schools with everything from books, desks, classrooms, and kitchens to sports kit and uniforms, drought-relief food provisions and scholarships for 5 or more years.

The Elewana Collection is a bastion of Eco-Friendly tourism in East Africa, having made significant steps towards the protection of the environment on both a local and broader level. Having made considerable efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Elewana’s lodges are equipped with state-of-the-art power systems, using solar energy in conjunction with power-storage technology to ensure minimal emissions from fuel usage.

Elewana’s Lodges are designed to minimise their environmental impact on the surrounding area, championing the “Ban the Bottle” initiative since 2018. Providing guests with complimentary Elewana branded aluminium bottles, the use of reusable bottles was shown to prevent 160,000 plastic bottles from entering landfill per year. As such, Elewana camps uphold a high recycling standard, ensuring that recycling procedures are followed wherever possible, creating an environmentally conscientious culture. Further, Elewana’s camps were the first tourism providers in East Africa to go to “Was with the Straw” in 2019, now providing biodegradable paper straws at all of its camps.

Elewana has creatively combined its environmental policy with community support, providing opportunities for artisans in Tanzania, sending its recycled glass to the Shanga workshop in Arusha and creating beautiful artistic pieces with the recycled material. Elewana’s initiative has supported disadvantaged Tanzanians, whilst preserving their artistic culture and providing them with opportunities for commerce at Elewana camps.

Elewana’s environmental policies have earned its properties Eco-Ratings from Eco Tourism Kenya, earning 1 bronze, 2 silver, and 6 gold awards across its 9 properties. Its 6 gold properties have received international STEP certification with Sustainable Travel International an organisation accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), whose core mission is to “establish and manage global sustainable standards with the aim of increasing sustainable tourism knowledge and practices among public and private stakeholders.” Elewana’s Tanzania properties are all either SEED or SAPLING certified with Responsible Tourism Tanzania.

The Land & Life Foundation carry out various initiatives within Kenya and Tanzania, such as its ‘Wildlife Warrior Programme’, and educational programme which is focused on training the next generation of conservationists. This education is premised on the cultural exchange of knowledge down the generations, and engages the young students with activities from trivia, poetry, drama, art, and creative writing, to foster a culture of profound love for the environment within these conservationists in the making!

As of 2018, 40 of the best young conservationists were awarded Wildlife Warrior Scholarships for the rest of their primary and secondary education with help from the programme’s donors. The programme aims to increase its scholarship base by a minimum of 10 new scholars each year.