Mara vs. Serengeti: Which Bushtops Camp Is Right For You?

Mara Bushtops: The Private Conservancy Advantage

Mara Bushtops is the definitive choice for travellers seeking privacy and exclusive activities. Located in a private 3,000-hectare conservancy, it offers night drives and walking safaris restricted in the main reserve, while remaining just 15 minutes from the Masai Mara National Park.

The Story of Wild Luxury in Kenya

Mara Bushtops is also where it all began for the Stuart family, who own and run Bushtops. Andy and Claudia Stuart are the fourth generation (their sons are the fifth) to make wildlife camps central to their lives, but as entrepreneurial visionaries, they have taken things to an entirely new level, transforming the original “Cottar’s Homestead” into the award-winning home of Wild Luxury.

The secret lies in phenomenal attention to detail, close cooperation with local partners and employees, constant innovation, the highest standards of comfort and facilities, plus an utterly unique advantage. Mara Bushtops is not in the nearby national park; it nestles within its own Conservancy – essentially a private park of its own.

The Natural Salt Lick and Private Activities

The restaurant overlooks a natural salt lick, visited every hour of the day and night by elephants, giraffes, warthogs, baboons, various antelope, wildebeest, zebras, and more. At night, lions and the occasional leopard wander past the Camp, coughing deeply to state their claim to big cat dominance. Sundowners, night drives and walking safaris within this 3000-hectare (12 square mile) Conservancy are wholly private, whilst the full majesty of the Masai Mara National Park is only 15 minutes away.

That’s the ‘wild’ bit: what about the ‘luxury’ part? Well, the camp has 12 stunning tents and 2 family suites dotted around a restaurant and social hub. The adjacent Amani Spa has won multiple awards as the best of its kind in all of Africa.

All of which begs the question: with so much to offer and given the choice, why would you not choose Mara Bushtops over its sister camps, every time?

Masai Mara vs. Serengeti

Many would choose the Mara, but there is a subtle reason why some prefer Bushtops’ two Serengeti alternatives in Tanzania. Yes, the density of wildlife in the Mara is astonishing. You will see more animals, more closely than in other camps. However, you will also see far more people.

The Mara is only a tenth the size of the Serengeti, and it packs in a lot of tourists, so you are rarely, if ever, alone. When a river crossing or kill is spotted, the word goes out via radio between drivers and within seconds, convoys of trucks are on their way, ready to gather round in an observant crescent. Although this is usually respectful and unintrusive, it does mean that you are rarely aware of being in wholly unspoilt wilderness country.

And that’s where the Serengeti plays its trump cards.

Serengeti Bushtops: A Sanctuary in the Northern Serengeti

Serengeti Bushtops is the top choice for witnessing the Great Migration river crossings. Located in the Northern Serengeti, it features “beyond 5-star” luxury tents (120sqm), each with a private sunken hot tub overlooking the plains.

The Isolated Wilderness Experience

Serengeti Bushtops has long been the shining star in Tanzania’s safari camp firmament. The camp is nestled within the national park, with nothing but wilderness stretching out in all directions, giving it a much more isolated feel than Mara Bushtops. The landscape is different too, with much wider open spaces, dotted with kopjes (rock outcrops). This makes Serengeti Bushtops a fantastic place to ‘reconnect’ with nature at its most raw, within African lands that produced our ancestors, so many millennia ago.

Tracking the Great Migration

As noted, the wildlife is less densely packed, but you’ll find almost exactly the same breadth of animals, birds and fauna, only more spread out. Tracking down these elusive sightings makes every encounter doubly exciting (the expertise of your ranger and tracker ensures a constant stream of revelatory discoveries).

Serengeti Bushtops is also a great place to witness the migration (which usually arrives around August/September to October/November). Although the Mara and Sand rivers are primarily in Kenya, both cross into or border Tanzania. This means anyone based in the northern Serengeti can witness migratory crossings from the other side of the rivers, viewing awe-inspiring herds of wildebeest as they gather nervously above the waters before thunderous phalanxes charge, splash and swim past watchful crocodiles.

Given its isolation, you might imagine that Serengeti Bushtops is a more basic form of safari camp, but that’s where the pleasant surprises start stacking up. The tents are beyond 5-star in terms of comfort and facilities. The food and drink offering is just as exceptional. You may not have a spa, but a massage on your private deck is arguably more magical. And with your own private Land Cruiser (another Bushtops innovation across all three Bushtops camps), you can set out on your adventures and see barely another vehicle all day.

Roving Bushtops: The Unique Mobile Format

Roving Bushtops is a mobile luxury camp designed to track the herds. It moves between the Southern and Northern Serengeti, ensuring guests are always in the optimal location for the migration while maintaining the signature Bushtops luxury in an intimate, 8-tent format.

The most recent of the Bushtops collection, Roving Bushtops, is truly unique. The moveable boxes concept was dreamed up, designed and built by Bushtops, making the roving format genuinely different and impressive – and ideal for anyone favouring the smaller camp (there are just eight tents in all).

Rather than rehearse a previous introduction, click here to gain a deeper insight into this wonderful third option. But to summarise its charms, you get all the qualities of adventure and comfort shared by its sister camps, within a more intimate format. So when based in the northern Serengeti, Roving Bushtops has its own territory to explore but is near to the migratory herds and river crossings. During the wildebeest calving season, it provides the perfect hideaway in the southern Serengeti.

Which Camp Is Right For You?

So, which of these three camps is right for you? If you are still not sure, it really doesn’t matter too much. Each shares the same ethos, offering responsible tourism, recycling and renewable energy whilst working in partnership with locals, tribes, schools and communities.

You will see fantastic wildlife at each location. You can luxuriate in your private hot tub with a gin and tonic, whichever one you choose. You’ll get your own specially customized Land Cruiser 4×4 when you sally forth from Camp (unless you book the awesome 6×6 known as The Beest!). And when you are back at base, you’ll find that all three are united by friendly, trained staff and the highest standards, excellent facilities and the chance to reconnect with what really matters: nature, people, spirit and time.

So which one should you go for? It really doesn’t matter! Take your pick, book your dates – and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.