Olderkesi Conservancy
Olderkesi Conservancy is the odd one out among the Mara conservancies. It sits in the far south-east, against both the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the Tanzanian border, and it exists less to produce game drives than to keep a corridor open between the Mara, the Serengeti and the Loita Hills. It is also the smallest of those covered here, at around 3,108 hectares of leased land inside a far larger community landholding.
A Corridor First, a Safari Destination Second
Most conservancy pages start with wildlife. Olderkesi’s case starts with geography. The land it occupies is the pinch point where three systems meet, and the conservation argument for leasing it is that fencing, cultivation or subdivision there would sever the link between the Kenyan and Tanzanian halves of one ecosystem.
Wildebeest use the Poleleti plains within the conservancy as a calving area, which is a different function from the river crossings that draw visitors into the reserve further north. The land also carries elephant moving between the Loita and Ngurman hills and the reserve, and the whole block is described by its tourism partner as part of a wider corridor of about 21,000 acres.
The Numbers, and Why They Disagree
Olderkesi is the hardest of the five to pin down on figures, and this page says so rather than picking the most flattering version.
| Measure | What different sources say |
|---|---|
| Leased area | 3,108 hectares, or 7,551 to 7,600 acres, or about 7,000 acres |
| Community landholding | About 106,000 acres, of which the conservancy is a fraction |
| Landowners or members | 3,400 registered members, 6,000 households, 6,500 landowners, or 7,000 |
| Conservancy established | 2016, on land where the tourism partner has operated far longer |
The area figures actually agree: 3,108 hectares is about 7,680 acres, so the conservancies association, the tourism partner and the conservation NGOs are describing the same block. The membership figures do not agree, and the likely explanation is that they count different things, registered members of the group ranch against households against individual landowners. No single figure is defensible, so the range is given.
Zoning Rather Than Exclusion
Olderkesi’s lease works differently from Ol Kinyei, which removed settlement and livestock from its set-aside area altogether. Here, settlement, farming and grazing are limited to designated zones rather than excluded, which is the more common compromise across the conservancy system and the more realistic one on land where the community landholding dwarfs the leased block.
That is worth understanding before arriving, because it shapes what the place looks like. This is a working landscape with people and cattle in it, not an emptied one. The conservation case is that a corridor with managed human use is worth far more than no corridor at all.
The conservancy employs community rangers, a workforce that has included the first women rangers in the Mara, and the tourism partner’s trust funds schooling and community projects alongside the lease payments. Anti-poaching, land-use zoning and species work including pangolin research have been supported by an international conservation organisation working alongside the community trust.
What a Stay Here Is Actually Like
Accommodation is limited to a small number of properties run by one long-established operator, so vehicle numbers are low by any measure. Guests pay a conservation and community fee that goes to the conservancy’s community owners, which is the mechanism funding the lease.
Game viewing is good rather than spectacular by Mara standards, and a visitor arriving from the northern conservancies will notice fewer animals per hour. What the south-east offers instead is emptiness, a border position with the Serengeti, and the Loita Hills country behind. Walking safaris, night game drives and Maasai cultural experiences all run, as across the conservancy system.
For the Mara River crossings, this is not the base. Those are inside the national reserve further north and carry a separate Narok County entry fee for the day. A conservancy on the northern boundary such as Olare Motorogi or Mara North is the better choice for a migration-focused trip, and the Great Migration guide sets out the timing.
Getting to Olderkesi
Access is by light aircraft from Wilson Airport in Nairobi to an airstrip in the south-eastern Mara followed by a transfer, or by a long road journey through Narok and across the southern Mara. The road option is genuinely long and the flight is the usual choice; the fly-in safaris page covers the luggage limits.
Two to three nights fits Olderkesi, usually as one leg of a trip that includes the reserve or a northern conservancy. Travellers who make the journey for the corridor and the quiet rather than for a big cat list are the ones who come away satisfied.
Olderkesi Conservancy Questions
Why is Olderkesi so much smaller than the other conservancies?
Because the leased conservancy is a small part of a much larger community landholding of roughly 106,000 acres. The lease covers about 7,600 acres, chosen for its position in the corridor between the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Serengeti and the Loita Hills rather than for its size. The wider landholding remains in community use.
Does it border the Serengeti?
Yes. Olderkesi sits against the south-eastern boundary of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and against the Tanzanian border with Serengeti National Park beyond it. That border position is the reason the corridor argument for the conservancy is as strong as it is. Serengeti itself is in Tanzania and is a separate trip under separate rules.
Will I see people and cattle inside the conservancy?
Likely, in the zones set aside for them. Olderkesi limits settlement, farming and grazing to designated areas rather than excluding them, which is a different arrangement from Ol Kinyei’s exclusion of livestock from its core. It is a working landscape, and the lease is what makes conserving it competitive with farming or subdivision.
Is the game viewing as good as in the northern conservancies?
Generally not, and it is worth saying so. Animal densities in the south-east are lower than in the conservancies along the reserve’s northern boundary, and a visitor arriving from Olare Motorogi or Naboisho will notice the difference. What Olderkesi offers is space, very few other vehicles, the Serengeti boundary and the wildebeest calving ground on the Poleleti plains.
How do the landowners benefit?
Through lease payments funded by the conservation and community fee that guests pay, through employment as rangers and camp staff, and through the tourism partner’s trust, which has funded teachers, school sponsorship and a women’s savings group. The mechanism is the same one used across the Mara conservancies; the scale is smaller because the leased area is smaller.
No operator on the marketplace currently lists a safari to Olderkesi Conservancy.
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