Calvin Cottar is Director and Owner at Cottar’s 1920s Safaris, an award-winning luxury 1920s safari camp and private bush villa located in the famous ‘seventh’ natural wonder of the world, the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Offering a bespoke safari experience, it’s owned and managed by the oldest established and continuing safari family in Africa. In 1919, together with his sons, Mike, Bud and Ted, Charles established ‘Cottar’s Safari Service’, one of the very first registered safari companies offering superior big game hunting and film safaris outfitting throughout Africa, India and Indochina. Cottar's is proudly associated with The Long Run, Classic Safari Africa and Pack for a Purpose, and together with the Olderkesi Maasai Community, run the Cottars Wildlife Conservation Trust.
To visit the Maasai Mara is to experience the original spirit and essence of ‘safari,’ reminiscent of a golden era of romance, professional guiding, adventure and elegance. The Mara is a timelessly unspoiled wilderness with endlessly beautiful views, boundless game animals, and colourful birdlife. It remains the home of the Masai people and small clans […]
To experience a safari in Kenya is to enjoy incredible biodiversity and natural beauty, luxury and private camps, and some of the highest standards of professional guiding in Africa, along with a warm welcome and personalised hospitality from genuinely friendly people. Kenya lies on the equator and shares common borders with Tanzania and Uganda, which […]
Trade the traditional 4×4 game vehicle for a guided bush walk or short walking safari in the remote wilderness of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and experience a thrilling adventure that you won’t soon forget. Rambling on foot through one of the most internationally celebrated and beautiful natural areas – and recognized as the Seventh Natural Wonder […]
Set apart as one of the most spectacular wonders of the natural world, The Great Migration is the annual journey taken by millions of wildebeest, zebras and other plains game animals migrating clockwise through the Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya’s Maasai Mara in search of good water and green pastures. It is an iconic event […]
Exciting news arrived last month as it was announced that Kenya was opening its doors to international travellers once again. So, in order to get you prepared for planning and booking your Kenyan safari experience in the world-famous Maasai Mara, we put together a guide to help you choose what luxury safari camp or lodge […]
Kenya is ready and waiting to welcome you safely! The Kenyan government has recently opened up the airspace for international flights and has lifted quarantine requirements for travellers coming in from 16 countries, with a Covid-19 negative certificate required to enter. This is excellent news as travel to Kenya is now a real possibility and […]
Kenya, and the internationally acclaimed Maasai Mara National Reserve in particular, are considered the birthplace of the traditional wildlife safari. Kenya is still celebrated today by people worldwide as the ultimate destination for an authentic safari experience, although now with the contemporary luxuries and greater investment in a tourism model that is environmentally, socially and […]
We are hungrier now more than ever before to marvel at the wonders of the world as the ‘travel drought’ has made our wanderlust that much stronger and given us itchy feet. The time will come when the new normal will once again include some of your old holiday favourites as well as different and […]
All across the world, people have experienced fundamental changes in their lives due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been plunged into a new ‘normal’ that, for most of us, is very different from what we were used to. These shifts in our lifestyles have made us realize how much we may have taken things […]
During this time when travel has been halted across the world, we have an opportunity to reflect on why travel to Africa is important to us and how we can continue to do so, without harming the environment and people that live within the safari destinations we visit. There is an almost endless list of […]
When you take flight into the big blue on an African flying safari, you will get to experience all the adventure, exhilaration and fascination of the wilderness from a bird’s-eye view in a light charter plane. Flying safaris can simply mean transferring by plane to and from your various chosen safari destinations or having a […]
After months of planning your wedding and then living out your big day together, your honeymoon should offer a balanced combination of relaxation, adventure and, of course, lots of romance. Your honeymoon is about you as a couple and it is a chance to spend quality time together before the reality and routine of daily […]
All around the world, countdowns have been shouted, loved ones kissed and champagne bottles popped, signaling the start of a new year and a new decade. For some, this is also the time to revisit last year’s resolutions and write new goals for the year ahead. If travel has made your list in 2020 and […]
It might take some time arranging and planning but just imagine if you and all those amazing women in your life jump in a plane for the adventure of your lives – a luxury safari in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Time seems to fly by and with busy schedules it can be difficult making […]
In Africa, Christmas looks quite different to the white Christmas of the Northern Hemisphere. Freezing temperatures and snow-covered buildings are replaced by lush green plants bespeckled with colourful blossoms, ice skating on frozen lakes is ditched in favour of outdoor adventures, and woolen jerseys and gluhwein are swopped out for loose summer clothing and chilled […]
You can hear the galloping hooves before you see them, the sheer number creating a noise that resounds over the savannah plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara and reaches you in the game drive vehicle. Rightly called the ‘greatest wildlife show on earth’, witnessing part of the annual journey of 2.5 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle […]
