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Gamewatchers Safaris is one of the best safari companies for affordable Kenya Safaris. And, that’s not all they do!
The great news is Gamewatchers Safaris offers high-quality budget African safaris, not just luxury safari packages. Thus, we proudly feature a handpicked selection of their well-priced Kenya Safari Tours on our website.
Porini Camps Masai Mara Safari in Kenya
To cast your net wider, browse our nearly-100 different Kenya Budget Safaris with a variety of top African safari companies. This gives you more choices. Budget-wise and in terms of travel style, group size, safari destinations, vehicles, and more.
With the help of our safari experts, it’s easy to find the ultimate Kenya Safari for your budget and needs. We know there are lots of choices, but we help you to find the best safari for you–be it a luxury camping trip, family safari, or small group adventure tour. And, if we can’t find the right one, our safari experts can tailor-make a Kenya Safari just for you, without busting your budget.
(Or, just compare affordable Gamewatchers Safaris on African Budget Safaris).
Why Gamewatchers Safaris is one of our favorite African safari companies
Gamewatchers Safaris is one of our most treasured African safari partners. We love working with them because they are leaders in eco-tourism and community-based wildlife conservation. Their commitment to responsible tourism, along with their outstanding personalized service, places them firmly ahead of the pack.
Porini Bush Camp – Gamewatchers Safaris
Our Kenya Safaris with Gamewatchers are always in demand and our clients rave about their well-priced safaris!
Got a specific question, or ready to plan your Gamewatchers Safari?
Get personalized advice (for free) from one of our friendly travel experts who can answer all your questions, and tailor-make an affordable Kenya Safari for you in a jiffy.
Gamewatchers Adventure Camp at Masai Mara
Who is Gamewatchers Safaris Ltd and what are they famous for?
They are a leading African safari tour operator that also owns and runs the award-winning Porini Camps in Kenya. Established in 1989, Gamewatchers Safaris is one of the longest-running African safari companies. They have been operating in Kenya for over 30 years.
This safari company is famous for its exclusive tailor-made safaris and eco-friendly Porini Camps in Kenya.
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Private Conservancy Masai Mara in Kenya
The company is owned by Kenyan citizen, Jake Grieves-Cook, who founded Gamewatchers Safaris in 1989. An icon in African tourism and wildlife conservation, Jake has been involved in Kenya’s safari industry since 1972!
Gamewatchers Safaris has a team of about nine African safari consultants and a team of customers services staff on the ground in Kenya. Other staff members include a Managing Director, Corporate Affairs Manager, Conservation & CSR Coordinator, and Product & Marketing Manager. Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps also has over 10 safari experts (travel consultants) representing them across the globe, from the USA and UK to India and Australia.
Then there are all their camp managers, game rangers, drivers, and hospitality staff members at the Porini Camps in Kenya. They employ about 240 staff members at the Porini Camps and conservancies alone. Job preference is given to local Maasai people from the communities that own the conservancies so their camp staff consists mostly of Kenyans from the area.
Mara Porini Camp staff in Kenya
All-in-all there is a massive team of international and local people involved in running Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps in Kenya and beyond.
What does Gamewatchers Safaris do?
This internationally acclaimed African safari company specializes in personalized (tailor-made) safari experiences to small, eco-friendly lodges and camps.
Gamewatchers Safaris offers some of the best tailor-made safaris to private wildlife conservancies and top national parks in East Africa. They take visitors to the leading eco-safari lodges, hotels, and camps in Kenya, Tanzania, and elsewhere. Of course, this includes safaris to Porini Camps and the other eco-safari camps they manage.
Kenya tented camp room
The smaller safari camps they visit provide a more intimate and exclusive African safari experience. But, Gamewatchers Safaris is more than a tour operator and camp owner. It is an active champion of wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism in Africa.
In 2020, Gamewacthers Safaris launched an initiative called “Adopt-an-Acre” to help sustain the wildlife conservancies and camps during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the drop in tourism, this initiative enables anyone to adopt parts of the conservancies in Kenya with donations being used to pay the landowners and staff salaries. (More about this Adopt-an-Acre in Kenya Initiative).
Where are Gamewatchers Safaris & their Porini Camps found in Africa?
Gamewatchers Safaris Ltd is based in Kenya with its headquarters located in Nairobi. They offer safari tours in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda as well as beach holiday packages to Zanzibar and other African beach destinations.
In Kenya their safari destinations include Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo, Ol Pejeta, Lake Nakuru, Laikipia, Samburu, Lewa Downs, Meru, and Shompole.
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Ol Kinyei Conservancy – Masai Mara
Their collection of safari camps is in Kenya. These include the acclaimed Porini Camps, located in Ol Pejeta Conservancy (near the Aberdare & Mount Kenya national parks), Selenkay Conservancy (at Amboseli National Park), and Ol Kinyei Conservancy and Olare Orok Conservancy (both in the Greater Masai Mara Ecosystem).
Porini Mara Camp – Gamewatchers Safaris
They also run two Adventure Camps in Selenkay and Ol Kinyei conservancies, the Rhino River eco-lodge in Meru National Park, and the Nairobi Tented Camp in Nairobi National Park.
Ol Kinyei Adventure Camp in Kenya
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How Gamewatchers protects key habitats, local people, and wildlife in Kenya?
Gamewatchers Safaris has played a pivotal role in creating and sustaining private conservancies in Kenya.
Jake Grieves-Cook (the founder of Gamewatchers Safaris) is one of the leading pioneers of eco-tourism in Africa. In the late 1990s, he introduced the ‘conservancy concept’ as an alternative approach to wildlife conservation in Kenya. This conservancy model entails leasing land from the local Maasai to create game reserves, called wildlife conservancies, next to the national parks.
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In 2005, Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps established Ol Kinyei Conservancy in partnership with 171 local landowners. This was the first conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara Ecosystem. It still belongs to the local Maasai and now comprises 17,500 acres.
In 2018 Ol Kineyei achieved IUCN Green List status for “its good governance, sound design and planning, and effective management”.
Porini Rhino Camp Maasai Culture
Today Gamewatchers Safaris runs six Porini Camps in private conservancies that they have been instrumental in creating and sustaining. These conservancies continue to bring direct benefits to the people and wildlife in Kenya, serving as a successful model for conservation in Africa and beyond.
Porini Rhino Camp – Gamewatchers Safaris
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The Conservancy Concept explained by Gamewatchers Safaris founder Jake Grieves-Cook
Saving Wildlife Habitat, Kenya from jakegc on Vimeo.
By partnering with local landowners, Gamewatchers Safaris has used eco-tourism to effectively conserve the wildlife and wild habitats of Kenya whilst helping local communities to generate income. This has transformed the wilderness areas around Amboseli National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve in particular.
“It is tourism that pays for the conservancies to continue in existence so if you come out for a safari staying in our camps in the conservancies then that will definitely be a big help for conservation and for the communities who have set aside their land as a home for wildlife.” – Jake Grieves-Cook
Porini Lion Camp Lions, Gamewatchers Safaris, Kenya
And, in 2020 when tourism plunged due to Covid-19, Gamewatchers Safaris launched an Adopt-an-Acre initiative (featured on Ecotourism Kenya) to help support the wildlife conservancies and local communities.
What makes Gamewatchers Safaris one of the best safari companies in Africa?
Sustainable and responsible tourism is at the heart of what they do. The core mission of Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps is:
“…using tourism to protect habitat and partnering with communities as we do that.” – M. Brar, MD of Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps
Gamewatchers Safaris plays a critical role in Kenyan wildlife conservation and local socio-economic development through their involvement in private conservancies and their eco-safari camps. Beyond this, they also contribute to social upliftment in Kenya through CSR programs.
“Our community outreach projects include donations towards school fees and equipment and the employment of local community members as rangers to protect the widlife.”
Not only are they a socially and environmentally sustainable company but they are also one of the oldest and most experienced safari companies in Africa. Even better, their decades of experience are rooted in the Kenya safari industry. Who better to experience the wild places and wildlife of Kenya with?
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Why choose Gamewatchers Safaris for your Kenya Safari?
Their safaris and tented camps are highly-rated and sought-after. And their mission–to conserve wildlife and support local communities in Kenya through low-impact tourism–is 100% worth supporting.
Bush walk Mara Porini…
