Lions for Camera

The MARA TIMBO CAMP is situated in the world-famous Masai Mara and is with its seven luxury tents definitely a first class camp. The camp with a personal butler for every tent and exquisite kitchen is owned and managed by the former „TV-Lady” Michaela Papke, who used to be a host in RTL-Morning Show and later for „Die Redaktion“ on RTL 2 and her husband Klaus, who also worked in the TV-business as a producer.

The couple got stuck after a 6week safari in January 2007 through Kenya simply because the country and the people were so impressive. “The safari was dreamlike and the lodges in which we stayed on the trip were beautiful“, Klaus remembers, “after half of the trip we did not only ask our driver to stop for zebras and lions anymore but also for wood and stones to find out about prices for building a camp.” Everything with their TV-production MediaWork TV in Germany was working out well though. "We didn´t have a single reason to give it all up!" Michaela says, "but Kenya just put its spell on us!"

The two found the perfect location for their camp in the world-famous Masai Mara. People who love animals got the chance to see the so called “Big-Five” not far from the camp. Besides the Elephants, Rhinos, buffalos leopards and the lions on can also watch the impressing migration of the wildebeests from the beginning of July. Then more than 1,2 millions (!) of wildebeests and many zebras and antelopes migrate from Tansania to gras in the Masai Mara, where hungry crocodiles are waiting for them in the Mara River.

Below the hills, where the movie "Out of Africa" was made, the Wilkens found an area of 200.000qm and decided to give the luxury camp the name "MARA TIMBO CAMP". "After our little son Tim", Michaela explains. "Back then we didn´t know that ´Tembo` was the Swahili word for ´Elephant`. Now we always have to explain to our guests that the name of our camp is not just a spelling mistake!"

The building process of the camp was already an adventure on its own. "It´s not like just going to the shop next door to buy wood, screws and cement!” Klaus remembers. "Michaela and I designed everything and then had to find somebody to make it for us because it was impossible to find a place in Kenya that had the furniture, the duvet covers and the curtains we wanted. So it happend that all the interior things of the luxury tents, all the beds, the sideboards, the tables, desks, the curtains and even the duvet covers and pillowcases were made in the house we rented in Nairobi. For three month there were 35 carpenters and 4 tailors working on all the things.", Klaus remembers.

The Wilkens devided the certain tasks. While Klaus was in the bush as an architect and the manager of the building process to tell the people what they had to do, Michaela was buying the building-material in the weirdest places in Nairobi and was therefore responsible for the transport of the hardware as well.

In only three month of building between October and December 2007 the two Germans were able to put their camp in the bush of the Masai Mara. "We wanted to open the camp in the first week of January 2008 and we already had bookings fort hat but then the elections came up and everything changed“, Michaela sighs. Nobody expected the riots in Kenya especially not the Kenyans. The country set an example for economy in the whole of east-Africa with growing rates especially in tourism. And the need of places for tourists to stay on their safaris in the Masai Mara was much higher then the ones that were really there.

So they postponed the opening of the Timbo Camps to the end of July. "Since then we already had many guests from Germany, the UK and the USA“, says Michaela proudly, "and the feedback to our camp is overwhelming. To be so close to the river and therefore the hippos, our friendly female personal butlers and the food are getting a lot of compliments already.“