• Masai Mara

    The Masai Mara (also spelled Maasai Mara) is a large park reserve in southwestern Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park game reserve in Tanzania. Named for the Maasai people (the traditional inhabitants of the area) and the Mara River, which divides it, it is famous for its exceptional population of game and the annual migration of zebra and the wildebeest from the Serengeti every year between July and October, widely known as the Great Migration.

    With an area of 1510 km² the Masai Mara is not the largest game park in Kenya, but it is easily the most famous. The entire area of the park is nestled within the enormous Great Rift Valley that extends from the Mediterranean Sea to South Africa. The terrain of the reserve is primarily open grassland, with seasonal riverlets. The western border is the Esoit Oloololo Escarpment of the Rift Valley, and wildlife tends to be most concentrated here as the swampy ground means that access to water is always good and tourist disruption is minimal.

    The Masai Mara is perhaps most famous for its lions although you’ll  find the other members of the “Big Five” here as well. The population of black rhinoceros is severely threatened, with a population of only 37 recorded in 2000. Hippo are found in large groups in the Masai Mara and Talek Rivers while Cheetah are also to be found.

    As in the Serengeti, the wildebeest dominate the Masai Mara with numbers estimated in the millions. Around July of each year these ungainly animals migrate in a vast ensemble north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, and return to the south around October. The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural events worldwide, involving an immensity of herbivores: some 1,300,000 Wildebeest, 360,000 Thomson’s Gazelle, and 191,000 Zebra. These numerous migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by a block of hungry predators, most notably lion and hyena.

    Numerous other antelope can be found, including Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, impala, topi and Coke’s hartebeest. The plains are also home to the distinctive Masai Giraffe as well as the common giraffe. The large Roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely present elsewhere in Kenya, can be seen within the reserve borders. The Masai Mara is a major research centre for the spotted hyena. Additionally, over 450 species of birdlife have been identified in the park, including vultures, marabou stork, secretary bird, hornbill, crowned crane, ostrich, long-crested Eagle, and African pygmy-falcon.


    Click to learn more about the camps found in the Masai Mara area