Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Maasai Mara Game Reserve: Background Info

Maasai Mara Game Reserve is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Kenya. The reserve is located in the Great Rift Valley in primarily open grassland. Wildlife tends to be most concentrated on the reserve’s western escarpment. The Masai Mara is regarded as the jewel of Kenya’s wildlife viewing areas. The annual wildebeest’s migration alone involves over 1.5 million animals arriving in July and departing in November.There have been some 95 species of mammals, amphibians and reptiles and over 400 birds species recorded on the reserve.

Maasai Mara Game Reserve: Destination Preview

The Experience: Maasai Mara Game Reserve

The Maasai Mara Game Reserve is on the northernmost extension of the Serengeti ecosystem and is a micro-habitat in its own right. The inner reserve of 518sq km (200 sq miles) allows no intrusion of human settlement, while the outer remains basically undeveloped, an area where local Maasai pasture their cattle and co-exist with the game. It is probably the most famous reserve in Kenya. Its breathtaking views became familiar worldwide when the film ‘Out of Africa’ was released, as much of it was filmed in the Mara. Maasai Mara Game Reserve is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where visitors may see the super-abundance of animals that existed a century ago.

Measuring approximately 1510sq. ilometres (approx. 938sq. miles) in size, this unfenced savannah grassland is roughly 150 miles southeast of Nairobi.Maasai Mara derives its name from the indigenous people of Kenya – the Maasai tribe – and the Mara River that cuts through the park.The Masai Mara provides the best view of the famous wildebeest migration as the animals cross the Mara River between July and August.The Mara is also home to the richest concentration of wildlife, including the “Big Five” (elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and buffalo), zebras, antelope, gnus, Oribis, hyenas, giraffes, warthogs, gazelles, hartebeests, hippos, crocodiles and others.

Wildlife

Masai Mara National Reserve is Kenya’s flagship park. Sightings of four of the Big Five are pretty much guaranteed. Black rhino is more elusive, but can sometimes be spotted in the Mara Triangle. The reserve is one of the best for big cats, but sightings of smaller predators such as bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal and spotted hyena also tend to be rewarding. Antelope include impala, reedbuck, Thomson's gazelle, eland and topi, while buffalo, elephant and giraffe are relaxed and easily spotted.

Birdlife

With more than 500 bird species recorded, Masai Mara National Reserve is an excellent place to mark off a lot of Kenya’s savannah species from your bird list. The park is particularly rich in raptors with 57 species present. Bateleurs often soar above the grassy plains and predator kills are a good place to find up to six species of vultures scavenging. Migratory birds are present from November to April.