Masai Mara Safari

The Masai Mara forms part of a huge eco-system incorporating the Serengeti and a number of smaller reserves. The Masai Mara is Kenya's most well-known National Park, famed for being part of the route of the Great Wildebeest Migration.

The drama of the Great Migration as the cross the treacherous Mara river

Extending northeast from a shared border with Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, the 1,510 km2 Masai Mara is the most famous and popular safari destination in Kenya, if not anywhere in Africa. The appeal of the Mara and adjacent private/community conservancies isn’t difficult to explain. Its mosaic of rolling hills, open grassland and acacia woodland supports a quite incredible profusion and variety of wildlife. Large predators such as lion, leopard, cheetah and Spotted hyena are easily seen at close quarters all year round, and the reserve truly blossoms between August and October, when the legendary wildebeest migration - perhaps the world’s most breathtaking wildlife spectacle - crosses into Kenya from Tanzania.

Masai Mara Highlights

An excellent introduction to the reserve’s varied grassland, woodland and wetland habitats is provided by the dawn balloon safaris offered by almost all the lodges. Over August and October, balloon trips can also provide an astonishing vulture’s-eye view over the migrating wildebeest herds.

The Big Five are all present and seen with various degrees of ease. Elephants are very common, as are buffaloes, the latter being the favoured prey of the reserve’s unusually large lion prides, which often number 15 or more adults. Leopards are more elusive, but quite easy to locate if you know where to look, and while numbers of black rhino dropped alarmingly in the late 20th century, up to three dozen individuals still survive. The rhino population here is the only one in Kenya that can be regarded as fully indigenous, with a gene pool (as yet) undiluted by translocated individuals of southern African or mixed origin.

Even outside of the migration season, ungulates are well represented, too. There’s no better place for close-up views of the eland, the world’s largest antelope, which seems to be less skittish here than in most of its range. Also likely to be seen are giraffe, impala, gazelle, topi, Coke’s hartebeest, reedbuck, Defassa waterbuck, hippo and warthog.

Cheetah in grass plains of the Masai Mara Reserve

A game drive through the Masai Mara

The Mara provides a fine introduction to East Africa’s savanna birdlife, with more than 500 species recorded in and around its borders, including such perennial favourites as Lilac-breasted roller, Superb starling and Little bee-eater. Large ground birds such as ostrich, Southern ground hornbill, Kori bustard and the localised Denham’s bustard are also common. The riparian forest along the Mara and Talek Rivers is an important habitat for niche species such as Ross’s turaco, Schalow’s turaco and Grey kestrel.

Superb Starlings

The drama of the wildebeest migration is encapsulated by the multiple river crossings that punctuate the great herds’ three-month tenure in the Masai Mara. The river crossings usually start in August, when the wildebeest disperse into the plains surrounding the Mara River, and continue on a regular basis until the southward migration begins in October. The wildebeest tend to stick to a few favoured crossing points; the four used with greatest regularity lie along a 5 km stretch of river, meaning it is quite easy to keep tabs on any pending crossing.

Bounded by the Mara River to the east and Oloololo Escarpment to the northwest, the Mara Triangle is an untrammelled westerly wedge that forms part of the national reserve but has been managed by a non-profit management company called the Mara Conservancy since 2001. The Mara Triangle offers a similar standard of game-viewing to the rest of the national reserve, but it is easier to escape the congestions of safari vehicles that tend to congregate around wildlife sightings east of the river, especially during the migration season.

Mystery Gorilla Safaris Says

The Masai Mara is always an amazing safari destination, but at its best during the wildebeest migration, which occurs here between July and October each year.

The park is surrounded by concession areas and tribal lands of the Maasai tribes people. These are unfenced from the Mara and there can be as much wildlife roaming outside the park as inside so staying in these private concessions can often be just as rewarding.

This area is known for its predator population, particularly lions, hyenas and cheetahs. Cheetahs are severely endangered, and it is quite magnificent to see them take down kills at 110km/h on the Masai plains.

The Mara is probably the best serviced of all Kenyan national parks and reserves with a wide range of accommodation for any budget. The reserve is ideal for game drives, and some lodges and camps offer walking and balloon safaris.

How to Get There

Guests travelling to Kenya will opt for either a ‘fly-in-fly’ or a ‘fly-in-drive’ safari, which will determine whether they make use of air or road transfers to get to their destination.

All guests will enter Kenya at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the capital city. This airport is the travel portal for Kenya and can get very busy, so guests will often continue with their domestic flights from Wilson airport, which is 18km away.

Depending on the safari destination, guests will either connect with a charter flight from Wilson or Jomo Kenyatta airports to the reserve, or they will embark on a road journey from Nairobi to the reserve.

The Masai Mara is a 4-5 hour drive from Nairobi, or a short 45 minute flight via light air transfer. Mystery Gorilla Safaris will arrange the necessary domestic scheduled flights, as well as any additional road transfers required.

The easiest and most comfortable option is a fly-in safari package out of Nairobi. Upon arrival in Nairobi, Mystery Gorilla Safaris will arrange the necessary domestic scheduled flights, as well as any additional road transfers required. Road safaris from Nairobi generally work out to be cheaper, but it is worth bearing in mind that a significant proportion of your time and energy will be consumed by the bumpy six-hour drive in either direction.

There is no shortage of lodges and camps scattered in and around the Masai Mara. Unfortunately, this means that the reserve has acquired a reputation for being touristy and overcrowded, especially at the busiest times of year. When you book a lodge, be aware that crowding tends to be most extreme in the sector southeast of the Talek River and its confluence with the Mara. The central sector, cupped between the Talek and Mara, tends to be quieter, but the best lodges for those seeking a real bush experience are those in the westerly Mara Triangle and private concessions and ranches outside the park.

Masai Mara Game Viewing and Activities

The plains between the Mara River and the Esoit Oloololo Escarpment are probably the best areas for game viewing, particularly for lion and cheetah. Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, impala, zebra, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, warthog and giraffe are easily spotted on game drives. The Masai Mara is said to have the largest population of lion in Kenya, while large herds of elephants are often found browsing among the rich tree-studded grasslands.

The Mara river traverses north to south heading for its westbound way unto Lake Victoria. It is on the banks of the Mara River that the migratory herds of wildebeest and zebra make their mass crossing. Watch the dramatic spectacle of nature unfold as the animals are driven by their primal instinct to cross the rushing waters of the crocodile-infested river to graze the rich grasslands of the northern Masai Mara

Over 450 species of birdlife have been identified in the park, including 53 species of birds of prey. The Masai Mara is a National Reserve, not a National Park, which means it is held in trust for the people and managed by the local councils as apposed to the Kenya Wildlife Service.