Masai Mara Game Reserve

Southwest Kenya, the homeland of the Masai, very individual people who still appreciate traditions and rituals as part of their daily lives. In the center of this area is the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, widely considered the best game reserve in Africa.

The Mara comprises 1672 km ² open plains, woodlands and riparian forests. Because it borders the plains of the Serengeti, the Mara has an unprecedented number of animals. The vast plains are populated by herds of zebra, giraffe, gazelle and topi. In the acacia forests live an abundance of birds and monkeys. Elephants and buffalo wade in the wide Musiara swamp, while the rivers Mara and Talek are full with hippos and crocodiles.

Each year the Mara is the scene of the world's greatest natural spectacle: the great wildebeest migration from the Serengeti. From July to October the promise of rain and fresh grass in the north brings more than 1.3 million wildebeest together into one giant herd linking one horizon to the other.

At the Mara River they come together on the banks before they take the plunge and struggle through the rough waters to the other side, full of rage in their fight against the currents and lurking crocodiles. The wildebeest raise their young in the Mara, not only because of their search for fresh grass, but because of the predators that follow the herds.

The Mara was also known as the Kingdom of the Lions because these majestic and powerful hunters dominate these grasslands. Cheetahs are also often spotted in the Mara, as are the hyena and smaller predators like jackals.

The Mara is an awesome natural wonder, a place where Maasai warriors share the plains with hunting lions, a place of mighty herds and timeless cycles of life through death and birth.

Mara Conservancies

There are several conservancies that have been created around the Masai Mara to help protect the Masai Mara, and to help the Masai people who live in the area.

These areas are less visited and less crowded, often with many more game animals grazing on the plains and between the volcanic hills that distinguish this area of the Mara.