The Enchanting Masai Mara 

Masai Mara National Game Reserve is at times the most densely game-populated place on earth. Lying on the Kenya-Tanzania border, it forms part of the Serengeti ecosystem and hence hosts the annual spectacle of the great migration from July to September. However, animals abound in this park throughout the year. Masai Mara is home to the renowned black-maned lion, elephant, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, along with the black rhino

3 Days Amboseli Elephant Country 

4 Days Aberdares | Samburu

5 Days Samburu | Sweetwaters |   Lake Nakuru  

6 Days Southbound Kenya Discovery 

7 Days Samburu | Aberdares | Lake Nakuru | Masai Mara

7 Days Masai Mara | Lake Nakuru | Mount Kenya

7 Days Tsavo West | AMBOSELI | Aberdares | Nakuru | Masai Mara  

  Tanzania Itineraries  Camp/Lodge

4 Day Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro Crater | Tarangire  

5 Day Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro | Serengeti  

7 Day Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro | Serengeti | Tarangire  

Special  Itineraries

10 Day Amboseli | Manyara | Ngorongoro | Serengeti | Tarangire

13 Day Manyara | Ngorongoro | Serengeti | Tarangire | Amboseli | Lake Nakuru | Masai Mara

13 Day Great Trek | Kenya & Tanzania | Samburu | L. Nakuru | Masai Mara | L. Manyara | Serengeti | Olduvai | Ngorongoro

MAPS : Click on the map above for a clear and detailed map

Masai Mara is "The" park of parks in Kenya. Its grass-carpeted smooth hills, the chocolate Mara river waters with frolicking hippos, as well as the rich faunal diversity, fulfill the expectations of any visitor searching the African landscapes portraited in motion pictures such as "Out of Africa" Save particular tastes or special requirements, this is the park on top of the "must" list in the country: no trip to Kenya would be complete without a visit to Masai Mara. Leopards and rhinos abound.

South Western Kenya is the heartland of the Maasai.

The Maasai are a strongly independent people who still value tradition and ritual as an integral part of their everyday lives. They regard themselves not just as residents of this area but that they are as much a part of the life of the land as the land is part of their lives.

Traditionally, the Maasai rarely hunt and living alongside wildlife in harmony is an important part of their beliefs. Lions and Wildebeest play as important a role in their cultural beliefs as their own herds of cattle. This unique co-existence of man and wildlife makes this Maasai land one of the world’s most unique wilderness regions.

At the heart of these lands is the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, widely considered to be Africa’s greatest wildlife reserve. The Mara comprises 200 sq miles of open plains, woodlands and riverine forest. Contiguous with the plains of the Serengeti, the Mara is home to a breathtaking array of life. The vast grassland plains are scattered with herds of Zebra, Giraffe, Gazelle, and Topi. The Acacia forests abound with Birdlife and Monkeys. Elephants and Buffalo wallow in the wide Musiara Swamp. The Mara and Talek rivers are brimming with Hippos and Crocodiles.

Masai Mara's location and altitude, above 1,500 m, yield a climate which is milder and damper than in other regions. The grassy landscape and the nutrient wealth for the great herds are mantained by the abundant rains, which here last from November through June, as a fusion of the two rain seasons (long and short) typical in other Kenya areas. Night storms are frequent. In the hills and plains, grasslands are scattered with acacia woods and bush. The riverbanks of the Mara and of the multiple tributary streams are bordered by dense riverine forests with a good chance to find some of the reserve's bird species.

The reserve, gazetted in 1961, is located west of the Rift Valley and is a natural extension of the Serengeti plains, in Tanzania. The Mara river, the reserve's backbone, traverses north to south heading for its westbound way unto lake Victoria, through the Tanzanian park. This course is the natural barrier crossed every year by the large migratory herds of wildebeests and zebras which march across the two parks. As explained below, more than one million wildebeests and 200,000 zebras move in a quest for the best pastures, finding along the way the crocodile-crowded river. When the herds ford the stream, many animals die flattened or drowned and leave their bones by the Mara banks. From July to October, Masai Mara is at its peak, with the seasonal visitors populating the vast grasslands.

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