Masai Mara National Reserve
The Masai Mara is regarded as Kenya’s favorite and most popular game reserve with over 140,000 visitors per year. The reserve lies approximately 270 kilometers west of Nairobi and covers an area of approximately 1,510 square kilometers, bordering the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The landscape is mostly open savannah grasslands and acacia shrubland.
Starting any time from late July, large herds of Wildebeest and Zebra follow the rains and start grazing in the wide and open grasslands of what has become fondly known as “The Mara”. They may be late but they will always make the trip, driven by dry conditions in the Serengeti and led by the lightning and thunder to the north. Come November, they start the homeward journey bound again for the Serengeti. This annual spectacle is known as the “Wildebeest Migration” and is not to be missed!
At this time of year, you will also see a large number of lions, hippos, crocodiles, and vultures, all of which prey on the weak and young migrating animals. Other games to be found in the Masai Mara at any time of the year include elephants, cheetah, baboons, gazelle, giraffe, jackals, leopard, hyenas, water buffalo, ostriches, and a large variety of antelope and birdlife.