The Mara is Kenya’s finest wildlife reserve. The wildlife is abundant and the gentle rolling grasslands ensure that animals are never out of sight. Birds too are prolific, including migrants, well over 450 species have been recorded, among them, 57 species are birds of prey.
The climate is gentle, rarely too hot and well spread rainfall year round. Between July and October, when the great Wildebeest migration is in the Reserve, the sensation is unparalleled. Masai Mara is one of the best plains’ game reserve where you can actually encounter a live Discovery channel, a haven for viewing a congregation of all sorts of animals in a 5 mile radius.
Masai Mara National Reserve lies about 270kms from Nairobi, the drive takes from 6 hours (depending on where you are staying). There are scheduled flights, twice daily from Wilson Airport Nairobi and once daily from Moi Airport Mombasa. The reserve is about 1510sqkms. The wildlife is far from being confined within the reserve boundaries, and an even larger area, generally referred to as the “dispersal area” extends north and east of the reserve. Maasai communities live within the dispersal area with their stock but a century of close association with the wildlife has resulted in an almost symbiotic relationship where wildlife and people live in peace with one another.
Topi, Eland, gazelle and many more species of plains’ game offer a rich choice of food for the dominant predators; lion, leopard and cheetah which hunt in this pristine wilderness.
After exhausting the grazing in Tanzania’s northern Serengeti, a large number of wildebeest and zebra enter the Masai Mara Reserve around the beginning of July drawn by the sweet grass raised by the long rains of April and May. It is estimated that more than half a million wildebeest enter the reserve and are joined by another 100, 000 from the Loita Hills east of the Mara. There is nowhere else on earth to compare with this wildlife marvel. But the trek is costly. The herds’ draw ravening packs of predators and thousands of the lame and young never complete the cycle. More die, by drowning or by the teeth of the cunning crocodile, while trying to cross the swirling muddy waters of the Mara and Talek rivers. Once the Mara’s grass has been devoured and when the fresh rain in Tanzania has brought forth a new flush there, the herds turn south, heading hundreds of kilometers back to Serengeti and Ngorongoro plains.
Although July – October are the months when the Masai Mara plains are filled with migrating wildebeest and zebra, there is much resident wildlife year round. The combination of a gentle climate, scenic splendor and untold numbers of wildlife makes the Masai Mara Kenya’s most popular inland destination park.
