The Great Masai Mara
The Mara, named after it’s traditional inhabitants – the Maasai people and the description of the area when looked at from far: Maa (which means ‘spotted’ in Maasai language), the Masai Mara national reserve (or, call it the ‘Maasai Mara‘) is dotted with savannah, scrub, circles of trees and cloud shadows that are a comfort for game and for a memorable ‘breakfast in the wild’. The Masai Mara is Kenya’s game reserve in south-west Kenya, bordering Tanzania where it continues through the north of Tanzania as Serengeti national park / Serengeti game reserve.
It is in the Masai Mara that tourists enjoy the view of the annual Great wildebeest migration from the Serengeti plains to Masai Mara starts in Serengeti game reserve from January to March heading into the Mara from June to October.
Just as is the case with the Mara’s continuation of Serengeti in Tanzania, wildebeests dominate the game population in the Masai Mara with an estimation of millions. It is this vast of population that leads to their annual migration, from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara, that occurs during the months of June / July in search of fresh pasture and later in October, the wildebeests return to the southern plains. This worldwide famous Wildebeest migration is a very complex puzzle that involves an approximation of 18,000 eland, 97,000 topi, 200,000 zebras, 500,000 Thomson’s gazelles, 1,300,000 wildebeests, and a collection of hungry hyenas and lions that await any slightest opportunity to enjoy a ‘great meal’.
The Mara is also famous for its large population of game such as impalas, Topi, elands, hyenas, the big cats, the ‘Big Five’ – Leopards, Black Rhinoceros, Lions, Buffalos, and Elephants; Jackals, antelopes – Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, the rare nocturnal bat-eared foxes and the large roan antelopes, Cheetahs, coke’s hartebeests and duikers, Zebras including the Burchells zebra that leads the wildebeests during the Wildebeest migration. Large populations of Nile crocodiles and hippopotami can be found in Talek River and the Mara River.
Masai Mara safari companies advice on game watching at the Esoit Siria and Mara River as the best spots for viewing the big cats especially cheetahs and lions. The Masai giraffe and the common giraffe are also popular in the Masai Mara plains, which is home to over 450 bird species, with about 60 species being raptors. Permanent residents in the Mara are the secretary birds, crowned cranes, vultures, African pygmy-falcons, ostriches, lilac-breasted roller, long-crested eagles, and the hornbills.