Established in 1961, the Maasai Mara National Reserve got its name in honor of the ancestral inhabitants, the Maasai People. In the beginning, the Maasai Mara was a small wildlife sanctuary only covering an area of 520 square kilometers of the Mara Triangle that was expanded later towards the east in the same year, to cover approximately 1821 square kilometers. This accorded a game reserve status under the then Narok County Council. The Maasai Mara finally acquired the status of the ‘Maasai Mara National Reserve’ in 1974 and from its humble beginning; the reserve has remained t the forefront in the world’s wildlife conservation and tourism agenda.
Located in the Great Rift Valley in the southwest part of Kenya, Maasai Mara National Reserve is the flagship wildlife conservancy of Kenya. It’s known as the mother of all wildlife parks, reserves and conservancies, making Maasai Mara is an ideal place for you to see the African big five, namely elephant, Black rhino, lion, leopard, and buffalo in all their natural habitat.
Maasai Mara is paradise for wildlife, you will also get to spot other animals like wildebeest especially in big herds during the migration, topi, gazelles, elands, zebra, antelope, giraffe, warthogs, ostrich, hyena, jackals, cheetah, and many more. Dominated by grassland savannah, the pockets of riverine forest, rocky hills, and acacia woodland intersperse the expansive plains. Maasai Mara is world-famous for the annual wildebeest migration in which 2 million wildebeest, gazelles, and zebras follow the rains searching for pasture and water.
Maasai Mara’s perfect location has also made it a favourite location for the ‘Big Cat Diaries,’ the popular series on BBC. For bird lovers, Maasai Mara has over 450 bird species adding to it already diverse wildlife. Birds like the Maasai Ostrich, Black-bellied Bustard, Secretary Bird, Grey-crowned Crane, Kori Bustard, Sooty Chat, Rufous-bellied Heron, Southern Ground Hornbill, Bateleur and many more. At any time of the year, a Maasai Mara Safari will offer you an opportunity to experience not only breathtaking sceneries but also stunning wildlife sightings and close encounters with the Maasai, the local host community.
Well known for its large populations of lion, leopard and cheetah, dense herds of plains game, the Maasai Mara is famous for the annual the great wildebeest migration. During this natural phenomenon, about 2 million wildebeests, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle traverse the Serengeti Plains ecosystem in search of fresh grasses elsewhere.
Every year, these herds cross the Mara River as they move into the Maasai Mara between July and October, a sought-after safari event that pits hoofed game against the merciless Nile crocodiles in the water and a handful of lions and other big cats on the bushes along the river banks.
On a new twist, there is also a smaller migration of about 700,000 wildebeests that come from the adjacent Loita Hills. As much is the migration goes, it could be still a small fraction of what really draws tourist to the Maasai Mara. Delving deep to the rich wildlife beyond the famous big cats, there are elephants, cape buffalos, and a smaller population of the Black rhino. Hippos and crocodiles lurk in abundance in the murky pools with more bursting in fool life in the Sand, Talek and the Mara rivers.
For a very long time, the Maasai Mara has remained as one of the key safari destinations withinKenya. This is where most safari guests come to and rightfully for the ultimate Africa wildlife luxury safari. During the great wildebeest migration, the plains of the Maasai Mara team with wildlife on the move. Every year, millions of wildebeest and zebras cross the Mara River in search of pasture and water.
To the majority who would love to visit Kenya, Maasai Mara is one of the most popular tourist destinations in East Africa. This means that guests will see dozens of other safari vehicles in the reserve. In addition, sometimes you will be with a large group of safari vehicles watching the same animals.
This should not be a drawback, time will come that we could share memorable moments with just our vehicle and the wild animals. In the Maasai Mara and especially in its neighbouring wildlife conservancies, good chances are that you can avoid the big number of vehicles at all. Please, talk to our African luxury safari experts regarding your Africa safari.
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The travel and tourism sector is constantly changing and the excellent deals we get from our suppliers vary from week to week, which means your best source of information and recommendations will always be from our designers experts.
However, for those looking to do a bit of their own research before getting in touch, we are delighted to launch our new pre-safari virtual meeting service. You can book for an appointment with us here and let us know when you’re available virtual meeting.
