Maasai Mara Game Reserve

The world-renowned Masai Mara National Reserve is undoubtedly one of Kenya’s most remarkable reserves and safari destinations as well as the country’s most sought-after tourist attraction.

A skyview of the Mara River and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve Landscape

Maasai Mara Game Reserve | Background Info

The Masai Mara is a northern extension of Tanzania’s Serengeti, and is the site of the annual Great Wildebeest Migration which takes place from late July through to early October during which millions of wildebeest and thousands of zebra migrate from the Serengeti in Tanzania. The Masai Mara’s Great Migration is regarded as one of the greatest wildlife spectacles and natural wonders to witness first-hand. By far the most anticipated part of this journey is the dramatic Mara River crossings that occur between July and September as the animals enter Kenya.

Along with millions of wildebeest and huge herds of zebra, antelopes and other grazers, this jaw-dropping spectacle is a magnet for predators. There is no better place to witness lion, leopard, and cheetah in double-quick time, helped by the open terrain and the cats’ ease around vehicles. The Masai Mara National Reserve is therefore one of the best places in Africa for big cat sightings.

Experience Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Home of Safari

The Mara Game Reserve, as it was originally known, was established in 1961. Today, it’s one of the best-known wildlife areas in Africa, home to healthy big cat populations and an abundance of plains game, bolstered by the arrival of millions of wildebeest during the Great Migration. Visit at any time and you have a good chance of seeing lion, elephant, cheetah, Masai giraffe and buffalo, as well as varied birdlife, hippo and crocodiles along the rivers.

There’s a reason the Masai Mara National Reserve is so well known and popular with visitors. Point a camera and in one shot you might capture dazzles of zebra and a scattering of impala, wildebeest and gazelles, elephant marching in a line and lanky giraffe nibbling the acacia trees, all against a backdrop of distant hills and vast open plains.

The Mara Migration

Everything's big here: it’s a landscape of rolling plains and rounded hills, of groves of acacia woodland and dense thickets of scrub. The reserve is bisected by the Mara River and its tributaries, which are margined by lush riverine forest and the site of spectacular river crossings during the migration.

The reserve’s southern boundary is contiguous with Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, which shares the Great Migration herds. It has been developed on the lines of a national park, where, unlike in the bordering conservancies, human settlements are unable to intrude and game-viewing is restricted to game drives and horse riding safaris.

The annual Maasai Mara Game Reserve Wildebeest Migration trek takes place typically between July to end of August and involves dangerous crossings through crocodile-infested rivers. The 'Mara', as Masai Mara is also known, is among the best wildlife reserves not just in Kenya but also in Africa