 Masai
Mara National Reserve
Location:
The 1'510km2 reserve ranges between 1'500m and
2'100m above sea level. The reserve receives high
rainfall as a result of the altitude and humidity
of nearby Lake Victoria, 160 km west. It lies
275 km southwest of Nairobi, and the journey takes
five hour by road. It is an extension of Tanzania's
Serengeti National Park, a small part of the Serengeti
ecosystem covering some 40'000km2 between the
Rift Valley and Lake Victoria.
Attractions:
It is the most popular of Kenya's parks, with
very good reason. One of the unique, spectacular
and most memorable sights is the annual migration
of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests (estimated
at 500'000 animals), gazelles and zebras as they
move from the Serengeti Plains in January, having
exhausted the grazing there, on their way northwards,
arriving in the Masai Mara by about July - August.
Among the rare antelopes found here are the Roan
antelopes in the southwest sector, and the thousands
of topi only found here and in the Tsavo National
Park. Another shy mammal is the bat - eared fox
sometimes seen peering out of their burrows.
Besides the wildebeests, the reserve is teeming
with other herbivores - numbering around 2'500'000
including Thompson's and Grant's gazelles, zebras,
buffalos, impalas, topi, hartebeests, giraffes,
elands, elephants, dik - diks, klipspringers,
steinboks, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, warthogs
and bushpigs. There are also large numbers of
lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs and
jackals, as well as smaller mammals and reptiles.
In the Mara River, hippopotamuses and apparently
sleepy crocodiles can be seen. In addition to
the numerous mammals, over 450 species of birds
have been recorded, including 57 species of birds
of prey.
Visits to the Masai manyatta (homes) are on offer
as well as game drives.
How to get there:
Air: There are a number of daily flights, including
return flights from Wilson Airport in Nairobi
which usually take about 45 minutes. There are
also daily flights from Mombasa which usually
take 2 hours
Road: The main access to the Mara Reserve is through
Narok town, 141km to the west of Nairobi, and
the last stop for buying food, water and petrol.
The journey to the Masai Mara is fascinating in
itself, crossing through the Rift Valley over
dry range lands. From Narok to the park is 100km,
part of which is along unsurfaced roads. The other
route is from Kisii, the road to the park being
just about okay in a 4WD outside of the rainy
season.
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