Facts About the park

The Masai Mara National Reserve is administered by the local county council. It is probably the most famous and most visited reserve in Kenya. It offers breathtaking views (seen in the film 'Out of Africa', much of which was filmed here)an extraordinary density of animals including the "Big Five" and many varieties of plains game.

Masai Mara is the most famous wildlife conservation area in Kenya and indeed the world. This game reserve is home to a rich variety of wildlife in a natural and untouched state. A pride of lions can be spotted ready to make a run for a gazelle (actually, the last time we visited the Masai Mara we saw a lioness take down a giraffe), a cheetah and its cub taking a nap on a rock, a pair of ostriches walking the open stretches of the savannah or a gazelle giving birth.

Masai Mara has a rolling savannah landscape dotted with shrubs and bush thickets, and is the Kenyan part of the large ecosystem stretching south to Serengeti in Tanzania.

The best thing the Mara has to offer is the wildebeest migration. This sensational display starts during the month of July when the wildebeest start moving north from the Serengeti. There are estimated to be over 1.5 million animals that partake in this migration. The wildebeests move north in search of the lush vegetation during the long rains. The wildebeests crossing the Mara river is comical yet sad. The long rains flood the rivers, and yet the wildebeests senselessly force their way upstream, and this causes many deaths and injuries. But that is natures way of dealing with it all; the wildebeests fresh death bring lions, vultures, jackals and hyenas who complete the food chain part of the migration. At the start of October, when the Masai Mara National Reserve experiences short rains, the wildebeests return south to the Serengeti. On the return trip the numbers are significantly less but the birth of new calves during February of the following year make up the numbers, and prepare for another migration and thus the cycle continues.

Baloon Experience.
Early in the morning, you will be woken and driven to the departure site. Once in the air, the view of the surrounding landscape, the rising of the sun between the mountains and the congregation of the animals at the river is beautiful. This all concludes with a champagne breakfast and memories of a lifetime.
Other activities available are "breakfast in the bush", where early morning walks through the Masai Mara with an armed escort concludes with a breakfast, and a visit to the Maasai Enkang or Manyatta (housing), where you can speak to the Maasai and purchase their ornaments.