Masai Mara Game reserve safari

For a long list of reasons Masai Mara is the best animal reserve in Kenya. The panorama sometimes resembles one of those wild animals’ wall charts, where groups of unlikely looking animals’ companions are forced into the artist’s frame. You can see a dozen different species or more at one time: gazelle, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, topi, kongoni, wildebeest, eland elephant hyena, jackals, ostrich and pride of lions waiting for a chance. When the reserve was created however the scene looked very different.

Traditionally the Masai lived in some harmony with wildlife, hunting only lions and in times of famine eland and buffalo the “wild cattle”. Only the Okiek people (the “Dorobo in maa” meaning “people without cattle”) hunted for a living. When the first European hunting safari made Masai Mara world-famous in the early years of last century, they were ransacking a region recently deserted by the Masai. Communities and rinderpest had torn through their cattle herds. By 1961 the white hunters had succeeded in bringing the Mara’s lion population to nine and Masai Mara was created as a game sanctuary- and a tourist attraction to be administered by the Masai District council Narok.

Nearly 2000m above sea level the Masai Mara reserve is a great wedge of undulating grassland in the remote sparsely inhabited southwest part of the country snuggled up against the border and indeed an extension of the even bigger Serengeti plains in Tanzania. this is a land of short grasses where the wind plays with dust devils from the baked surface Masai Mara climate is predictable with ample rain and the new grass supports an annual wildebeest migration of up to one and half million animals from the dry plains o Tanzania .

To travel through the Masai Mara game reserve in August or September, while the wildebeest are in possessing is a staggering experience like being caught up in the momentum of phenomenal historic event. Whether you’re watching this or a pride of lions hunting a herb of elephants grazing in the marsh or hyenas squabbling with vultures over the carcass of the buffalo you are conscious all the time of being in a realm apart. There are few places on earth where animals hold such dazzling sway it’s as if you had found yourself in the New York of the natural world.

With its plentiful vegetation and wildlife the Masai Mara game reserve’s ecology appears at first sight to be relatively resilient to the effect of huge number of tourist who visit it every year. However, the Masai Mara is the most visited park in Africa .On entering the reserve you will be handed a copy of the relevant bylaws and rules which should be strictly adhered to.

The vast majority of visitors to Masai Mara come on prebooked safari packages which invariably work out cheaper than under your own steam. Travelers on a budget aren’t well catered for in Masai Mara if you can’t afford the more expensive lodges and luxury tented camps there are very few alternatives to do it your self camping.

Masai Mara safari: exclusive luxury Kenya Masai Mara safari and adventure vacation safaris Budget Camping safari in Masai Mara Kenya and Wildlife Kenya safari adventures. Masai Mara is the most visited game reserve in Kenya and is the finest animal kingdom around Africa. Best Animal safari .The Masai Mara is also th most popular wildlife park in Africa