This park is best known for the great migration of Wildebeest and Zebra as they search for lush grazing following the rains, stalked by their predators – one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles. Covering an area of 1 500km2 in south western Kenya, the Masai Mara is bordered in the west by the Oloololo Escarpment of the Great Rift Valley and in the east by the Ngama Hills. Blessed with an astounding year round concentration of animals, and the climax of the phenomenal Great Migration, the Masai Mara National Park provides a wildlife experience unsurpassed in the world. The Masai Mara is predominantly a vast open savannah but there are actually seven distinct habitats including permanent marshes, riverine gallery forest, and dense shrubland. The wildebeest migration is most evident when they move northwards from the Serengeti through Lobo or the Western Corridort over May to July, then concentrating in the Mara from August to October. There are many lodges that operate in an around the Mara. Our choice of lodges can be found under the Kenya Lodge Portfolio.

The Mara (as the old hands like to call it) is the most popular wildlife park in Kenya. Abounding with wildlife and joined to the Serengeti, this 320-sq-km reserve is anything but plain. Few visitors miss roaming at least part of its vast open savanna grasslands - or leaping out of the way of the annual wildebeest stampede. The western border of the park is the spectacular Esoit Olooloo (Siria) Escarpment and it's at the edge of the park that the concentrations of wildlife are the highest. Lions are found in large prides everywhere and it's not unusual to see them hunting. Elephants, buffaloes, zebras, various antelopes and hippos also exist in large numbers. A reserve rather than a national park (the Maasai people are allowed to graze and hunt animals here), the Mara includes a Maasai village that's open to tourists.

There are twice-daily flights between Nairobi and Masai Mara, and plenty of accommodation options once you get there. The small provincial town of Narok - a few hours drive west of Nairobi - is the park's main access point.

LODGES IN MASAI MARA · SAFARIS IN KENYA
MAP OF MASAI MARA