Masai Mara National Reserve

Discover the iconic Masai Mara

Situated in the southwest of Kenya, covering an area of 1,510 square km (583 square miles), the Masai Mara National Reserve is a land of breathtaking vistas, abundant wildlife and endless plains.

The quintessential Masai Mara safari delivers many attractions, as the reserve is home to an excellent year-round concentration of game, including the more than two million wildebeest, zebras and other antelopes that make up the famous Great Migration.

The reserve is a photographer’s and naturalist’s paradise, with abundant elephant, buffalo, giraffe, lion and cheetah alongside the migratory wildebeest and zebra. Leopards are frequently encountered, endangered black rhino hide in the dense thickets and large rafts of hippo and enormous crocodiles are found in the Mara River. The park is also home to over 450 bird species.

The Masai Mara National Reserve has fenceless borders with a number of private conservancies, including Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. This vast protected landscape is one of the top wildlife destinations in Africa, and Kenya's flagship conservation area.

Game viewing

Game viewing in the Masai Mara is excellent all year around thanks to the diverse population of resident game, including the Big 5 – lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino – plus popular species like zebra, giraffe, hyena, eland and gazelle. The Mara’s big cats are even the stars of a popular wildlife TV series.

From July to November one of nature’s greatest spectacles, the wildebeest migration, reaches the Mara - the sheer number of wildebeest arriving in the area is staggering. The migration is a dramatic mass movement of almost 2-million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle in a seasonal annual cycle driven by rainfall. To reach the Mara’s fresh grazing, wildebeest make dramatic river crossings, facing enormous crocodiles to feast on the Mara plains and regain their strength. November's short summer rains trigger the last leg of the migration, when the wildebeest move south to their Serengeti calving grounds. The calving season also happens in the Mara between December and January. Known as the green season, it’s a time when surface water is plentiful and wildebeest, zebra and antelope give birth to their calves, foals and fawns. With so much easy prey around, it is also a good time for predators to raise their cubs and pups, making for wonderful photographic opportunities.

The Masai Mara and its neighbouring private conservancies offer a range of accommodation, from  child-friendly to romantic. The park can be crowded in high season, which is why we recommend staying in one of the neighbouring private conservancies where you’ll enjoy the advantage of easy access to the Mara for the superb game-viewing and migration scenes, but can also retreat to the conservancy’s crowd-free setting where off road game viewing, night drives and guided nature walks are permitted