Maasai Mara National
Reserve
Location:
 The
1'510km square 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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