The Maasai Mara.

Kenya has always been the ultimate destination for wildlife lovers world over and is long known as home to Africa’s famous “big five” (Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo). The national parks, game reserves and private sanctuaries in this part of the world are a marvel to behold.

Located on the south western part of the country and dubbed one of the 7 New wonders of the world, lies the Maasai Mara Game Reserve widely considered to be Africa's greatest wildlife reserve. With an ideal climate all year round, the Mara is an awesome natural wonder, a place where Maasai warriors share the plains with hunting lions, a place of mighty herds and a theatre for a timeless cycle of life, death and regeneration.

This is also home to the Maasai a strongly independent people who still value tradition and ritual as an integral part of their everyday lives. They regard themselves not just as residents of this area but that they are as much a part of the life of the land as the land is part of their lives.

In this pristine wilderness lies haunting beauty that promises its visitors a breathtaking array of life. The Mara was awarded its title for its sheer volume and variety of game. The vast grassland plains are scattered with herds of Zebra, Giraffe, Gazelle, antelope and Topi. The Acacia forests abound with Birdlife and Monkeys. Elephants and Buffalo wallow in the wide Musiara Swamp. While the bellies of the Mara and Talek rivers are brimming with Hippos and Crocodiles.

The Miracle of the Great Migration of the Wildebeest

Each year the Mara plays host to the world's greatest natural spectacle, the Great Wildebeest Migration from the Serengeti in northern Tanzania. The scent of rain to the North begins to draw the herd throughout July, and soon the planet’s greatest animal migration is underway.

From July to October, the promise of rain and fresh life giving grass in the north brings more than 1.3 million Wildebeest together into a single massive herd including about 250,000 zebra. They pour across the border into the Mara, making a spectacular entrance in a surging column of life that stretches from horizon to horizon.

In the Maasai Mara, Africa’s largest concentrations of predators are drawn to this perfect opportunity for easy hunting. Lions, leopards and cheetahs are frequently seen attacking the herds - especially at night dragging down straggling individuals.

Predators are not the only obstacles that the wildebeest face. Heavy rainfall in the Mau escarpment highlands turns the Mara River into a raging torrent. At the river they mass together on the banks before finally plunging forward through the raging waters, creating a frenzy as they fight against swift currents and waiting crocodiles onto the vast grasslands.

For this beautiful game reserve, it is a time of renewal, as the dung from the visiting herds fertilizes the plains. October will see the herds turn southward and repeat the same journey back to the Serengeti, where the renewed grasslands await.

The Mara is well served with a wide range of accommodation for any budget. There are luxury lodges, exclusive tented camps, campsites and many other small camps and lodges are available.

The migration can be experienced on early morning game drives in customized vehicles, walking safaris with Maasai Warrior guides, horseback safaris in areas surrounding the Mara, or even from hot air Balloon safaris over the herds.