Masai Mara National Reserve: Facts, Map, Entry Fees, Reviews

Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya: Facts, Map, Entry Fees, Reviews – The Definitive Guide to Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve | Book Safaris Directly. Masai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally best known as The Mara, is a large National Game Reserve in Narok, Kenya within the Rift Valley province that is contagious with Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.  The Reserve was named in honor of the Masai People, the ancestral people who inhabited the area and are believed to have migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. The description of the area when looked at from afar by the local people Masai; “Mara” means “spotted” in their local language. This is a result of too many short bushy trees which dot the landscape.


Masai Mara | The Safari of a LIFETIME!

The Masai Mara National Reserve comprises 1,510 square kilometers with vast endless plains that encounter short sweet grasses, which is a source of ample feeding for the plentiful herbivores within the region. The Mara was established in 1961 as a wildlife sanctuary and covered only 520 square kilometers of the current area, including the Mara Triangle. It was further extended to the east to cover 1,821 square kilometers when it was converted into A Game Reserve.

The Mara is part of the large Mara – Serengeti ecosystem that spans 25,000 square Kilometers, located in the north most part of the section. The National Reserve is bordered by the Serengeti National Park in the south, Siria/Oloololo escarpment to the west, Masai Mara pastoral ranches in the north, east, and west. The Mara ecosystem encompasses areas known as the Masai Mara National Reserve, the Mara Triangle, and several Masai Conservancies, including Koiyaki, Lemek, Ol Chorro Oirowua, Mara North, Olkinyei, Siana, Maji Moto, Naikara, Ol Derkesi, Kerinkani, Oloirien, and Kimintet.

Masai Mara National Reserve: Facts, Map, Entry Fees, Reviews

The Best Masai Mara National Park Safari Packages

The most common way to go to Masai Mara is by road, usually beginning and ending in Nairobi. A 4×4 Landcruiser Jeep or the less expensive Safari Minibus (Tour Van) are the two options for transportation. Depending on which Camp you have reserved for your tour, the journey from Nairobi to the Masai Mara normally takes 5 to 6 hours. The advantages of a road safari include getting to see and experience more of the authentic Kenyan countryside and generally reduced tour costs. The route has certain sections of road that are in poorer condition than average, which is a drawback.

Maasai Mara National Reserve

3 Days Masai Mara Safari Itinerary/3 days 2 nights Masai mara safari is a guided safari from Nairobi on a budget or luxury package for 3 days and 2 nights.

The Maasai Mara Ecosystem

4 Days Masai Mara Safari Itinerary is a guided safari from Nairobi on a budget or luxury package for 4 days and 3 nights.

Hot Air Balloon Kenya

A hot air balloon safari in Kenya Masai Mara is one of the activities to consider when planning for a trip in Kenya. An exhilarating ride over Kenya’s famous Game Reserves, Masai Mara will unleash your imagination of travel to the wildlife paradise, Africa.

Authentic Safari Camping in Amboseli & Masai Mara

This 5 Days Masai Mara Migration Safari is unique. People travel from all over the world to Kenya to see this magnificent spectacle. Indeed, it is an experience that endures forever, a tale you can tell that only grows in value with each time you tell it.

Kruger National Park, South Africa

The Masai Mara National Reserve, Serengeti National Park, and Kruger National Park all provide a variety of experiences and excursions to accommodate all types of visitors, from honeymooners and lone explorers to families and friends.

watching the big game in Serengeti

The 8 Days Masai Mara and Serengeti Safari puts you in the middle of the largest terrestrial animal migration in the world and allows you to experience two of Kenya and Tanzania’s most beautiful wildlife spectacles.

Wildlife Safari in Masai Mara Kenya

We are glad to suggest Masai Mara safari itineraries that place you in the middle of the action during the migration. In addition, a Masai Mara safari can be a private, intimate getaway to opulent tent camps tucked away in exclusive conservancies

Toyota Landcruiser with pop up roof - Car Rental Kenya

4×4 Car Rental Kenya hires out Genuine vehicles alongside a driver-guide or self-drive with an option for you to choose from a Land cruiser double cabin for camping, a Land cruiser with a rooftop, or Toyota RAV-4.

Olpopongi - Maasai Cultural Village & Museum

Maasai Cultural Village Tours: Some of the things to do in the Maasai village include taking the Maasai photo memories, a stay at the Olpopongi guest houses, interacting with the traditional Maasai women, taking unique photos of the Maasai.

luxury Masai mara safari

Exciting Luxury Masai Mara safari best suited for couples, friends and family. One of Africa’s finest safari locations is the Masai Mara, which features incredible wildlife densities in addition to the annual wildebeest migration.

Masai Mara viewing a cheetah

On this traditional East Africa Masai Mara safari and Zanzibar beach experience, you’ll spend 11 days experiencing the majestic Masai Mara and the lovely beaches of Zanzibar.

luxury Masai mara safari

This popular 6 Days Kenya safari to Amboseli, Lake Naivasha & Masai Mara was designed to increase the likelihood that visitors would see Lion, Leopard, and Cheetah.

Flying Safaris in Masai Mara National Reserve

Masai Mara Fly-in or “Flyng Safaris,” as these are often known, are the standard for some of the most distant Maasai Mara Safari Camps or those that only provide bundled accommodations with safari drives. They make it convenient to go from Nairobi to the Masai Mara in just one hour. Twice daily flights leave from Wilson Airport in Nairobi, and upon arrival at the Mara’s airstrip, passengers are welcomed and taken to their appropriate Camp or Lodge in time for lunch. The property offers game drives in 4×4 safari tour vehicles.

FLY-IN MASAI MARA SAFARI

The 2 Days Masai Mara Flying Safari is affordable luxury private Tour. Take a quick 1-hour flight from Nairobi to Masai Mara, where you’ll be welcomed by your Driver-Guide to start your safari.

Kenya flying safari.

4 Days Masai Mara Flying Safari (Luxury Private Itinerary) – Experience three amazing nights in the Masai Mara at the luxurious safari resort Keekorok resort, located in the center of this renowned game reserve.

What is Masai Mara famous for?

Masai Mara National Reserve is one of the most famous and important wildlife conservation and wilderness areas in Africa, the reserve is world-renowned for its exceptional populations of lion, African leopard, cheetah, and African bush elephant. The Reserve is also home to all the African Big Five animals that can be spotted all year round. The reserve is the only protected area in the country that habituates the indigenous black rhinoceros that are unaffected by translocations and has one of the large populations in Africa.

African Big Five animals in Masai Mara

African Big Five animals in Masai Mara National Reserve

The Mara is home to a variety of birdlife and harbors over 470 bird species, many of which are migrants, with almost 60 species that are raptors. The most commonly spotted include vultures, marabou storks, secretary birds, hornbills, crowned cranes, ostriches, long-crested eagles, African pygmy-falcons, and the lilac-breasted roller, thus a good destination for birding in Kenya.

What is special about Masai Mara National Reserve?

Masai Mara National is home to exceptional wildlife and is one of the most famous African safari destinations in Kenya. The Reserve hosts the Great Wildebeest Migration, the second-largest unaltered terrestrial mammal migration on earth. The Great Migration in Kenya’s Masai Mara is an all-year-round event, where over 1.5 million wildebeest upon thousands of zebra and other grazers mark their long legendary journey of over 1,800 miles in a large round trek from the drier lands in Tanzania, heading towards the north to Kenya’s Masai Mara in search for lush grass to graze.


Great Migration from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara, Kenya

When does the migration start? – The Great migration occurs all year round and since it is dictated by the spatial distribution of rainfall, at the different months of the year migration can be seen at different sites. The exact dates when the Great Migration commences are not well known however, the first groups of grazer mammals start arriving to gather at the northern edge of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the large numbers gather here for days without crossing the Mara River.

The migration starts in July and ends in late September, however it is difficult to predict the real date when the movement starts. If your question is “which is the best month to Visit Masai Mara?”. In our opinion, the best time to visit Masai Mara and have great opportunity to see the migration with animals in large numbers gathering and crossing the bloodthirsty river with fast-flowing water and infested with crocodiles, and many predators like lions, hyenas, and leopard in a long wait to catch their prey is mid-July to late August.

Birds, Wildlife And Animals in Masai Mara National Reserve


Animals of the Masai Mara

Simply said, the wildlife in the Masai Mara is regarded as one of the world’s best collections of wild species. Masai Mara and the adjacent Great Mara eco system are home to a rich, diversified array of wildlife that travelers from over the world travel to view during an African safari. There are literally close to 90 species of mammals and many more bird species there.

Which is the Best Month to Visit Masai Mara?

Masai Mara is known to have excellent wildlife viewing all year round. However for those looking for an opportunity to watch as the great wildebeest migration unfolds the best time to visit the Mara is from July to October.

(Best time to visit Masai Mara) The lion season falls when most big plain game wildlife like the wildebeest, zebras are giving birth to their young ones. A few weeks at the start of the year, Maasai Mara is dotted with young ones tagging along after their mothers. Along with the overwhelming numbers of newborn calves come the predators.

Maasai Tribe Facts, Culture, Language, Religion & Clothing

The nomadic and pastoral Maasai people are a Nilotic ethnic group that inhabits some but significant portions of northern, central, and southern Kenya as well as across the border in northern Tanzania. They are one of the most well-known tribes in Africa. Due to their historical origins in the regions surrounding the Masai Mara Game Reserve and Amboseli, which are close to the Tanzanian border, the Maasai are arguably the more well-known ethnic group in East Africa.

All Masai Mara Lodges, Camps, Hotels

In the Masai Mara National Reserve and Mara conservancies, there are numerous lodging alternatives. You may be sure to find the ideal Masai Mara safari lodge for you, whether you’re looking for designer lodges suspended in the air or family-friendly tented camps

Masai Mara Conservancies

the secret entrance to the Masai Mara conservancies’ greatest areas. Today, there are very few locations where you can still see unspoiled, natural beauty and wildlife. places that arouse your senses and give you a chance to enter a world populated by lions that are mighty, elephants that are majestic, and darting gazelles. Welcome to the Masai Mara conservancies, which may be the world’s most abundant wildlife preserves.

Activities in Masai Mara National Reserve

The Masai Mara is home to a wide variety of activities, from more expensive bush lunches and nature walks or animal excursions to more affordable bush experiences like hot air balloon flights over the plains where wildlife can be spotted below.

Masai Mara Safari Cost

How to Calculate Masai Mara Safari Cost in Kenya. The price of a mid-luxury Masai Mara safari package starts from $600 per person sharing per day. This cost is inclusive of accommodation on a full-board basis. One of the best wildlife reserves in Kenya, if not the entire globe, is the Masai Mara Reserve, which is well-known for hosting the annual big wildebeest migration.

Distance Between Masai Mara to Serengeti By Flight/Road

Here is a list of the best routes from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, or Masai Mara to Serengeti National Park. While the Masai Mara National Reserve and the Serengeti National Park are close to one another and only divided by the Tanzania–Kenya border, traveling from one side of the road to the other is more difficult than it appears on the map.

Nairobi City Tour

Best Nairobi City Tour (Visiting Elephant Orphanage & Giraffe Centre) -Which are the greatest spots in Nairobi to see if visitors have a day or even a little more than 4 hours before their flight? The David Sheldrick Elephant Animal Orphanage and the Giraffe Center are two of Nairobi’s top tourist attractions, and they are both included on our custom Nairobi City Tour.

Things To Do In Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi, a major African city and cosmopolitan center with a diverse population, offers visitors a wide range of amazing attractions and things to do, including going to museums, national parks, animal sanctuaries, and local African markets, as well as participating in a variety of sports like golf and enjoying Nairobi’s delectable cuisine at some of the best restaurants in East Africa.

Is Masai Mara Safe For Tourists

Masai Mara National Reserve, widely regarded as one of the best wildlife reserves in Kenya and the entire world, is home to an incredible variety of mammals, from large herds of herbivores like the wildebeest, zebra, and Thompson’s gazelle to the famous “big five” (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo).

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