What makes Maasai Mara National Reserve unique? Masai Mara safari is an unforgettable safari experience to have in Kenya. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is one of the best safari sites in Kenya and all of Africa, delivering a unique experience. A Maasai Mara safari ensures that you will see an endless number of species, including the Big Five (elephants, rhinos, cape buffaloes, and lions), cheetahs, and the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle—the yearly wildlife migration.
These are the four primary features that contribute to an unforgettable Masai Mara safari experience.
The Maasai people
One of the most well-known tribes in Kenya, the Maasai are a must-see community during your safari to the Masai Mara National Reserve. They are one of the few tribes in Africa whose customs and culture have not been impacted by technology or modernity.
The Maasai tribe is a member of the Nilotic ethnic group and speaks Maa language. They are found in Northern, Central, and Southern Kenya as well as Northern Tanzania. Due to their advantageous location close to the numerous wildlife parks and reserves (protected areas) of the Africa Great Lakes, as well as their unique customs and traditional attire, the Maasai people are well-known local populations throughout the world.
Due to their strong patriarchal nature, the Maasai people have contributed significantly to the preservation of the Great Maasai Mara region. In terms of social structure, the elders in each Maasai group are responsible for making important decisions. An individual’s wealth is determined by the quantity of cattle and offspring he has, as cattle are the primary sources of food and wealth for the Maasai community. A herd of fifty cattle or more is considered respectable, and the more offspring, the better.
The Maasai have a single deity they worship named Engai.
What makes Maasai Mara National Reserve unique?Mara Triangle Abundance of wildlife
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is renowned for its profusion of animals and for being the site of one of the greatest natural spectacles, the yearly wildebeest migration. All five of the Big Five—lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, and rhinoceros—call the reserve home.
One of the main draws to Maasai Mara National Reserve is the abundant wildebeest population, estimated to number in the millions. The wildebeest migration occurs annually in the Mara – Serengeti ecosystem that shares Maasai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park, and it brings millions of animals to the plains of Maasai Mara.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is home to millions of wildebeests, Thompson’s gazelles, topis, elands, and zebras that are migrating in search of greener pastures. Other creatures found there include impalas, duikers, coke’s hartebeests, hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, and bat-eared foxes. The Maasai Mara national reserve is home to a plethora of wildlife, which is visible during a Kenya safari, even during the rainy seasons, which span from March to May and November to early January.
Maasai Mara Topography
The Ngama Hills, Oloololo Escarpment, Mara Triangle, and Central Plains are the four distinct topographies that make up the Masai Mara National Reserve.
Ngama Hills
The eastern portion of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which stretches from the Mara and Talek Rivers to Ngama Hill, makes up half of the reserve. The hills rise above the main Sekenani entrance gate and are a significant landmark in the landscape that can be seen from everywhere in the reserve. The hills are a notable landmark for tourists doing a self-drive safari, and the Masai Mara national reserve’s most popular area is also the closest portion to Nairobi.
Expect to see big cats like lions, leopards, and cheetahs, as well as gazelles, antelopes, elands, lots of elephants, and ostriches, when on a game viewing safari in Ngama Hills. The Southern Mara Bridge, which offers breathtaking views of a sizable hippos’ pool, is the only way to traverse between the eastern and western halves of the Masai Mara National Reserve.
Mara Triangle
Although the Mara Triangle is a part of the Maasai Mara national reserve, it is overseen independently by the Trans-Mara County Council’s non-profit Mara Conservancy. The Mara Triangle, which occupies 510 square kilometres and is the southernmost portion of the Maasai Mara national reserve, is one-third of the reserve and has two natural borders. The Oldoinyo Escarpment lies to the northwest, the Mara River lies to the east, and the Tanzania/Serengeti boundary lies to the southwest. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is home to an incredible variety of animals, including cheetahs, gazelles, zebras, and wildebeests.
What makes Maasai Mara National Reserve unique?
Mara Triangle
In the Mara Triangle, Little Governors is the only camp and Mara Serena Safari Lodge is the only safari lodge. The Serena and Kichwa Tembo airstrips make it simple to go by fly to the Mara Triangle. It is also accessible by car.
Siria Escarpment
At 1,828 metres above sea level, the Siria Escarpment is a T-Hypsographic escarpment that is part of the Rift Valley province and belongs to the Africa/Middle East region font code.
Other names for the Siri Escarpment are Doinya Escarpment, Istria Escarpment, Oloololo Escarpment, and Soitolol. The Siri Escarpment is a lengthy range of high slopes that divide level surfaces above and below.
Central plains
The Maasai Mara National Reserve’s central plains are located in the centre of the Masai Mara between the Mara and Talek Rivers. The area is popular with safari vehicles due to its superb wildlife watching, which is especially good for large cats. The only permanent water sources that flow through the Masai Mara National Reserve are the Talek and Mara Rivers, which feed the middle plains where you may get fantastic photos of the cats as you drive away.
The presence of Numerous avian species
Numerous aquatic and avian species, like as hippos, crocodiles, otters, leopards, vervet monkeys, and bushbucks, can be found living in the verdant woodland that borders the Mara River.
Boasting over 470 bird species, over 60 of which are raptors, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Notable bird species include Ayres’s Hawk Eagle, African Finfoot, African Wood Owl, Abdim’s Stork, and African Wood Owl. Denham’s bustard, cinnamon-breasted bunting, Hildebrandt’s starling, Grey-crested helmet-shrike, Grey Penduline tit, Giant kingfisher, The widowbird of Jackson, Ostrich, cisticola, lazy grenadier in purple, tit with a red face, Rufous-bellied heron, Rufous-throated wryneck, Ross’s turaco, and Rosy-throated longclaw stork with a saddle bill, Schalow’s turaco Secretary Bird Silverbird Ground hornbill in the South, Usambiro barbet, Temminck’s courser, Tabora cisticola, Swahili sparrow, and Trilling cisticola White-bellied absent-minded bird, stork with a woolly neck, Among these are the Yellow-throated Sandgrouse and the Yellow-mantled Widowbird.