Masai mara Kenya game reserve- World famous animal kingdom

The Masai Mara as the Kenyans call it is the most beautiful of all the country’s game reserves. Covering an area of 1510 sq km (almost 600sq miles) it is part of the traditional Masai lands, and its edges are dotted with Manyatas the shepherd’s villages. It’s an integral part of the Serengeti ecosystem, divided in two by the vagaries of human geography. The wildlife is abundant all year round

Stretching as far as the eye can see the savannah of the Masai Mara is dotted with clumps of trees, vestiges of the ancient forest which long ago covered most of the area. an explosion of gnu population from 300 000 during the 1950s to well over a million today has led to overgrazing and consequent increased in the size of the open plains.

If you visit the park in summer you will no doubt see the wondrous sight of hundreds of thousands of the gnu and zebra on the move in search of fresh grass having stripped the Serengeti bare. Later driven on by the arrival of new herbs the first animals ford to cross the Mara River. This perilous crossing undertaken by herds of maddened beasts is truly dramatic many of them drown others get bogged down in the mud and die. Their great numbers attract predators so it is one of the best opportunities you’ll have to observe the big cats hunting

The Animal Kingdom

The lion is the king of the jungle and rules the Masai Mara. The reserve is famous for its thousands lions, the males sporting a particularly dark and shimmering mane. Each pride is made up of about 30 animals, idling away the daylight hours and stirring only at dawn and at dusk.

To watch the lions hunting is a rare privilege but they are not as gifted as you might have imagined, indeed statistics show that many predators put on a very mediocre performance. lions and leopards let 80per cent of their prey get away, While the hyena has a failure rate of 65 per cent.

The champions are the hunting dogs though these animals have become rare and are not easy to spot .the leopard is also elusive but they do tend to let their tails dangle down from branches so keep your eyes open. The cheetah who spends most of the day out in the grassy savannah is more easily observed.

Elephants are found in the wooded zones they number about a thousand in the park living in herds of the some twenty members. You may also see one of the Masai Mara’s 40 rhinos. There are many giraffe and buffalo countless antelopes: Thomson’s gazelle, grant gazelle, impalas, dik-diks and topis.

At the hippo pools on the Masai Mara River a colony of hippopotamus squelch around in shallow waters, which they share with crocodiles. For a unique experience book a place for a morning flight in one of the park’s hot air balloons and glide serenely above the immensity of the savannah in an unearthly silence.