Maasai Mara National Reserve

Overview

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is Kenya’s most famous safari destination and one of Africa’s greatest wildlife reserves. Stretching across 1,510 square kilometers of open savannah, rolling hills, and acacia woodlands, the Mara forms part of the larger Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, renowned worldwide for its spectacular wildlife and dramatic landscapes.
The Maasai Mara is home to an astonishing diversity of wildlife, including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino), cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and more than 450 bird species.
But what truly sets the Mara apart is the Great Migration – one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Each year (July–October), over 1.5 million wildebeest and zebras thunder across the plains from Tanzania’s Serengeti into the Mara in search of greener pastures, braving crocodile-infested rivers in one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth.
The reserve is named after the Maasai people, who have lived harmoniously with wildlife for centuries, and the word Mara means “spotted” in Maa language — describing the dotted landscape of acacia trees, scrub, and savannah.