The Masai Mara is just a 4 % part of the whole Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem but it plays a very important roll during the annual migration of the blue wildebeest and zebra.

Red oat grass and red thorn acacia trees that furnish the golden backdrop dominate the Mara plains. Only in this reserve it is very well possible to see many different animals in one game drive: eland, several gazelle species, masai giraffe, hyaena, leopard, wildebeest, zebra, and many of the 500 species of birds as well as the "big five": buffalo, cheetah, elephant, lion and black rhinoceros.

There are two rivers: the Mara river and its tributary, the Talek river.

The Mara river and its riverine forest is the area know as the Mara Triangle. That"s where the Musiara marsh is found, with a wide variety of birds like eagle species, egrets, herons, storks and vultures and large populations of crocodile and hippopotamus too.

During the annual migration the Mara holds about two million large herbivores, mainly blue wildebeests and burchell"s zebras. Watching the wildebeests cross the Mara river, plunge into the water, which is a life- or death story, is the highlight of a safari in Kenya.

A life- or death story, because the river crossings are extremely dangerous.

Nile Crocodiles eat many of the animals – others just drown, some even fall victim in their own stampede and several plainly die of sheer exhaustion.

The Masai Mara National Reserve is divided in two parts. Most visitors are found in the Mara Conservancy, a new development for the conservation of the Mara Triangle, to secure the area for wildlife and tourism and to secure and improve the welfare of the neighbouring community"s. It could become a model for tourism-based integrated conservation through public partnerships and international donor support.

This is where the BBC filmed most of its world famous "Big Cat Diary", focusing on the daily lives of lion, leopard and cheetah families.

The other part, owned and managed by the Narok County Council, is the largest area, with seemingly un-endless plains, carrying names like "Paradise plains" and "Burrunga plains" and with the Loldopai lookout hill for a superb overview of the golden savannah.

Many watercourses and hills, thickets and forest patches are found here, where herbivore browsers like giraffe, elephant and impala find their food.

Keekorok lodge is the oldest lodge in the area, after a fire completely rebuild, on a short distance from the Sand river gate, at the border of Tanzania"s SerengetiNational Park.

Another lodge in the Mara Triangle is the Mara Serena, at 1707 mtr. altitude, looking over the Mara river. On the banks of the Talek river the Mara Simba lodge is situated.

Several comfortable tented camps lik Kichwa Tembo, Mara Explorer, Mara Intrepids and Governor"s Camp also offer suitable accommodation. And there are several public campsites on beautiful locations in the reserve.

Fred Hoogervorst

www.fredhoogervorst.com