MASAI MARA RESERVE
The Masai Mara is one of the best known and most popular reserves in the
whole of Africa. At times and in certain places it can get a little overrun
with tourist minibuses, but there is something so special about it that it
tempts you back time and again.
Seasoned safari travellers, travel writers, documentary makers and
researchers often admit that the Masai Mara is one of their favourite
places. So why is that? Perhaps it is because of the 'big skies', the open
savannahs, the romance of films like 'Out of Africa' and certainly because
of the annual wildebeest migration, the density of game, the variety of
birdlife and the chance of a hot air balloon ride.
Also because of the tall red-robed Masai people whose lifestyle is
completely at odds with western practices, and from whom one learns to
question certain western values.
A combination of all these things plus something to do with the spirit of
the place - which is hard to put into words - is what attracts people to the
Mara over and over.
The Masai Mara lies in the Great Rift Valley, which is a fault line some
3,500 miles (5,600km) long, from Ethiopia's Red Sea through Kenya, Tanzania,
Malawi and into Mozambique. Here the valley is wide and a towering
escarpment can be seen in the hazy distance. Most of the game viewing
activities occur on the valley floor, but some lodges conduct walking tours
outside the park boundaries in the hills of the Oloololo Escarpment. The
animals are also at liberty to move outside the park into huge areas known
as 'dispersal areas'. There can be as much wildlife roaming outside the park
as inside. Many Masai villages are located in the 'dispersal areas' and they
have, over centuries, developed a synergetic relationship with the wildlife.
There are four main types of topography in the Mara: Ngama Hills to the east
with sandy soil and leafy bushes liked by black rhino; Oloololo Escarpment
forming the western boundary and rising to a magnificent plateau; Mara
Triangle bordering the Mara River with lush grassland and acacia woodlands
supporting masses of game especially migrating wildebeest; Central Plains
forming the largest part of the reserve, with scattered bushes and boulders
on rolling grasslands favoured by the plains game.
