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Safari Attractions in Masai Mara National Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya, Wildlife Safaris, Game drive , Walking Safari, Bird Watching, Balloon Safaris, Cultural Walks in Maasai Mara Reserve kenya. The Masai Mara National Reserve is located in Kenya which is found in the eastern region of the African continent along geographical co-ordinates of 01o29’24’S 35o8’38”E. The Masai mara is also known as the Maasai mara by the local mara people. This name stems from the local in habitants of this place called the mara people who called it mara which means “spotted” in the local masai language given its likeness of circular spots that are seen when observed from a far distance. These spots are actually tree tops of savanna trees like the arcacia and scrubs that are scattered all over the area.

Masai Mara National Reserve is located in southern Kenya and it bordered by the Serengeti national park in the south, Siria escarpment in the west, Masai pastoral ranches in the north, east and west. it forms an extension of the greater Serengeti eco system which stems from northern Tanzania and crosses into southern Kenya totally to an area of 25000sqkm.  The masai mara was founded in 1961 as a wildlife sanctuary covering 520sqkm or 200sqmi of the current area. This area still in 1961 got extended to cover a land area of 1821sqkm and then elevated to a game reserve status but masai mara experienced a reduction in its size over a period of 10 years to its current size of 1510sqkm. The masai mara national reserve is still only a part of the greater mara eco system that extends to Koiyaki, Lemek, Ol Chorro Oirowua, Olkinyei, Siana, Maji Moto, Naikara, Ol Derkesi, Kerinkani, Oloirien and Kimintet.

Masai Mara National Reserve features attractions like 4 out of 5 of Africa’s big 5s elephants, leopards, lions, buffaloes,  with only the black rhino being elusive be on a good day you can get a sight of it hence giving a total 5 out of 5, other mammals here include the wildebeests Thomson gazalles, giraffes, eland, topis, spotted hyena, black jackal, and the bat eared fox can be seen when with the cover of darkness over the mara plains. Masai mara is gifted with about 500 bird species and these include kori bustard, secretary birds, sooty chat, rufous bellied heron, abdim’s stork, cinnamon, breasted hunting, giant kingfisher, hilderbrandt’s starlng, ostrich, ross’s turaco, southern ground hornbill, schalow’s turaco, white bellied go away bird, yellow throated sandgrouse and many more

Masai mara experiences a savannah climate pattern with one continuous rainy season that stretches from November to may. During this time, the reserve experiences minimum temperatures of 13oc or 55of especially during night times and a maximum average temperature of 27oc or 81of. Although it’s a rainy season, it wont rain all day here but just expect afternoon showers mainly. The dry season also isn’t very hot as temperatures average in the mid-20’s and early 30’s where minimum temperatures are 12oc or 54of and maximum temperatures are 25oc or 77of.

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya

Wildlife Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara National Reserve

Masai Mara is known as one of the finest wildlife destinations in the world, while here, there is big chance of seeing the big five (herds of Elephants about 3000, 22 families of lions, leopards, buffaloes and Rhinos) and cheetah. The parks boosts for over 60 species of wild animals from large herds of herbivores which include; over 1,300,000 numbers of wildebeests, 500000 Thomson`s gazelles, 97,000 Top is, 18,000 elands, 200,000 zebras and thousands of antelopes like Grant`s gazelles, impalas, duikers and coke`s hartebeests. The larger endemic roan antelope and nocturnal bat-eared fox can only be seen within this reserve borders and not anywhere else in Kenya. Hippopotamus and crocodiles are so common in the Mara and Talek rivers, other carnivores like the jackals, hyenas and many more can also be spotted in the Park. The plains between river Mara and the Siria escarpments are the best probable areas for game viewing, particularly lions and cheetahs.

Wildebeest as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
Wildbeasts in maasai mara

The wildebeests are members of the antelope group and belong to the connochaetes genus. In east Africa they are 2 closely related wildebeests and that is the blue wildebeest and the black wildebeest but the blue wildebeest is the most common one in the Serengeti plains. These two species can be identified basing on few things like their coat colors and also on the nature of their horns, the blue wildebeest horns protrude to the side then curve downward before curving upwards as they come to an end, the horns of black wildebeests on the other hand curve forward first then downwards and finally upwards as they come to their tips.

The blue wildebeests also bigger than the black wildebeests, the male blue wildebeests weigh about 250kg with a standing height of 150cm, female blue wildebeest stand at 135cm at the shoulders and weigh around 180kg while the male black wildebeest stand between 112-120cm at shoulder height and weigh 180kg and their female counterparts stand in at 108cm at the shoulders with a body weight of 155kg. these wildebeests are famous for their annual migration that takes place from June- august. This migration involves these animals to trek great distances about 1500 of kilometers as they cross from the southern Serengeti plains into the southern parts of the Maasai Mara reserve in southern in Kenya.

This migration is majorly done following the rainfall season patterns in the east African region. During these migrations, the wildebeest organize themselves in large herds and trek in this group to areas of new pastures. These animals also show a high level of swarm intelligence as they perform similar function without anyone or anything dictating it to them for example, they can all decide to cross the river from the same spot regardless of whether it is infested with many predators like crocodiles or not.

Masai giraffe as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
Giraffe in maasai mara reserve

Masai giraffe can be distinguished from other giraffe sub species from their star-like stamped patches which are irregular and become darker especially in males as they age. The Masai giraffe is generally brown in colour with several shades of colour which can range from dried oak to orange and cream. The lower parts of their limbs are sticky like or very skinny but the upper parts of these limbs are study so as to support their massive weight. The giraffes have a unique walking pattern where as they have the ability to move both the front and hind limbs of one side of the body at once and then counter balance it by moving their long neck in the opposite direction.

The adult male giraffe has an average height of 4.3-5.7m or 14.1-18.7ft and weighs in at 1192kg or 2628ib while an adult female weighs in at 828kg or 1825ib hence showing sexual dimorphism amongst giraffes. The giraffe also has a long tongue that is measured at an average of 45cm or 18in and it has a purplish black color which is believed to protect it from sunburns. The massai giraffes have the longest tail among all land mammals which measures up to 3.3ft long. Due to their big body mass giraffes also have a massive heart that weighs up to 5ibs so as to pump 60 litres of blood needed to move around the giraffe’s body in just one minute.

Giraffes also have the ability to sleep while standing and even when they lie down, they will put their long neck on their hip. The Masai giraffe are completely herbivores and spend their biggest part of the day about 16-20 hours feeding so as to satisfy their big appetites. The giraffe has a gestation period of 14-15 months and the birth period is between 1-6 hours after which a single calf is born and the mother will give birth while standing hence the calf will have to be ready for a rough landing when it comes out. The calves are born almost ready to walk because it takes a calf between 20 minutes – 1 hour to start walking. Masai giraffes have a life span of up to 25 years in their natural habitat.

Thomson gazelle as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara
Thomson gazelle in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Thomson gazelles. the grant gazelle has a beige orange on its back and a white belly, they also have lyre shaped horns that are stout at the base and have clear rings on the horns. These horns have a length of41-81cm or 18-32in. The grant gazelles live in short grassed plains so as to have clear visibility of predators which stalk them for prey. The female grant gazelle weighs 35-50kg or 77-110ib while the male gazelle weighs 50-80kg or 110-180ib with an average standing height of 75-95cm or 30-37in.

Unlike most of the subspecies that graze towards or around water sources, the grant gazelles graze going further away from the water sources that are usually roamed by predators. The gazelles have adapted to live without water for long days and they get most of their water from the pasture they graze on. The gazelles are territorial animals and males herd territories with many females mainly for mating. Mature gazelles will settle conflicts with superiority displays hence physical interactions are quite rare among these animals. Thompson gazelles reach sexual maturity at 18 months of age.

The male gazelles will test by smelling on the urine of the female to ascertain whether she in oestrus and when the female is ready to mate, it lifts her tail signaling the male to mount her. These animals have a gestation period of 198days after which, a single fawn is usually born. The fawn is usually born while its still very weak and can’t move but it will be able to so in a few days’ time and it will follow the mother to the herd where it starts fraternizing with other fawns. The fawn is weaned after 6 months but might stay with the mother until it reaches adolescence.

Jackals as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Jackals are small or medium sized omnivores predators that have mastered the art of opportunistic scavenging always feeding off carcass kills made by other bigger predators like lions, leopards and cheetahs. The jackals have black coloured backs or sometimes golden colored backs. The rest of their body is reddish brown or ginger in color these opportunistic hunters have a body length of 70-85cm or 27-33in with a long tail of 25cm or 10in and a shoulder height of 40cm or 16in and a body weight of 5-12kg or 11-26in.

Jackals feed on almost anything of flesh that is available regardless of its state whether decomposing or not. They can also eat grass when meat is scarce. Jackals usually make life long couples, they have a gestation period of about 57-90 days after which the female will give birth to 2-4 puppies in a den, she created underground. These puppies are born blind and it may take them a week to gain their site. The pups are usually weaned at 2 months old. Jackals become sexually mature between 6-11 months and usually will leave their parents. The jackals have a life span of about 10-12years in their natural habitats.

Hyenas as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara
Hyenas in Maasai Mara National Reserve

Hyenas feature in many of our savannah plains Masai mara is no exception to this canine hunter. Hyenas are closely related to canines in terms of behavior and body structure as both hyenas and other canines kill most of their prey using their teeth than their claws. They have a wolf like body structure with their fore limbs being longer than the hind limbs and the entire hind quarters are visibly lower and the back slopes downwards towards their rumps. There are two different species of hyenas i.e. spotted hyenas and striped hyenas.

Hyenas can be identified from their body structure that is they have large ears, they have thick fur that is coarse and sparse and poorly developed on their underbelly. Spotted hyena exhibits sexual dimorphism with males being large than females while striped hyenas exhibit reversed sexual dimorphism with females being larger than males. Spotted hyenas are more of hunters while striped hyenas like to scavenge from kills made by other predators. Even though in human society, hyenas are depicted as cowardly animals, this isn’t entirely true as these animals have been widely documented chasing off big and fierce predators like lions and leopards from their kills and have the kill for themselves, this doesn’t strike as an act of cowardice by any means. Usually hyenas are nocturnal animals but they have can also be seen in the morning hours doing their hunting and stocking rounds. Hyenas have a set of 9 teeth comprising of mainly canines.

African bush elephants as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

African elephants are the largest land mammals in the world with a male elephant weighing in at 4,700-6,048kg or 10,362-13,334Ib and a shoulder height of 3.2-4.0m or 10.5-13.1ft while their female counterparts weigh in at 2,160-3,232kg or 4,762-7,125Ib and a shoulder height of 2.2-2.6m or 7.2-8.5ft. these land giants have 24 teeth in their mouths and usually lose their teeth 4-6 times in their life time which lies between 60-70 years. What sets these land giants apart from the rest of crowd is their elongated tusks which are in fact their second set of incisors. This means that the tusks are very strong as they are used to up root trees and also as weapons they use while fighting.

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
elephants in maasai marar reserve

The tusks weigh between 23-45 kg or 55-99Ib with a length of 1.5-2.4m or 5-8 ft. elephants usually live in groups called families which comprise of 10 or more closely related females with their calves and each of these families is led by an older female called a matriarch. Elephants have the ability to distinguish and communicate with each other using low frequency infrasonic calls.  With a body mass that is compared to nothing else on land, African elephants have to feed on an average of 450 kg or 992Ib of foliage to sustain their huge bodies and also drink to over 50 liters of water per day. In fact, these elephants have the ability to smell water to up to 20 km or 12miles away. Elephants have an exposed skin so in order to control over heating of their body, they flap their big ears so as to carry away the heat or bathe in water ponds.

It is believed that when an elephant flaps its ears, it can lose about 10oF of heat hence always staying cool even in the hottest temperatures. They also employ their elongated trunk to carry water and pour it over their ears to try and cool themselves. These land giants have very thin hairs around body parts such as eyes and noses and these are mainly for ensuring that germs and other bacteria don’t find it easy to enter the elephant’s body through these parts. The elephant trunk is a master piece of creation as it is equipped with 40000 muscles which is way more than an entire human body has at only 639 muscles. This makes the trunks a very strong and agile part of the elephant that can do many things. The elephant trunk is also used for breathing, snorkeling and also as an extended arm for holding, lifting or pushing anything they want to carry.

A female elephant reaches sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 years and can reproduce after every 3-6 years throughout its lifetime. All elephants have a very poor metabolism and that’s why they eat a lot of food but ¾ of it will come out of the elephants undigested as dung. Due to the poor metabolic system, elephant calves have been recorded doing something bizarre and that is eating dung that has been passed out by their mothers but this is all because elephant calves can’t process raw grass hence, they have to resort to eating pre-processed food that has been passed out as dung.

They have a gestation period of up to 22 months being the longest in all land mammals. Just like humans and apes, elephants are also highly intelligent species with a brain that weighs about 5kg or 11Ib which about 4 times heavier than that of human making it the heaviest brain of any land mammal. With such a brain, these land giants are believed to exhibit character traits like grief, learning, sense of humor, compassion, self-awareness, a very strong and vivid memory, play and use of tools and possibly a language.

Cape buffalo as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve The cape buffalo is also referred to as the African buffalo and they are a very common sight throughout this park. It is usually mistaken to be a close relative to domesticated cattle but its rather related to actually other bigger bovines. Buffaloes have a coarse black coat unlike their close relatives the forest buffaloes which have a reddish coat. As the male buffaloes grow older, the bases of their horns grows closer and it can even unite forming a feature called a “boss” which is very had to penetrate even with a gun bullet of less 16mm. you can differentiate a male buffalo from a female one by observing the structure of their horns, the male buffalo horns grow while curving outwards while the ones of the female grow while curving inside.

The African buffalo is a big animal with a shoulder height of 1.0-1.7m or 3.3-5.6ft. it has a body length of 1.7-3.4m or 5.6-11.2ft and its tail has a length of 70-110cm or 28-43in. An adult male African buffalo can weigh as much as between 500-1000kg but the females usually weigh less than this. Cape buffaloes are usually found in the great plains of African savanna like Murchison falls park. Buffaloes usually stay in large herds that consist anywhere from 5-100 individuals and this is primarily for protection purposes from their predators.

Although buffaloes have a very poor eye sight, this is compensated by possessing an acute sense of smell coupled with a keen sense of hearing, in fact, the buffaloes can stop whatever they are doing and stand still for many minutes or sometimes even hours just to listen even to the tiniest of sounds that may be made by any predator that may be stalking them. when buffaloes are attacked, they male buffaloes form defensive wall by being at the flanks of the herd while the females and calves are within the inner part of the herd.  the male buffaloes can even sometimes turn and chase the attacking predators   They have a gestation period of 11.5 months and a life span of over 25 years in their natural habitats.

Leopards as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Leopards are some of the big cat family predators that roam the plains of savanna and they are at the top of the food chain together. Leopards are usually taken to be the same with cheetahs but they are completely different as cheetahs have tear marks on their faces small round spots while leopards have no this distinctive mark on their faces and have larger rosettes on their body. The skin color of leopards’ ranges from pale yellow to golden or yellowish brown with rosettes and this enables these super predators to camouflage so that they can stalk their prey without ever being noticed.

Male leopards are muscular with short limbs and a broad head, the males have an average shoulder height of 60-70cm or 24-28in and weigh in at 37-90kg while the females have an average shoulder height of57-64cm or 22-25in and weigh in between26-60kg. the cheetah has a very long tail that’s white tipped with a length of 60-100cm or 24-39in and this enables the leopards make quick sharp turns at high speed while on a chase. Leopards can sometimes have black color and this is caused by melanism which is a recessive gene in these animals and when a leopard is having this phenomenon, it turns from being called a leopard to a black panther. Leopards are usually solitary animals and they have a gestation period of 90-105 days and can live in their natural habitat for 12-17 years.

Lions as a Safari Attraction in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve

These can be easily sighted in Masai Mara National Park on a good day. Lions are part of the big cate family and are muscular, deep chested with rounded heads. Most of the African lion males can distinguished from their females by the presence of a mane around the necks and heads of male African lions which is clearly absent in females but there quite many cases in Africa where the males also don’t have a mane or have a very short and thin one. The male lions are usually bigger than the females but their sizes vary according to location. In east Africa, adult female lions have a body length of 160-184cm or 63-72in weighing in at 119.5kg or 263Ib on average while the adult males have a body length of 184-208cm or 72-82in weighing in at 174.9kg or 386Ib on average. Lions are social animals who live in groups called prides.

A pride is always led by a dominant male and their highly territorial animals controlling vast expanses that are strategic with a lot of prey and water. Male dominant lions are responsible for protecting the pride and they will fight off other male invaders, in case the dominant male is defeated by the invading lions, the victor lions will kill off all the cubs that are off springs to the defeated dominant male as a way of ending its blood lineage.  Lions are carnivores and are at the top of the food chain feeding on almost all browsers and grazers within their domain due to their ability to hunt as a pride and carry out well coordinated and planned attacks which enables them to take down prey that can even be between 2-4 times bigger than them such as zebras, elephants and buffaloes.

Lions usually hunt at night because of their well-developed sense of sight especially at night where their vision is almost 6 times better than that of humans due to the presence of white patches around their eyes which enable them to absorb even the smallest amount of light available during the cover of darkness. Hunting among lions is an affair carried out by female lions mostly and juvenile males and when a kill has been made by the lionesses in a pride, it’s always the dominant male lion who will eat first up to his fill then the rest of the pride will feed on what has remained after the he has finished eating. They have a gestation period of 97 days and a life span of about 10-14 years.

Birds Safari Attractions in Masai Mara Reserve Kenya

Bird species here include: kori bustard, secretary birds, sooty chat, rufous bellied heron, abdim’s stork, cinnamon, breasted hunting, giant kingfisher, hilderbrandt’s starlng, ostrich, ross’s turaco, southern ground hornbill, schalow’s turaco, white bellied go away bird, yellow throated sandgrouse and many more

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
Birds in Kenya

Ostriches: The ostrich is the biggest bird on the planet and in Tanzania it can be found in Tarangire National Park. Ostrich feathers are usually black with white primaries and a tail. Their heads have thin hairs which makes them seem bare when observed from a distance. The ostriches’ heads are small in relation to their enormous body size the legs of ostriches are long and strong capable of producing a stride of 3-5mand can reach a top speed of 70km/hr making them the fastest running birds on ground. These birds have a wing span of about 2m or 6ft7in and a wing chord of 90cm or 35in. Ostriches have a body weight of 63-145kg or 139-320ib. Mature male ostriches can have a body height of 2.1-2,8m or 6ft11in-9ft2in while the female ostriches have average height that ranges between 1.7-2.0m or 5ft7in-6ft7in.

The chicks of ostriches have the ability to grow by 25cm or9.8in per month during their 1st year of growth. Ostriches have long legs and neck to give them that outstanding body height of 2.8m or 9ft. Ostriches live in herds of between 5-20 birds, the male ostriches compete for mating rites by building ground nesting, dancing and display of their feathers, the females will only allow to mate with the alpha male. The main female ostrich lays between 6-11 eggs will other females in the herd lay about 6 eggs and these are the biggest eggs in the world with an average diameter of about 15cm and an average weight of 1-1.5kg per egg. The female and males take turns to incubate the eggs which do hatch after about 40 days of incubation. ostriches have a life span of about 40-45 years.

southern ground hornbill: The southern ground hornbill is a distinctive bird that can be identified by its all black plumage and white flight feathers, with red bare face patches in males and violet and blue in females, their casqued bills and legs are also black. These birds are long 90-120cm or 34.5-50.8in, females weigh in about 2.2-4.6kg or 4.9-10.1ib and males come in heavier at 3.5-6.2kg or 7.7-13.7ib and the wing chord measures 49.5-61.8cm. these birds have a long life span lasting between 50-60years and as a result they take long to reach sexual maturity at 4-6 years only beginning to breed after 10 years of life.

The southern ground hornbill exhibits a rather unique character when it comes to breeding where each breeding gets 2other non breeding birds to help them out when breeding as way of being mentored into the pros of having a successful brood, this has been carefully studied from bird under captivity where birds with less than 6years of being nest helpers may not be successful breeders when they start breeding on their own. These birds use hollows in very old trees as their nests. These birds live in groups that feed on reptiles like frogs snails insects and small mammals like hares.

 lilac breast roller: This bird species has 28-30cm of body length with a streamered tail of 8cm more. It weighs about 87-135g. the male lilac breasted roller has aa whitish fore head and supercilia. This bird makes a loud guttural “rak-rak” voice call.

Secretary bird: This bird has an eagle like body but with its legs resembling those of a crane due to their long nature. The secretary bird has a body length of 1.3m or 4.3ft.  it has a body length of 112-152cm or 44-60in. and weighs between 2.3-5kg or 5.1-11Ib. The bird has a white plumage while the wings and thighs are black.

Safari Activities in Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya

Game drive in Maasai Mara National Park

Game drive. Led by an experienced local guide, very conversant with the area and able to give you lots of information about the animals and their habitant are available for you. The guides know where certain species of animals can currently be and the best way to approach them. It is also wise that when you’re booking a place of stay, you should specify to us the kind of game drive that you’re interested in; because there are spotted areas within the reserve known for inhabiting a certain species of wildlife than others. The best time to visit Masaai Mara National reserve for a game drive is between July and September when millions of Zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles are migrating to Masaai Mara crossing the crocodile infested Mara River in search for greener pastures from Serengeti national park.

Walking Safari in Maasi Mara National Reserve

Masaai Mara gives you an adventurous exploration of wildlife species along the bush. A walking safari is slow paced guided walk and gives a more detailed animal experience about wildlife compared to the game drive. You will be led by an experienced and professional armed guide to experience and authentic insight of the bush that’s beyond observation. A walking safari can be carried out in the Mara Naboisho conservancy, a virgin wildlife area with great scenery. While here, you have higher chances of viewing big game animals like the elephants, hippos, leopards, lions, hyenas, giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, zebra, hippos and so much more. This likelihood of seeing wildlife from a shorter distance gives an exciting feeling. A walking safari usually takes two hours and more to even days depending of the visitor`s preference.

Bird Watching in Maasai Mara National Park

Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara Reserve
Balloon Safaris in Masaai Mara National Reserve

Masaai Mara features a number of habitats conducive for great bird watching.  Over 470 species of birds have been recorded to exist in this reserve, many of these birds are migrants and about 60species of birds are raptors.

Birds that live in this reserve include; Foxy Lark, Red-throated Tit, Hildebrandt’s Starling, Swahili and Kenya Rufous Sparrows, Little Bee-eater, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, White-headed Barbet, Flappet and Rufous-naped Larks, Long-billed Pipit, Pale Wren-Warbler, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-tailed and Sooty Chats, Trilling, Rock and Long-tailed Cisticolas, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Variable Sunbird, Yellow Bishop, Cinnamon-breasted Rock Bunting, Harlequin Quail, Red-necked Spurfowl, White-bellied and Black-bellied Bustards, Senegal and Black-winged Plovers, the localized White-tailed Lark, Red-capped Lark, Fischer’s Sparrow Lark, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Stout and Croaking Cisticolas, Northern, Pied and Isabelline Wheatears, African Quailfinch, Jackson’s among other species.

Secretary birds, kori bustards and the turkey-sized ground hornbills are regular on the grasslands along with crowned plovers. The white storks are seasonal and pop in for the summer. Watch the Saddle-billed storks dancing and rolling stylishly around the outskirts of the swamps looking for their favorite food; cat fish. The Madagascar Squacco can be spotted between October and May. The giant and pygmy Kingfisher can be found along the rivers. birders are advised to carry binoculars to look out for Ross`s Turaco and Schalow`s along the edges of the Mara riverine forest.

Balloon Safaris in Masaai Mara National Reserve

Exciting balloon safari is once in a lifetime experience you can have while you’re in Kenya. Being suspended in a wicker basket above the natural planes of Africa with the sun tweeting on the skies and the walking wilderness below, is one of the must-grandchildren tales you will never forget! Enjoy the opportunity to fly over to safari areas that are restricted from safari vehicles and explore the most startling and most thrilling sensation like before.

A balloon is inflated with air and the balloon staff of about 20-25 people helps passengers to board (watching the inflation process is also a remarkable experience). The carrier of your balloon is divided into sections for safety and comfort purposes. The balloon is then made ready by the ground staff as the balloon pilot gives you safety precautions. Once everyone is ready, the balloon burner is turned on and you feel the balloon lifting up from the ground. The ground crew guides the balloon until it is safely launched.

Cultural Walks in Masaai Mara National Reserve

A short tour can be undertaken to different cultural sites within the local community to give tourists and opportunity for cross-cultural interaction with the local people.Visit the neighboring Talek town with the expert Masaai guides and learn about the rich Masaai cultural heritage. You can begin your visit to the young empowered pupils of Talek primary school which has recently been established in the area to provide formal education to the Masaai. Your guide will take you through the lifestyle and hustles these pupils go through like the miles day-scholars walk every morning and evening to come and attain education in search for the better future.

Thereafter, you will be continued to the Talek Community center, the only standardized medical center available in the area to address the challenges of late diagnosis and high mortality rates associated with walking long distances to reach clinics. Safari Attractions in Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya, Wildlife Safaris, Game drive , Walking Safari, Bird Watching, Balloon Safaris, Cultural Walks in Maasai Mara Reserve Kenya.

Accessing Masai mara National Reserve

Masai mara reserve can be accessed by both road and air transport

Road transport: Masai mara reserve lies about 270km or 167miles or a 5-hour drive away from Nairobi city in the north western direction. You can also connect to masai mara national reserve from Nakuru city which lies about 235km or 150miles or a 6-hour drive away from Nakuru town. If you decide to use a road trip to masai mara, you will a have your trip on a bumpy murram road so expect a lot of the African massage feeling along the way but this is majorly off set by the spectacular views of kenya’s wilderness you will encounter enroute to masia mara.

Air transport: Flying to masai mara is relatively easy as there are numerous domestic flights chartering this route between Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi city and the various landing strips in masai mara such as mara serena mushaira, keekorok, mara shikar, kihwa tembo and ngerende airstrips that are spread all over the eco system of masai mara. When visiting masai mara in Kenya, your entry point is likely to be Jomo Kenyatta international airport which is about 15km or 9miles.

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