There are many ways to explore and enjoy Masai Mara Africa, depending on your preferences, budget and time. You can choose from various safari options, such as game drives, walking safaris, hot air balloon safaris and night drives. You can also visit local Maasai villages, take part in cultural experiences, or indulge in birdwatching.

Wildlife Safaris

Wildlife safaris in Masai Mara are centered mainly around game drives which are the main activity of our Masai Mara holidays, whether you are heading out to search for elephant silhouettes or wishing to get packed net to a family of cheetahs on a hunt, game drives in Masai Mara unfold the action of perfect animal kingdom away from what you might have watched on Nat Geo. A typical full day Masai Mara Safari is structured around 3 to 5 hour game drive in the morning and shorter evening game drive with an afternoon break at the lodge/camp for hot lunch and some relaxation. Alternatively, if you opt for spending the entire day out on game drives, most lodges and camps will offer packed breakfast and lunch on request. Maasai Mara safari games drives are operated with open roof vehicles which can either be 4x4 safari vans or the land cruiser with a pop roof with 2 or 3 rows of elevated seats behind the driver/guide.

Night Game Drives

Nights Games drives in Masai Mara Africa are available in the private conservancies but prohibited within the main Reserve. These games drives are mainly focused on spotting nocturnal species to include big cats which are most active in the night in fact most of all the hunting by lions and leopards happens after night fall. Other wildlife species to look out for include; hyenas, bush babies, porcupines, aardvark, genets, civets, and honey badgers.

Horse Back Safaris

Game viewing on a horseback is another intriguing way to have your Masai Mara Kenya Safari. This activity is mostly recommended for saddle fit riders, the rides range from shorter 2 hour rides to multi day itineraries offering about 6 or more hours in the saddle each day. The two hours rides can be taken on by Amateur riders.

Balloon Safaris

Balloon safaris in the Masai Mara offer a prefect way to explore the Savannah from a majestic aerial view. Floating across the plains with 360 degree views of what is beneath the park is an experience that is incomparable. It even gets better during the migration season with a chance to track the herds from above accessing the remote parts of the park that cannot be explored with the vehicles. Flying one hour, the balloon lands where you will be treated to a luxurious champagne bush breakfast served under a giant acacia tree.

Walking Safaris

Walking safaris offer a much more immersive experience outside the traditional African driving safari in Masai Mara. This experience takes you walking through the less wildlife infested area of the park with guidance of an armed ranger. You will have the opportunity to explore the park's flora and learn about the medicinal properties of different plants from a local Maasai warrior. You will also have the chance to spot some animals up-close. Most lodges and camps offer guided walking safaris for approximately USD 20 per person.

Masaai Cultural Visits

Visiting the Maasai people is an essential part of any Masai Mara holiday. What makes the Maasai Special? These individuals have a strong bond with some of Kenya and Tanzania's savanna national parks and have worked to preserve these rich ecosystems. The Maasai have set up eco-friendly shelters known as Manyattas within the park's conservancies. A visit to a Maasai Manyatta offers the chance to learn about the tribe's culture and lifestyle, including their energetic dances. You'll even be given a Maasai name based on your personality. Lodge and camp staff can arrange these visits.

Birding Safaris

Masai Mara National Park is a paradise for birds and birdwatchers; over 400 species have been recorded, with grassland and wetland birds especially well represented. Martial eagle, long created eagle, crowned crane, ostriches and bateleur are common, while large numbers of vultures follow the migration feeding in remains of those that die of exhaustion or predator attacks. The Mara River and its tributaries are forested along the banks, providing ideal habitat for exciting birds such as the Ross's Turaco, black and white casqued hornbill, blue flycatcher and the narina trogon.

You must have heard of The Great wildebeest Migration in Masai Mara Africa, a seasonal movement of large herds of an estimated 2 million wildebeests accompanied by 500,000zebras, 250,000 Thomson's gazelle, 70,000 Impala and 30,000 Grant's gazelle from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park crossing to Masai Mara National Reserve. Time your Mara Mara safari for July to Early September, and you can prepare for one of the world’s great wildlife dramas, a hoofed mob of a million-plus wildebeest moving in masses across grass-filled plains, over hills, and through rivers besieged by hungry crocodiles and watched by salivating lions and excitable hyenas. The migration is driven by the availability of food and water, as the animals follow the rains and the growth of new grass. The migration cycle lasts for a year and covers a distance of about 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles). The migration is not a linear or predictable process, but rather a complex and dynamic one that depends on various factors such as weather, predators, and human activities. The migration can be divided into four phases: calving, rutting, crossing, and grazing.

• Calving: This phase occurs from January to March in the southern Serengeti, where the wildebeests give birth to over 500,000 calves within a span of a few weeks. This is a time of plenty for both the herbivores and the predators that prey on them.
• Rutting: This phase occurs from May to June in the western Serengeti, where the wildebeests mate and form temporary pair bonds. This is also a time of intense competition and fighting among the males for access to females.
• River Crossing: This phase occurs from July to October in the northern Serengeti and Masai Mara, where the wildebeests face their biggest challenge: crossing the Mara River. The river is full of dangers such as crocodiles, hippos, and strong currents. The wildebeests have to overcome their fear and instinctively follow the leaders to cross the river. This is a time of high drama and mortality for both the herbivores and the predators that ambush them.
• Grazing:This phase occurs from November to December in the eastern Serengeti, where the wildebeests enjoy the fresh grass that has sprouted after the short rains. This is a time of relative peace and tranquility for both the herbivores and the predators that coexist with them.

The Great Migration in the Masai Mara is a unique and awe-inspiring spectacle that attracts thousands of visitors every year who come to witness this natural wonder.

The Masai Mara is divided into the Masai Mara National Reserve and a number of private conservancies sprawled in the north and each with a number of camps and reserves. Most private conservancies offering a range of activities not available in the reserve itself to include; night game drives, escorted walking safaris, and horseback safaris. Masai Mara National Reserve itself is divided into three distinct parts; eastern sector runs southeast from the Mara and Talek rivers to the Ngama Hills, the central sector lies cupped between these two rivers north of their confluence, and the western sector is flanked by Oloololo Escarpment and the Mara River. The east carries the heaviest traffic, which can detract from the wilderness atmosphere. Bear in mind that game drives are generally confined to the same sector as the lodge or campsite. Visitors with more than 3 nights at their disposal could divide their time between lodges in different sectors. 

Ngama Hills and the Eastern Plains

Accounting for about half of Masai Mara Kenya, the eastern sector is the closest to Nairobi and the most visited. Dozens of campsites and lodges are set within its boundaries or lie immediately outside them. The most prominent geographical landmark, the quartzite Ngama Hills, towering above the main Sekenani Entrance Gate and are visible from all corners. The smaller Ol Opelagonya and Ololoitikoshi hills both lie in the far southeast towards Ololaimutiek Gate. The rock-strewn grassland of these hills does not support the wildlife volumes associated with the plains below, but its dense thicket patches are a favored haunt of the reserve’s last few dozen remaining black rhino, while the margins harbor buffalo, dik-dik, and impala. The flatter plains that run from the base of the Ngama Hills to the banks of the Mara river form the classic East African landscape of short grassland interspersed with a parsimonious scattering of acacia and other trees. The main roads through this part of the reserve are somewhat rutted and the relatively heavy traffic seems to be a deterrent to wildlife, so it is generally more productive to stick to the maze of regularly intersecting tracks that run between them. Lion and cheetah are common in this area, along with topi, gazelle, eland, ostrich, and kori bustard. The park supports a much higher elephant density than expected in such open terrain. Other landmarks include the long-serving Keekerok Lodge, which is the launch site for early morning balloon trips. Further south, the seasonal Sand river more or less follows the Tanzanian border west towards its confluence with the Mara Mara National Reserve. Practically at the border, the South Mara Bridge is the only crossing point between the reserve’s eastern and western sectors and overlooks a hippo pool that is a popular picnic spot

Mara and Talek Rivers

The Mara River and its tributary the Talek are the only perennial waterways to flow through the Masai Mara National Reserve. Dotted with dozens of deep hippo pools, the Mara river supports varied aquatic wildlife that includes hippo, crocodile, and otter, along with riverine birds such as hamerkop and African darter. The lush ribbon of riparian forest that follows both rivers for much of their length is densely populated with leopard, vervet monkey and bushbuck, as well as a selection of birds that is strikingly different from those in the rest of the park. This includes the brilliantly colored Schalow’s and Ross’s turacos and the melodic white-browed robin-chat. One of the most spectacular events in the Serengeti-Mara migration is the wildebeest crossing of the Mara river. This might happen several times during the migrant wildebeest’s 3-month Masai Mara tenure. There are eight major crossing points, of which the four most regularly used lie along a 5-km (3-mile) stretch of the Mara upriver of its confluence with the Talek and overlooked by the Mara Serena Safari Lodge. Often, wildebeest will congregate in their thousands on the banks for days before one impatient individual takes the plunge, triggering a lemming-like stampede that provides rich pickings to the waiting crocodiles. An estimated 3,000 wildebeests perish annually while crossing the Mara, but numbers are readily replenished by the average of 400,000 calves born in the Serengeti every January to February.

Central Plains

Located in the heart of Mara Mara Africa and serviced by a handful of upmarket camps, the untrammeled plains of the central Masai Mara flanked by the Mara River to the west and the Talek to the south – offer exceptionally reliable game viewing, particularly when it comes to big cats. Dominated by a long succession of thickened males, the legendary “marsh lion” pride hangs around the grassy verges of Musiara Swamp and Governor’s Camp and is habituated to vehicles. The open grassland around Paradise Plain is arguably the best place in Kenya to look for cheetahs, while several generations of habituated leopards inhabit the vicinity of Leopard Gorge, a short drive outside the reserve from the Musiara Gate. By contrast, the prominent Rhino Ridge overlooking Paradise Plain seldom lives up to its name. Crisscrossed by motorable tracks, the short grass plains north of Rhino Ridge are densely excavated with aardvark holes that now serve as dens to spotted hyena, bat-eared fox, and black-backed jackal. Two localized birds associated with this part of the park are Denham’s bustard and the lovely Rufus-bellied heron that inhabits Musiara Swamp. The central plains are spectacular for an African Safari Masai Mara from August to October when zebra and wildebeest congregate there in their tens of thousands. The best place to view large numbers of hippo and wildebeest – and with luck the occasional river crossing – is Lookout Hill, located opposite Serena Lodge.

Mara Triangle

This most westerly sector of the Mara Mara Kenya is also the oldest, having first been gazetted as a 510-sq-km (197-sq-mile) game reserve in the late 1940s. It is the most scenically dramatic part of the reserve, set below the 400-m- (1,312-ft-) tall Oloololo Escarpment and studded with isolated granite hills known as koppies. The open grassland supports dense seasonal concentrations of migrant zebra and wildebeest. The Mara Triangle is good for spotting big cats and other members of the Big Five, although rhino are not very common. Roan antelope and African wild dog were once widespread here, but have not been seen since the late 1980s, although plans are afoot to reintroduce the former from Ruma National Park, their only extant haunt in Kenya. The Oloololo Escarpment along the western boundary is a good place to spot the dainty klipspringer antelope, the rock hyrax and spectacular Verreaux’s eagle.