Activities In Masai Mara on a Self-Drive Safari
Masai Mara a home to wildebeest and Big five animals is considered to be one of the excellent savanna parks to explore in Kenya for a good reason. Located in Narok County near Serengeti National Park of Tanzania lies a magical Masai Mara National Park a great Kenya safari destination with diverse tourist activities and opportunities for nature lovers to explore and experience.
- Go on Game Drive / Wildlife Safaris
Visit Masai Mara National Reserve to experience what it has to offer the world. This is one of the best wildlife destinations known for its mind-boggling profusion of wildlife hence guaranteeing animal lovers a diversity of species to keep an eye on. While on an African self-drive safari in Masai Mara Reserve, visitors have the opportunity to experience this splendid nature reserve twice a day.
Generally, while on Masai Mara National Reserve for a safari, wildlife species to look out for include among others buffaloes, wildebeest, lions, leopards, rhinos, crocodiles, over 500 bird species, elands, gazelles, zebras. Others include bush babies, elephants, hyenas etc and these can be sighted during day game drives or evening game drives.
- Birding
Birding is one of the amazing ways to explore and experience Masai Mara National Reserve while on Kenya safaris. A total of about 500 bird species await you to identify on a birding trip in the Masai Mara and they include ostriches, vultures, African jacanas, Southern ground hornbill, speckled mousebirds, grey herons, kori bustards, yellow-billed storks, saddle billed stork, great white egrets, rufous bellied heron and many others.
The best birding spots include the Musiara marsh, river birds are available at Mara River with bird opportunities to sight ranging from pygmy kingfishers, martial eagle, Ross’s turacos, giant kingfishers, Schawlow turacos, bateleur, and more.
Other birds include Abdim’s stork, African wood owl, African finfoot, ostriches, red-throated tit, purple grenadier, Jackson’s widowbird, yellow mantled widowbird, trilling cisticola, Tabora cisticola, and more.
- Balloon safaris
Hot air balloon tours are life-changing wilderness experiences Masai Mara National Reserve offers for nature lovers on a Kenya vacation. It is an incredible opportunity to explore and experience Masai Mara’s wildlife above the air rather than using a 4WD vehicle, enjoy a bush breakfast, champagne, and a lot more.
- Observe and witness the thunderous wildebeest migration
A visit to Masai Mara Reserve is considered incomplete without a wildebeest migration experience. The great wildebeest migration is one of the world’s natural dramatic spectacles and over 1.5 million wildebeest together with zebras, gazelles, and more can be observed moving while in search of water and grass. The ideal month of the year for wildebeest observation is from July to October.
- Explore the Maasai cultures
No better way get you thrilled by African cultures than a community or cultural walk/visit into the Maasai community adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. A visit to the Maasai homesteads for a cultural tour is such a humbling experience and one of the kind that lets you explore in-depth about their unique cultures, and traditions, and get entertained by the dances, music performances, and a lot more.
- Nature walk
If you have wished to reconnect with nature, then a guided nature walk at Masai Mara has you sorted. Visit Masai Mara for a guided walk and get reconnected, reignite your spirit of adventure by undertaking an on-foot-walk tour, discovering the hidden treasures, meeting the local people and so much more.
Best time to go Maasai Mara safaris
Masai Mara safaris are enjoyable all year round. Depending on what your travel interests are however, Masai Mara Reserve is perfect to visit during the dry season and specifically, for visitors who are traveling to witness the wildebeest migration, July, August, and September to October are the best months of the year.
Other dry months are still ideal for visitors to have the most of Masai Mara National Reserve’s wildlife viewing experience. The game trails become passable with vegetation cover kept short offering excellent views of diverse wildlife while you are in your 4WD vehicle.
Accommodation in and around Masai Mara Kenya
Visit Masai Mara National Reserve with no worries about where to stay. The nature reserve is an ultimate destination with a variety of basic, midrange, and luxury lodging and camping facilities.
The ideal places for visitors to overnight stay while on Masai Mara safaris include Enkerende Tented Camp, Fairmont Mara Safari, Naboisho Camp, Kicheche Bush Camp, Royal Mara Safari Lodge, Ngare Serian, Speke’s Camp, Porini Mara Camp, Ngerende Island Lodge, Ol Seki Mara Camp, Mara Plains Camp, and many others.
Getting to Mara National Reserve of Kenya
Getting to Masai Mara is easier by road or by air. By road, it takes 5-6 hours for visitors to drive from Nairobi city to Masai Mara. The reserve’s gates include Oloolaimutia Gate, Oloololo Gate, Talek, Musiara, and Sekenani Gate. By air, take chartered or scheduled flights to any of the many airstrips that serve Mara Reserve including Olare Orok Airstrip, Keekorok Airstrip, Shikar, Kichwa Tembo, Masai Mara Serena, Musiara airstrips, and others.
