Maasai Mara
open red-oat grassland, crocodile rivers and kenya's richest big-cat country
About Maasai Mara
The Maasai Mara is the Kenyan end of the Serengeti ecosystem, a sweep of red-oat grass rolling west to the Oloololo Escarpment and cut by the Mara and Talek rivers. The national reserve sits at its heart, ringed by private conservancies leased from Maasai landowners, where vehicle numbers are capped and guides can drive off-road, walk with you and go out after dark.
Lions are the headline, but cheetahs hunt the open plains by daylight and leopards drape themselves along the riverine trees. Hippos grunt in every bend of the river and topi stand sentry on termite mounds. From about July to October the migration pours in from Tanzania, and the herds bunch on the banks of the Mara River before plunging across past waiting crocodiles. Dawn balloon flights drift over it all, and a visit to a Maasai homestead shows you the cattle culture behind the landscape.
It is a short flight from Wilson Airport or a five-to-six-hour drive from Nairobi. July to October brings the crossings and the crowds; January and February are dry and quieter, with resident predators and plenty of plains game. Stop at Lake Naivasha or Lake Nakuru on the way in, cross into the northern Serengeti for more of the herds, or fly on to Rwanda or Uganda for gorillas.
Where it is
Safaris through Maasai Mara
5 days
5 Days Maasai Mara Photography Safari
More time with the light, the landscape and the wildlife in front of your lens
10 days
10 Days Best of Kenya Wildlife Safari
Samburu, rhino conservation, Rift Valley lakes and three nights in the Maasai Mara
4 days
4 Days Maasai Mara Fly-In Safari
Fly from Nairobi and spend three nights near the Mara’s wildlife plains
12 days
Featured
12 Days Maasai Mara & Uganda Gorilla Safari
Mara lions, Kibale chimps and Bwindi gorillas, linked by light aircraft over twelve days
8 days
Featured
8 Days Maasai Mara & Rwanda Gorilla Safari
Big cats in the Maasai Mara, then an hour with mountain gorillas, all in eight days
13 days
Featured
13 Days Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda Safari
Follow the migration from the Mara to the Serengeti, descend into Ngorongoro, then meet gorillas
9 days
9 Days Kenya & Tanzania Women's Safari
Women rangers, beadwork cooperatives and big cats, travelling in an all-women group
12 days
12 Days Laikipia, Maasai Mara & Zanzibar Wellness Safari
Sunrise yoga above the plains, mindful bush walks, a night under the stars, a slow Zanzibar finish
13 days
13 Days Rift Valley Lakes & Serengeti Birding Safari
A specialist-guided run from Rift Valley lakes to Tarangire's baobabs, chasing 400+ species
10 days
10 Days Hell's Gate, Lake Natron & Serengeti Adventure
Cycle Hell's Gate, scramble a gorge and summit Ol Doinyo Lengai by headtorch for sunrise
10 days
10 Days Maasai Mara & Lake Eyasi Cultural Safari
Walk with a Maasai warrior, hunt at dawn with the Hadzabe and meet Datoga blacksmiths
11 days
11 Days Ol Pejeta, Lewa & Serengeti Rhino Safari
Track black rhino with rangers, meet the K9 unit and see conservation from the inside