Why Presidents and High Profile People Visit The Mara;Photos of President Uhuru and Sri Lankan President At Mara

It is billed the Seventh Wonder of the World and reaches its climax during the annual migration of thousands of wildebeest across the Mara River. Visitors have described the Masai Mara as the home of animal Olympics, comparing the scenic wildebeest migration to road marathons often hosted in some of world capitals or the sprint of life as cats chase prey in the wild.

The scenic live mass movements of wildebeest from the Serengeti Park in Tanzania to the savanna grasslands of Kenya’s Mara plains between June and October every year is a sight to behold and has been described as a wildlife drama of unrivalled stature.

President Uhuru Kenyatta visits the Mara to witness the wildebeest migration

Tourists from all corners of the world troop to the Masai Mara in Narok County to have a first-hand experience of agile and graceful cats from the family of African lions, leopards and cheetahs and revel at the Mara River crossing by wildebeests, often unable to hide their anxiety and excitement at the rich variety of wild animals only seen in zoos in their home countries. Besides Mara’s riches in wildlife and being the home of the elephants, lions, cheetahs, buffaloes and rhinos, blended with an abundant flora and fauna. Visitors also find the deeply cultural Maasai people enchanting. Narok County Governor Samuel ole Tunai says the Masai Mara is an all-year nonstop Safari destination well known for its wildlife variety.

“We have the big cats - lions, cheetahs, leopards, as well as giraffes, buffaloes, crocodiles and zebras, whose beautiful black and white stripes look like the handworks of a seasoned painter,” says Tunai, as he beckons Kenyans and foreigners who have not had a taste of the Masai Mara wonder.

The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning John Konchellah, himself a proud native of Narok, describes the Masai Mara as an “unparalleled destination for game viewing and bird watching in a legendary destination.” “It is time we offered differentiated products to include sports tourism, cultural tourism and redesigned our lodges to include conference facilities of world class levels,” Mr Konchellah says, arguing that the resource’s potential has not been fully tapped.

Masai Mara National Reserve covers 1,510km squared (580 square miles) and rises 1,500-2,170 meters above sea level. It hosts more than 95 species of mammals and 570 recorded species of birds. Although much of it is uncluttered open grass plains, in the eastern sector, around the Talek, Sekenani and Olumuna gates, there are large hotels that have no place in a wildlife park. 

From the Sarova Mara are lodges, including the 250-bed Fig Tree and the 150-bed Simba Lodge. To the southeast lies another five camps and lodges, including the 150-bed Mara Sopa Lodge. Between all the lodges there are some 5,000 beds in the Masai Mara National Reserve. This is complimented by the early morning game drives that inevitably involve long trains of vehicles fully loaded with tourists hungry for heart-warming sites and experiences.

A section of Mara leisure providers has created tented camps in the communal conservancies that lie along the park’s borders of Naboisho, Olare Orok, Mara North, Motorogi and Ol Kinyei to complement the accommodation needs of trooping visitors.

This kind of lodges have been erected in partnership with Maasai landowners and created relatively uninhabited wildernesses, where there is only one tent for every 700 acres.

Narok Governor Samuel ole Tunai welcomes Sri Lanka President
Mahinda Rajapaska to the Masai Mara

It is an exclusive blend of flora and fauna and some of the world’s most majestic animals seen alive in their natural habitat. It is a proof of how nature blessed Narok County in a unique way to offer it humble people, fertile lands, natural forests, livestock and wildlife in one go.

Jake Grieves-Cook, an authority on Kenyan tourism and a former chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, is quoted in several Safari magazines as saying the conservancies have achieved three things: “They have added protected habitats right next to the reserve, so wildlife numbers have increased; they allow the Maasai landowners to derive real benefits for setting aside land for wildlife conservation; and they give a more rewarding safari experience to visitors, who can see wildlife without minibuses.”

 Efforts are underway to manage a challenge that has been brought about by the Masai Mara’s success – that of overcrowding during peak season. Safari tour experts say that bad guiding is also a major contributor to the overcrowding: “A good guide will plan the day to avoid the crowds, leaving earlier. He will move off a sighting when other vehicles arrive. He will encourage you to get away from the 'Big Five’ mentality: 'Go and see the birds. Go and smell the flowers.” 

During the March-April period, movement of some 300,000 zebra and wildebeest from the Loita Plains is witnessed. It is not nearly as dramatic as the major Serengeti migration, yet Rhino Ridge and Topi Plains and large parts of the Olare Orok Conservancy are covered in zebras. A rewarding Safari to the Masai Mara is incomplete without a detour to Mara Triangle, in the northeast of the reserve and across the Mara River. It is also called the best kept secret of the Mara. This scenic beauty was where some of the most spectacular scenes in Out of Africa were filmed.  

 The  two  main  camps  here,  Governors’ and Kichwa Tembo, are well designed, with tents tucked away in thickly wooded enclaves so that you get a sense of privacy that is lacking in those massive lodges-cum-hotels in the eastern part.

The North-Western part of the Masai Mara is managed by the Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County. The rest of the reserve falls under Narok County Government. The best months for viewing over the past six years have been October and November, when there are fewer tourists, the grass is short (best for game viewing) and the migration is still on.