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The famous Masai Mara needs little introduction. Spanning an area of 1500 square kilometres in southwest Kenya, the reserve forms part of the Greater Serengeti savannah ecosystem, offering some of the best game viewing in the world. This is where vast assemblages of antelope are chased by more predators than you could ever imagine; where endless plains meet endless skies; and where the wildebeest of the Great Migration plunge furiously across the Mara River in their annual trek. Whatever you wish to tick off your safari bucket-list, the Mara will certainly not disappoint.
If it’s cats you’re looking for, there’s no better place than the Mara. The setting for the BBC TV series, Big Cat Diary, this is the place to see cheetah skulking across the plains, leopard peering through branches and more lions than you can shake a stick at.
The private conservancies surrounding the Mara are well worth an exploration if you’re looking to avoid the crowds. Only a certain number of operators are allowed in each one, meaning low tourist densities but with the same fabulous game as the Mara Reserve – and sometimes even more.
It’s been said a hundred times, but the Mara really does get busy, particularly when the wildebeest are in town (July to September). There are, however, a number of hidden camps and secret spots, and over the years we’ve become really quite good at finding them!
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The Masai Mara is Kenya's flagship conservation region: a place of rolling plains, bush scrub and acacia thicket— known for the seasonal great wildebeest migration, a mass movement of more than two million, wildebeest, zebra, kongoni, topi and gazelle. As exciting as this phenomenon is, there is so much more to this wilderness. Encounter elephants, buffalo, hippo, giraffe, crocodiles and a variety of cats including lion, cheetah, leopard and the shy serval during a stay in these parts.