The Masai Mara National Reserve is probably the most famous and most visited Reserve in Kenya. It offers breathtaking views (as seen in the film "Out of Africa", much of which was filmed here), an extraordinary density of animals including "the Big Five" (lions, leopard, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros) and may varieties of plains game.
The Masai Mara National Reserve is best known for one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles, the great migration of Wildebeest and Zebra. Covering an area of 650 sq miles in south western Kenya, the Masai Mara is bordered in the west by the Oloololo Escarpment of the Great Rift Valley and in the east by the Ngama Hills.
Every year wildebeest, Zebra and antelopes suddenly assemble on Serengeti plains and then start to move all together, as if a mysterious sign has been given, to ward Kenya and on to the Masai Mara. Hungry lions and hyena follow the trek and the drama is worth witnessing.
Herds of zebras are found throughout the park, as well as Masai giraffes and the common giraffe, hippos, warthogs, jackals, hyenas and bat-eared foxes. Numerous antelopes can be found here, including impala, Grant’s, and Thomson’s gazelles, hartebeests and topi. Additionally, over 450 bird species are present in the reserve including vulture, ostrich, the long-crested eagle, pygmy falcon, secretary bird, marabou, etc.