[Kenya] Maasai Mara

We spent our entire fifth day on safari in Maasai Mara and it was a day filled with incredible highlights and memories.

Maasai Mara

We entered the gate just before 8 AM. It took several minutes for our guide Zachary to sort out our entry into Maasai Mara National Reserve since there were a lot of people going in.

Entrance to Maasai Mara National Reserve

Late July to October is a very popular time to visit Maasai Mara because this is when the Great Wildebeest Migration happens. (That, and July and August are the summer months in the Western world and many Westerners often travel during this time.)

Wildebeests

Naturally, there were thousands of wildebeests there. It was the first time we saw them too because we didn't see these creatures (which are also called gnu) up until we got to Maasai Mara.

We were in Maasai Mara during the Great Wildebeest Migration

By our fifth day on safari, we had already seen many animals in Samburu and Lake Nakuru so our goal was to try and see animals that we hadn't seen yet. When we heard there was a cheetah hidden in the savanna, we waited to catch a glimpse. Our guide said it was eating its kill which is why it was hidden in the tall grass. Eventually, after maybe 15 minutes or more, it reared its head for all of us to see. It was not very close to us so the photos I managed to take were unfocused and grainy but at least we got to see it and capture it on camera.

Cheetah

I also previously wrote about waiting more than an hour to see a leopard with its kill up a tree.

A leopard with its kill up a tree

There were a few more animals we saw here that we didn't see in our previous game drives, such as spotted hyenas,

Spotted hyena

topis, which are antelopes that have bluish black patches on their legs,

Topis

the lilac-breasted roller, which is Kenya's national bird (when it is in flight and its wings are spread, you can see its full array of vibrant colors and it is visually stunning),

Lilac-breasted roller

elands, which are the world's largest antelopes,

Elands

and the masai giraffe.

Masai giraffe

Maasai Mara is quite vast so our hotel provided us with packed lunch which we ate inside the game reserve, picnic-style. Our guide had picnic blankets and we enjoyed our food underneath a solitary tree in the savanna. It's amazing to think that we were eating in the midst of wild animals but this seems to be a common activity here and our tour operator wouldn't have allowed us to do this if it wasn't safe. I'm guessing  that predators don't normally attack human beings in the bush, especially not during the Great Wildebeest migration when they have a lot of prey and as such, are all pretty well-fed.

Photo op after our picnic lunch under this tree in Maasai Mara

Another highlight: visiting the border of Kenya and Tanzania, which also happened to be the border of Maasai Mara and Serengeti. We were lucky because when we arrived, we were the only people there. We got to take a lot of solo pics as well as group photos before other tourists arrived and fell in line behind us for their turn at a photo op with the border marker.

Border of Kenya and Tanzania

Later that afternoon, we visited the Mara River.

Mara river

I was hoping that we would get to see the famed wildebeest river crossing but it didn't happen while we were there. Nevertheless, we still got to see lots of hippos...

Hippos

and some Nile crocodiles.

Nile crocodile

We then headed over to a ranger station in the Mara Triangle. Here, a park ranger - with a rifle in hand - took us on a 30-minute walk along the banks of the Mara River.

Mara Triangle ranger station

One of the most interesting things we got to see was what seemed to be a territorial dispute between two very aggressive hippos.

Dispute between two hippos

We started to making our way out of Maasai Mara at around 530pm after spending the whole day here. Before we left, I took a few photos of the beautiful sunset.

Maasai Mara sunset

We got to see many more animals here but this blog post is long enough as it is haha. It was quite enriching that we got to go on safari in three different game reserves that had different landscapes. If Samburu has mountains and hills and Lake Nakuru has a lake, Maasai Mara has its seemingly endless savanna.

The vast savannas of Maasai Mara

Next: Maasai Village Tour Experience