Masai Mara Game Reserve

The Masai Mara is one of the best known and most popular reserves in the whole of Africa. At times and in certain places it can get a little overrun with tourist minibuses, but there is something so special about it that it tempts you back time and again.

Seasoned safari travellers, travel writers, documentary makers and researchers often admit that the Masai Mara is one of their favourite places. So why is that? Perhaps it is because of the 'big skies', the open savannahs, the romance of films like 'Out of Africa' and certainly because of the annual wildebeest migration, the density of game, the variety of birdlife and the chance of a hot air balloon ride. Also because of the tall red-robed Masai people whose lifestyle is completely at odds with western practices, and from whom one learns to question certain western values.

A combination of all these things plus something to do with the spirit of the place - which is hard to put into words - is what attracts people to the Mara over and over.

The Masai Mara lies in the Great Rift Valley, which is a fault line some 3,500 miles (5,600km) long, from Ethiopia's Red Sea through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and into Mozambique. Here the valley is wide and a towering escarpment can be seen in the hazy distance. Most of the game viewing activities occur on the valley floor, but some lodges conduct walking tours outside the park boundaries in the hills of the Oloololo Escarpment. The animals are also at liberty to move outside the park into huge areas known as 'dispersal areas'. There can be as much wildlife roaming outside the park as inside. Many Masai villages are located in the 'dispersal areas' and they have, over centuries, developed a synergetic relationship with the wildlife.

There are four main types of topography in the Mara: Ngama Hills to the east with sandy soil and leafy bushes liked by black rhino; Oloololo Escarpment forming the western boundary and rising to a magnificent plateau; Mara Triangle bordering the Mara River with lush grassland and acacia woodlands supporting masses of game especially migrating wildebeest; Central Plains forming the largest part of the reserve, with scattered bushes and boulders on rolling grasslands favoured by the plains game

ANIMALS & BIRDS

In a short stay during the wildebeest migration you could see thousands of animals, at other times there are still hundreds. The plains are full of wildebeest, zebra, impala, topi, giraffe, Thomson's gazelle. Also regularly seen are leopards, lions, hyenas, cheetah, jackal and bat-eared foxes. Black rhino are a little shy and hard to spot but are often seen at a distance.

Hippos are abundant in the Mara River as are very large Nile crocodiles, who lay in wait for a meal as the wildebeest cross on pastures

SEASONS

Altitude is 4,875-7,052 feet (1,500-2,170 metres) above sea level, which yields a climate somewhat milder and damper than other regions. The daytime rarely exceeds 85°F (30°C) during the day and hardly ever drops below 60°F (15°C) at night.
Rainy Season: It rains in April and May and again November and this can cause some areas of the Mara to be inaccessible due to the sticky 'black cotton' mud.
Dry Season: July to October is dry and the grass is long and lush after the rains. This is a good time to come and see the huge herds of migratory herbivores.
Hottest time: The warmest time of year is December and January.
Coldest Time: June and July are the coldest months.

MASAI MARA SPECIALITIES

• · Wildebeest Migration
• · Hot Air Ballooning
• · Huge savannahs of golden grasslands
• · Big skies
• · Rift Valley escarpment
• 
  Mount Kenya National Park

  BACKGROUND
  INFORMATION
  Mt. Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano dominating the landscape of the Kenyan Highlands, East of the Rift. Mt. Kenya lies about 140 km North, North-East of Nairobi with its Northern flanks across the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). The mountains slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on the high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Mt. Kenya is an important water catchment area, supplying the Tana and Northern Ewaso Ngiro systems.

  The park includes a variety of habitats ranging from higher forest, bamboo, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial morains.

  The park, which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 ans is also a Biosphere Reserve, covers 715 km2, and includes the Peaks consisting of all the ground above 3200m with two small salients extending lower down to 2450m along the Sirimon and Naro Moru tracks. Surrounding the park is Mount Kenya National Reserve with an area of approximately 2095 km2.

  Climate:
  Climate, flora and fauna on Mt. Kenya varies with altitude.

  HOW TO GET THERE

  Access Roads:
  175 kms from Nairobi, the park can be reached on Nanyuki-Isiolo road via Sirimon Track or Nyeri-Nanyuki road near Naro Moru. The park is also reachable via Chogoria on the Embu - Meru road, about 150km north of Nairobi.

  Airstrips:
  The closest commercial airstrip to the park is at Nanyuki.

  MAJOR ATTRACTIONS

  Pristine wilderness, lakes, tarns, glaciers and peaks of great beauty, geological variety, forest, mineral springs, rare and endangered species of animals, High altitude adapted plains game, Unique montane and alpine vegetation with 11 species of endemic plants.

  FACILITIES

  Huts:
  Liki North Hut; Minto's Hut; Austrian Hut; Mackinders Hut (managed by Naro Moru Lodge); Judmare Hut; Shiptons Hut (managed by Mountain Rock Hotel).

  Bandas:
  Sirimon Bandas, Warden's Cottage

  Lodges:
  Mountain Lodge (Serena Hotels); Rutundu Fishes Lodge (book through Lets Go Travel)

  ACTIVITIES

  Mountain climbing, game viewing.

  WILDLIFE

  Reptiles:
  Alpine Meadow Lizard; lizards and skinks; montane viper.

  Major animals:
  Baboon, Olive; Bat, Banana; Bongo; Buffalo African; Bushbuck; Cat, African Wild; Civet, African; Colobus, Black and White; Dog, Hunting; Dormouse, African; Duiker, Black-fronted; Duiker, Bush; Duiker, Red; Elephant, African; Genet, Large-spotted; Hare, African; Hog, Giant Forest; Hyaena, Spotted; Hyrax, Rock; Hyrax, Tree; Jackal, Black-backed; Jackal, Side-striped; Klipspringer; Leopard; Lion; Mongoose, Slender; Monkey, Sykes; Otter, Clawless; Pig, Forest Bush; Porcupine, Crested; Rat, Crested; Rat, Mt Kenya Mole; Reedbuck, Chanler's; Rhinoceros, Black; Serval; Shrew, Mole; Suni; Zebra, Common.

  Major Birds:
  Owl, Mackinder's Eagle; Owl, Cape Grass; Owl, African Wood; Owl, African Marsh; Owl, Abyssinian Long-eared; Oriole, Black-winged; Nightjar, Abyssinian; Martin, African Sand; Martin, African Rock; Lanner; Lammergeyer; Kite, European Black; Kite, African Black; Kingfisher, Grey-headed; Kingfisher, Giant; Kestrel, Lesser; Kestrel, European; Ibis, Green; Hornbill, Silvery-cheeked.........
  

• Samburu National Reserve

• FACTS

  This is a malarial area
  The reserve covers an area of (1,510 km²)
  There is no night driving and vehicles must be back at the lodge by 6pm.
  Several lodges are located outside the park's boundaries, but as there are few fences you may not be aware of this.
  This is a Reserve rather than a National Park and it belongs to the Masai people

  Samburu National Reserve. When you see a camel train walking single file along a dry riverbed, you realise you are in a pretty parched area. The three National Reserves of Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba are at the beginning of the dry north where camels become commonplace.

  However, it is not a completely parched area as it is watered by the Uaso Nyiro River or 'River of Brown Water' in Samburu. This is an essential and sometimes erratic water source for all the inhabitants, including a considerable amount of wildlife in the reserves and Samburu cattle and goats. Out of the north Kenyan tribes of Samburu, Rendille, Turkana and Borana, the Samburu dominate this area. To the uninformed eye they could be confused with the Maasai - for they are closely related and wear similar bright clothing and jewellery and have the same cultural beliefs. They continue their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle as they have done for hundreds of years.

  The scrub desert, desiccated savannah and small hills of this region create overriding colours of muted greens, dusty creams, sand yellow, earthen ochre and every shade of brown. Perfect camouflage colours for the many animals that inhabit these parks