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The Masai Mara - Home of the Wildebeest Migration
The Masai Mara Reserve is one of east Africa's best known game viewing areas and adjoins the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania. A land of undulating hills and rolling grasslands, this magnificent park supports a huge animal population. It is perhaps the only region left in Kenya where the visitor may see animals in the same super abundance as existed a century ago. Covering some 700 square miles, the Mara offers wonderful scenery, breath taking vistas and panoramas of vast rolling plains, hills and woodland groves.
Each year in June about 1.2 million wildebeest gather in the Serengeti to calve where they slowly form one large herd. When the dry season withers their supply of grass the scent of rain form the north starts to draw the herd from July onwards. This incredible wildlife phenomenon is what makes Kenya one of the world's greatest wildlife destinations. The Mara is well known for its tremendous volume and diversity of game.
The Mara is a total sensory experience. You are constantly enveloped with the sights, sounds and smells of the Mara and the excitement of getting up at dawn to go on a game drive is hard to beat. The best time to visit Kenya is during the migration - the grunts and thundering hooves of the charging herd is a primal experience. The endless mass of grey bodies is mottled with the presence of zebra and of course one will also witness the largest concentration of Africa's predators which are attracted to these plentiful hunting grounds. Lions are seen hunting at night and packs of hyena can be seen moving through the herds as they single out the young and the weak.
Another obstacle that the herds face is the raging torrents of the Mara River. The herds gather at the banks to prepare themselves for this treacherous event. The pressure builds until the herds are forced into the river crossing with many hurling themselves off high banks and drowning or being swept away in the current. The wildebeest are never without the threat of opportunistic predators and this time it is the turn hungry crocodiles.
By September the surviving wildebeest will have reached their destination - where they will graze on the plains of the Mara. The arrival of the Wildebeest brings a sense of renewal to the plains. The fresh dung from the herds fertilizes the plains. Towards October the herds will begin to move southwards for their journey back to the Serengeti.
There are a number of luxury safari camps in the Masai Mara and the migration is best experienced on early morning game drives, on a walking safari with a Masai Warrior guide, on a horseback safari or from a hot air balloon.
A few of the camps that we would recommend:
Cottars 1920's Camp
Cottars 1920's Camp is a superb and stylish camp on a vast 22,000 acre private area of land in the heart of the Masai Mara. The camp is set on a hilltop with views for a dozen miles across rolling hills and expansive open plains dotted with acacia trees which are the setting for the world's biggest animal migration between July and September as one and a half million wildebeest and zebra pass through the Mara.
Cottars is owned and run by Calvin and Louise Cottar who have been operating safaris in the Masai Mara for many years and who know their private conservancy and the entire Masai Mara Reserve intimately. The camp is very traditional with huge white canvas tents, open at the sides during the day, with proper beds, comfortable furniture and en suite w.c and shower, and from the chairs at the front of your tent you can enjoy the fine views across the plains. The camp is run with a good sense of style and the standard of food and service is excellent. Because it is set on a large private reserve you can enjoy walking with an armed guide, tracking animals through the bush and game viewing by vehicle during the day and at night, knowing that you will encounter no other tourists or vehicles. You can also venture further afield into other parts of the Mara following the huge migrating herds and seeing countless lion, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, elephant and buffalo in the company of Calvin and his other highly expert guides.
More so than any other camp in East Africa, Cottars manages to combine simplicity with a real sense of relaxed style and inspired guiding, cuisine and attention to detail, all of which goes to create an unforgettable African safari.
Cottar's also has an extremely spacious family suite which has two bedrooms and a shared living area, making this ideal accommodation for families.
Richards Camp
Richard's Camp is one of the smallest and most private safari camps in the Masai Mara. It is located in a private conservation area in the north west of the Masai Mara Reserve surrounded by the undulating short grass plains and forests which are typical of this beautiful area. The conservation area is owned by the local Masai whose community benefits from tourism to the camp and some of the members of the community are on the staff of Richard's Camp.
The area is excellent for big game viewing and there are large numbers of plains game including all kinds of antelope, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and herds of buffalo. These in turn attract the big cats and lion, leopard and cheetah are all present in good numbers in the Masai Mara. The open nature of the terrain makes it easier to see the animals, and you can enjoy game viewing by vehicle and on foot on the private reserve, and by vehicle going further afield into the Masai Mara itself.
Richard's Camp is owned and run by Richard Roberts who has many years experience guiding and living in the Mara. His father also lived in the area so safaris run in the family. Each of the six spacious tents has proper beds, simple safari furniture and en-suite flush w.c and shower with chairs at the front of the tent where you can relax and admire the wonderful views across the Mara plains. The standard of cuisine is excellent and you can enjoy fine dining in the spacious dining tent and in good weather bush breakfasts and dinners can be enjoyed a little further afield on the private reserve.
Elephant and Pepper Camp
Elephant Pepper Camp is a step back in time but with modern comforts: evenings by the campfire and dinner under the stars are a special feature of this tented camp. This is an original bush camp, eco-friendly, committed to finding a way of life that does not harm the wilderness and revenue from the camp goes back to the local community. The Elephant Pepper Camp is put up for the season and then packed away to leave no trace behind. The homely atmosphere of this camp is part of its charm. Guests can relax with nature, no generators, no vehicles passing, no permanent structures jarring the skyline, just the sights and sounds of the bush which completely surround you.
Situated right on the northern edge of the Masai Mara Reserve, Elephant Pepper Camp is tucked away in a prime wildlife area surrounded by the Mara's ubiquitous game. The camp has eight large and spacious light canvas tents with en-suite dressing rooms, safari showers filled with hot water on request and flush toilets.
The main dining/bar mess tent offers family-style dining with a help-yourself bar. Looking from camp across the plains one can see the 'greatest game show on earth' when the annual wildebeest migration thunders past to seek new grazing in the lush savannahs of the Masai Mara.
Game drives during the day, sundowners and unwinding around the glowing embers of a campfire all add to the authenticity of a true bush experience.
The staff are friendly and welcoming, arriving in camp is like coming home. The appetising food is prepared by chefs trained by the owners' family using traditional north Italian recipes mixed with international and local favourites. Barbeques by the campfire, dinner in the mess tent or bush breakfasts on the open plain are some of the lasting memories to take home.
Saruni Lodge
Saruni Lodge is a deluxe and intimate tented lodge set in a private conservation area outside the Masai Mara National Reserve, the most famous game park in Africa. Accommodation consists of only six spectacular tented cottages for a maximum of twelve guests. The lodge is set in a remote valley at the heart of the most exciting wilderness and offers a new concept of African Safari: a real African adventure lived in harmony with the Maasai warriors coupled with high standards of style and comfort.
Designed and built by Kenyan architect Mark Glen, Saruni's tented cottages allow you to experience both the elegance and safety of permanent accommodation and the thrill of sleeping in close contact with nature. The cottages are furnished with colonial antiques, Persian carpets and African art. The atmosphere at the lodge is informal but elegant. Each cottage has hot and cold running water, 220 volts electricity, elegant Italian bathroom fittings, polished wooden floors, large bathrooms where the canvas front can be totally open to offer you an amazing "shower with a view". Décor is personalised for each cottage and from the large verandahs you can enjoy a unique view of the Mara plains or watch the many wild animals that come to our waterhole.
Your safari actually starts on your massive cedar beds, from where you can see in total privacy elephants, leopards, waterbucks, bushbacks and impalas traversing freely and peacefully on the grounds of the camp. The common dining area is called Kuro House and is a mix of old fashioned African and a more modern design.
Its huge fireplace is the focal point of life at Saruni: here guests exchange memories of the day's safaris and start to savour the exceptional cuisine, where fresh and organic products are used in an inventive way. Meals (when not served in the bush among wild animals), are served around a long table, with the noises of wildlife as entertainment. However, separate arrangements including candlelight dinners on your own veranda, are available.
A unique feature of Saruni is its collection of books and its library, the most beautiful in the African bush. With thousands of rare books and its very private location, Saruni's library is a place to meditate, to rest, to think.
About the Author
Janie Harmsen is a dedicated specialist in luxury
Masai Mara safaris
.