Kenya · East Africa
The Masai Mara.
The Mara is Kenya's flagship reserve and the northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem, which is why the migration reaches it.
Photo David Clode / Unsplash
The distinction to understand is between the national reserve, which is public and can be busy at a sighting, and the private conservancies that ring it — Mara North, Naboisho, Olare Motorogi and others — where vehicle numbers are capped, off-road driving and night drives are permitted, and walking is possible.
Most well-built Mara itineraries use a conservancy for the quality of the experience and enter the reserve for the river crossings when the herds are there.
What is here
Journeys through Kenya
Elsewhere in Kenya
- Laikipia and the northern conservanciesLaikipia is a plateau of private and community conservancies north of Mount Kenya, and the centre of Kenyan rhino conservation.
- Amboseli and the southern parksAmboseli is elephant country beneath Kilimanjaro, and gives the single most recognisable view in East Africa.
- The Kenyan coastThe coast is Swahili rather than safari — a distinct culture, architecture and cuisine along the Indian Ocean.
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