Masai Mara National Reserve

Exelent lodges. Large area lots of animals. Tends to be crouded by tourists

Much to see during a short time.

In the summer of 2011 I worked as a volunteer in Kenya. During that time I and seven other volunteers went together from a Friday to a Saturday to Masai Mara and I must say that this was one of the highlights of my six weeks long stay in Kenya. I have heard before that this national park is a good one, but still it exceeded my expectations.

After entering the gate we saw a lot of gnus and zebras together in flocks. Two of the gnus butted each other and I immediately realize that this trip would be something special. The savannah of the park was open and because of that the sight of animals is good. It only took thirty minutes before we encountered lions. Then it was also possible to drive two meters close to them and I could shoot really nice pictures. During the time in Masai Mara we came to see many lions; flocks of lions, young lions, a lion eating gnu and even grown-up lion males.

However, we came to see a lot more and at the end we had seen almost all animals that one can imagine to see when going for safari. There was only exception; the rhino. Rhinos are the rarest animals in Masai Mara, but it happens quite frequently that they are observed in the park. Consequently, we had bad luck with respect to that, but because everything else was so good I am more than satisfied with the wildlife in the park. There is also a river, where we could see a lot of hippos and crocodiles. At some places it was possible to leave the vehicle and when we ate in free air, a baboon came and wanted our food. The driver did not let him come to close, but I went against his will quite close to the monkey anyway and this was really an amazing encountering. I also liked that we could face cheetahs and some leopards sitting in top of trees, but as I mentioned we saw every kind of animal except the rhino. As implied we were for three days in the park and I would recommend not be there less than that, because the park is huge and there is so much to see. I am interested in photographing and I must admit that the best photos ever taken by my come from this trip.

We lived in Entumoto Safari Camp. The camp consisted of sturdy tents, each suited for two people. I had no problems sleeping there, but I must say that the food was not good. One day we got Spaghetti Bolognese and unfortunately it only consisted of ground beef and water. I had expected some dessert, but we never got any. What I liked about the accommodation is that the camp is guarded by Maasai people. During first evening we sat around a camp fire and heard their stories and experiences of life. We also heard a lion roaring quickly the Maasai guards started to see what was going on. The last day we also got invited to visit a Maasai village. The guards took us there. I am not against paying 1000 Kenyan shilling for that, but I did not like that they did not tell us that before they started to take us there, but first at the entrance. There was also a market in the village, but sadly the same low quality souvenirs as anywhere else in the country were sold there. I think that the Maasais can be seen as real Maasais, but the thing is just that their presence in the park has become to commercialized.

The price for the trip was good and everything was included in the price. Unfortunately, the contact person from the travel company was rude. She told us that everything was included in the price, but when the driver noticed that the entrance fee was increased, we became forced to compensate for that. When we drove home, the driver stopped by the road and bought a sack of dried leaves as fuel for his stove at home. I found it unprofessional doing personal errands when being on duty.

To summarize I am very satisfied with the wildlife experiences of Masai Mara. I could really recommend other tourists to go to this park. Concerning food and accommodation I am not complaining, because we as volunteers chose a low-budget option and we got what we paid for. If you would like to also experience good food during the evenings and good accommodation, which I actually think could be a pleasant part of a safari trip, I would like to recommend you to investigate the offerings of hotels in the park or other camps.

In October, there were very few animals around. Migration had already ended. However, the amount of lions we saw was very big, and we had the opportunity to watch how they behaved. The fact than migration wasn't on, reduced the number of vehicles around and we could see some lions and other animals alone.

Beatiful Park but watch out for corruption

We flew into Masai Mara and were held up for some time from entering the park as the agents said the network was down and they could not verify our pre-paid fees. When our guides refused to pay the bribe the network suddenly was back up and we were allowed entry. Almost immediately upon entry we were pulled over by a "ranger" who stated we had driven in an area where we should not have. Even though there were at least 7 other vehichles doing the same thing and one that was still stuck in mud, we were the only ones stopped. Our guide was threatened that we could lose our access to the park for the entire time we were to be there (2 days). In the end our guide paid the bribe and we were on our way. I stongly suspect that the officals at the airport contacted the ranger to extract our "Fee" since we hadn't paid the bribe at the airport.

We stayed in 3 other parks and never saw anything close to this corruption. It made us not feel safe in this park. While the park itself was amazing I would not go back to this park and would advise anyone wanting to visit Masai Mara to reconsider or just know that there will be "Fees" to pay.

Being a popular tourist destination it’s hard to enjoy the sightings as there are marred by the dozens of other vehicles maneuvering for the best shot. This takes away from the wild element unless you’re the first vehicle to spot the animal. But the changing landscapes are breathtaking, especially for sundowners or morning coffee in the bush.

Use to be fantastic for wildlife, now saturated with noisy disrespectful tourists vehicles

I first came to the Masai Mara 13 years ago, where it hooked me for life on wildlife and photography. Subsequent visits over the years, this was the forth, has shown a continuing decline in wildlife and a explosive increase of vehicles and the type of tourist that has little or no respect for the animals or landscape. Every spotting was swamped in minutes and upwards of 40 vehicles corralling the animal. Stressed animals, disrupted hunts and animals forced off rest-ups where common, and the norm. I would be surprised if you saw a hunt these days by any of the much rarer cheetah or leopard.

Parts of the reserve now seem devoid of wildlife, Rhino Ridge, Paradise Plains, Talek river, this was strange to us as these areas have always been good for wildlife. This could be seasonal but our guide, very experienced and many years in the Mara as a guide, indicated that it was rare to bother going over to these areas now unless a migration crossing was happening. So it sounds liked something else is happening to the wildlife. He indicated that a lot of resident wildlife is heading to the surrounding conservancies for a more peaceful life.

The lion population is still very good. Lions being lions spend most of the time sleeping so easier to find, although again if they had cubs they tended to hide much deeper in the bush.

The landscape is still beautiful and with the right timing you can get a vista without the ubiquitous white top safari van marring the view (why can't these trucks be in muted colors that blend?)

One of most my most loved parts of Africa seems to have become a victim of its own success, hopefully more controlled access and a cap on new developments will be implemented soon.

Too many vehicles chasing the same animals - almost quasi chaos

Fascinating to be there and the animals were all present, but not so easy to see given the size and also the sad state of our vehicle. The driver was young and followed the herds, so we missed out on cheetahs and rhinos, but still we did see a great deal in the short time we had.

Was expecting to see the wildebeast migration, but they were very late. Without that volume of animals it was actually very empty. I've just seen better wildlife in other parks.

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