JPS Luxury Safaris

Masai Mara

The Masai Mara is the northern extension of the Greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, a vast trans-frontier landscape of open plains stretching hundreds of miles south of the Tanzania border. The enormous wildebeest and zebra migration moves freely across the border and generally swells across the Mara River into this region between July and October when its grass is at its most nutritious. Predator numbers and general game however remain highly concentrated and exciting throughout the year with constant wildlife dramas and interesting predator versus prey interactions.

The key to really enjoying the Masai Mara and its genuine beauty is to avoid the heavy tourist traffic areas, and this requires detailed planning. There are some excellent private conservancies that surround the busy main reserve and offer a much higher quality game-viewing experience by vehicle as well as offering walking safaris, without any of the off-putting crowds. Being outside the main reserve also allows guests to experience the Mara after dark on sensitively managed night drives in low impact areas. This really opens up the nocturnal world of leopard, lion, hyena and night-time foragers. During game drives, careful off-road driving in low impact areas is permitted, which makes high quality sightings much easier for the guides to deliver.

Mara North Conservancy has some lovely secluded riverine acacia valleys and wide open plains in which to really get lost with your guide. The small private camps in the conservancy offer walking, drives, sundowners and bush meals together with the easy option of heading into the main reserve to watch any potential river crossings. Offbeat Mara, Elephant Pepper Camp and Kicheche Mara North are all lovely intimate safari experiences from which to enjoy the conservancy.

The Olare Orok Conservancy certainly boasts some of the most attractive Mara landscapes, consisting of rolling hills and tree-lined streams within which to walk and find game by vehicle. Again, there is easy access to the main reserve from excellent camps such as Mara Plains Camp for any river crossings between July and October.

The Mara Naboisho Conservancy offers a different type of landscape to some of the other Mara areas, very pretty in itself, but its main redeeming feature remains the quality of its walking safaris. Big lion prides, plenty of leopard and cheetah, as well as healthy resident herbivore populations make the walking safaris from Rekero Naboisho camp very exciting.

Photo Credits

» Orient Express
» Wilderness Safaris
» Bushcamp Company
» Orion Expeditions
» Odzala Wilderness Camps
» Offbeat Safaris

» Mike Myers, Wilderness Safaris
» Tswalu Kalahari
» Nomad Tanzania
» Churchill Wild
» Lion Sands
» Loisaba Wilderness

» Singita Game Reserves
» Wolwedans
» Lewa Wilderness
» Dana Allen Wilderness Safaris