Maasai Mara

After spending a few days to rest and relax in Nairobi, our first official leg of the trip was Maasai Mara. The place is so beautiful and magical, the more I try to write about it, the more I feel at loss of words to explain its beauty. It is officially one of my favorite places on earth.

How to get here

We drove from Nairobi to Maasai Mara which was about 4 hours. We stopped by at Rift Valley on our way to enjoy some beautiful views and some hot Karicho Gold tea.

What we did

We spent 3 full days here and took 5 game drives. One for early morning so we were in our cars by 6:30am and one for evening at 4pm. You can take more or less depending on what you want to do. Just work with your Tour guides.

We booked our drives through Safari trails. They are really good, I highly recommend them. You have option to take an open 4x4 (no glass windows) or 4X4 open top SUV's. We opted for 4x4 open top SUV's for safety and ease. Each car can fit 6 people max along with some luggage in the trunk/boot. We were able to fit in about 6 cabin luggages in that trunk/boot.

Each game drive is about 3hours or so. There are no restrooms in the forest :) so plan your bio-breaks and water intake before the drive.

Where did we stay

We stayed at Sarova Mara Game Camp. There are many hotels available for you to choose from, majority or almost all of them offer camping (read Glamping) style tents.

They are actually like a hotel room and have everything you need but instead of a door handle, you get a little zipper :) to close your tent. We had comfortable stay here. There is hot water, clean linen, shower gel/shampoo, Tea maker and coffee/tea. The property also had a very nice buffet spread for Breakfast, Lunch and dinner. They serve complimentary tea/coffee with evening pastry between 6-7am and 3-4pm so before you head out for your game drive, enjoy the tea..

You have options to upgrade for a luxury suite which is a larger tent with beautiful views of the national park.

Day 1

Our first drive was an evening drive. We all met at the Bar for evening tea at 3:30pm with our Cameras etc. and were loaded in cars right at 4pm. The drive can be a little bumpy so if you need any extra cushion or support, carry it with you. Our tour guide provided with Water bottles.

They say Maasai Mara is one of the few reserves where you can see all of the Big 5 - Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and African buffalo.

Our day 1 was focused to see Simba (Lion) and Leopard. We had just crossed our entry gate, and we could already see many Zebras and Giraffes, we took tons of photos of course. As we drove another 30mins or so, we saw a Leopard just strolling by and it literally just walked by our car. It was a surreal experience.

As we progressed our drive, we also saw mating lions, African buffalos and elephants. On day 1 itself, we had seen 4 of the big 5 which was a major achievement for all of us.

Important to note - Please do not make noise while taking pictures of the animals. You are in their land, respect their space.

After our game drive, we got back to our hotel and showered. We headed out for the dinner buffet and enjoyed the delicious dinner. Our next drive was at 6:30am in the morning which meant we had to pick up our morning tea by 6am and be in the car by 6:25am. We wrapped earlier and went to bed..

Fun Stuff - We heard a very loud noise was if someone ws crying in middle of the night along with other animals. We realized later, it was an animal called "Tree Hyrax". This little guy looks like a rat but has a shrill voice so look out for the :).

Day 2

We were all set for our first morning drive. Morning tends to be slightly chilly so we carried our jackets and caps to protect ourselves a bit.

Goal of the day was to see the whole Pride of Lions, sleeping leopards and more elephants. As we drove more, we saw so many little Lion cubs playing and having fun (See my instagram for the

video) and it was so beautiful. We sat quietly and saw them playing and chewing their mommy's/Aunty's tail.

We finished our game drive, returned to the hotel and then had our breakfast. We all decided to rest till our lunch time.

Our evening game drive was to see more elephants, giraffes, buffaloes and Lions.

Day 3

The goal was to see Hippos in the morning and Rhinos in the evening. The hippos drive is by the lake so the drive felt the longest on this one. We spent sometime taking pictures of Hippos bathing in water and returned.

Along the drive, we saw many other animals like - Warthog (Pumba), Topi, Impala, Gazelle.

So we heard, that it is the hardest to spot a black Rhino in Maasai Mara, they like to hide. Our group actually was lucky to see it right out of our hotel while returning which competed our 3 days trip to Mara.

What we missed seeing - Tusker Elephant. We would love to see it some day in real life.

Maasai Mara - Other Activities

If you don't want to spend all the time in game drives. You do have a few more options, for example - Hot Air Balloon rides and trip to Maasai Mara village to learn more about their culture and people.

Hot air Balloon rides are expensive, they can be anywhere between 500-600 USD per person. They will take you to a strip, get to the hot air balloon and then serve hot breakfast at the end in the forest.

Maasai Mara Village visit is about 20 USD per person and you should go with your Tour guide and not wander around.