BIG CAT ENCOUNTERS IN THE MAASAI MARA
Renowned for its big cats, balloon safaris and massive herds of migrating wildebeest, the Mara has become Kenya’s foremost big-game stronghold.
WHY IT’S SPECIAL
The BBC’s Natural History Unit chose the Mara for its TV documentary series Big Cat Diary because the lions, leopards and cheetahs have become habituated to tourist vehicles and are easier to find and photograph on the open savannah than anywhere else. Add wildebeest and zebra herds on migration from the adjoining Serengeti National Park and it’s easy to see why the Mara has been described as the greatest piece of wildlife real estate in Africa.
The climate is also bliss, like a perfect English summer’s day – because, while the Mara is only 100 miles from the Equator, it lies 5,000ft above sea level. To this, add the rolling ridges and blue faraway hills, the endless grasslands and desert date trees with their parasol silhouettes, the cool riverside forests and outline of the Siria Escarpment
reaching down to the Serengeti. This is the stuff safari dreams are made of.
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET… Watching the million-strong herds of wildebeest and zebra storming across the Mara river in search of fresh grazing in their dry-season refuge; looking for leopards in the dappled woodlands; watching cheetahs hunting on the open plains in the golden hour before dusk; and listening to formidable lion prides from the comfort of your tent.
INSIDER TIP
An early-morning balloon flight over the Mara is like going to heaven in a picnic hamper. Drifting over the dewdrenched grasslands gives you a vulture’s eye view of the savannah and its teeming wildlife before a champagne breakfast served in the bush.
HOW TO DO IT
Live the Out of Africa dream at the luxurious, 1920s-style Cottar’s Camp, in its own exclusive conservancy overlooking the Serengeti. The Cottar family has run safaris at the camp since 1919, and employs more gold-standard guides than anyone else in Kenya. Yellow Zebra Safaris (020 8547 2305, yellowzebrasafaris.com) can arrange holidays at Cottar’s Camp from £4,825 per person based on two sharing, with local and international flights and one night at the Crowne Plaza in Nairobi included. A balloon safari, at an additional £380 per person, is a must.