As the landrover trundles to a stop, you reach through the roof and perch there, binoculars in hand. You see pale yellow plains across which wildebeest move, their grunts reaching you on the warm breeze. The wind whistles in the thorn trees. On a solitary acacia a vulture ruffles its feathers. Above are endless skies to match the endless horizons. This must be the Masai Mara, home to the greatest animal show on earth.
The Masai Mara covers an area of 1,800 square kilometres and is probably one of the most famous reserves in Africa. It is certainly one of the most prolific in game. The fertile grasslands, dominated by russet oat grass, are rich feeding grounds and each year millions of wildebeest, thousands of zebra, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, eland and impala swarm into the area. Resident game, such as buffalo, topi and giraffe, join them. Predators are never far away. Lion ambush from the thickets, cheetah sit atop termite mounds and leopards skulk in the trees, waiting for dark.
Bisecting the plains, the Mara, Talek and Sand Rivers are flanked by riverine forest. Troops of olive baboons and vervet monkeys screech in the fig trees, green pigeons and casqued hornbills feed on the ripe fruit and elephant come to the water to drink. There are hippo pods and crocodiles, flickering eyes watching from muddy banks. At night, the clans of spotted hyena lope across the plains, their eerie howls lingering in the air.