Masai Mara Game Reserve Off The Beaten Path

Yes, this is an optional excursion from your safari package but it is quite educational. You will need to pay US$25 as an entrance fee which include a welcome dance by the Maasai warriors and a tour of the Maasai village. It is amazing how the Maasai people live because they still maintain their traditional way of life despite being exposed to foreigners (and making lots of money while at it) and modern civilisation. They still herd their cattle & sheep, wear the traditional bright red capes and live as nomads (after 9 years, they move to another location)

After the tour, the Maasai will lead you to a Maasai market where they sell a variety of souvenirs for you to take home

Something I always wanted to see, when here:
You are in the middle of nowhere (read: the big plains of the Masai Mara) and suddenly a red dot comes into your field of vision. Watching it, you realize it is a Masai - most red dots around here are ... - and he is on his bike.
Most probably he was on the way to get some water.

Now what has this to do with "off the beaten path"=?
easy. If a Masai is around, all the wild animals as lions etc just like disappear, go into hiding. That is why our driver let us get out of the car only then - and even this on wide plains with no bushes only.

There are six gates into the Masai Mar reserve, Oloololo in the north, Musiara Gate in the northeast, Talek gate in the east, Sekenani Gate a little further south on the eastern border, Ololamutiek Gate on the woutheastern stretch and Sand River Gate which takes you into Tanzania on the western border of the Mara.

Entry to the park is US$30 per person per day. You do not have to pay for the day you are leaving even if you do go for a drive in the morning, only those days which you are spending the night in or near the reserve.

Siana Springs Camp was about half an hour's drive from the Sekenani Gate - entry into the Masai Mara. The camp was located in what is known as the Dispersal Area, although not part of the Mara proper, there are no fences to seperate the animals from the reserve and the dispersal area. One day we found a herd of giraffe right outside the camp gates, and sometime we'd encounter large herds of animals on the way to the reserve gate.

It has to be said that Siana Springs itself is actually well off the beaten path. To reach this camp from Nairobi, will either include a six hour driver on fairly bumpy roads, or a 45 minute flight. I know which I prefer.

Also near the Tanzanian border is the place where the enormous herds of wildebeest cross the Mara River. Up to 1.5 million animals will cross at this point, many falling prey to the crocodiles that lurk in the river, or will fall and injure themselves from the bank.

Way down on the Tanzanian border, is the New Mara Bridge Hippo Pool, where hundreds of these docile, but aggressive animals laze in the midday sun. Groans and grunts can be heard quite some distance away, as you walk with a ranger along the opposite bank for a closer view of the numerous animals along the river.

Masai Mara reserve is named for the tribe that inhabits this area, and the river that dissects it - Mara River. The river is the lifeblood of the reserve and attracts much game, hippo and crocodile.

Running close to the Tanzanian border, it was quite a trek for us to reach this point.