Masai Mara Game Reserve Warnings Or Dangers

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Game viewing during the day has this danger ...the sun burning your skin around the faces, neck and upper chest.
Please apply sunscreen lotion as required or keep under the shades as in picture.
:)

Rainy seasons like April to June and October November requires Anti Malarial Tablets .

You need warm clothes to brave the Mara morning. Fleeces will just about do it, wear a T shirt, a light jumper and a waterproof coat. This will be necessary if you travel in the long and short rains period. Stop you chilling and getting wet. A hat is essential. It keeps you warm in the early mornings and shaded when the sun comes up. SUNBLOCK. This is your major packing item, you are on the Equator, the sun is at its strongest. Plaster yourself with it, mainly face and arms in the morning, but if you take to the pool in the afternoon, get the highest factor you can get and waterproof. Personally, I have many an expat friend who has eyelid, nose and shoulder cancer through excessive exposure to the sun. Please cover up and wear a hat at all times.

Baboons and monkeys. Keep your windows and tents closed at all times. Monkeys are inquisitive, resourceful and bandits. I had a big male baboon in my room who ran off with my earplugs and the bill. They also got into my car at Nakuru and stole my wellies thinking there was something to eat. Keep you room closed, your car closed and keep no food in either.

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Elephants are dangerous and cause 75% of human deaths from wildlife. The british tourist Edward Harrison from Rugby, Warwickshire, was trampled to death by an elephant right outside his camp in Oloolaimutia village in August 2000. According to the guide he took pictures and was too close the elephant before it attacked him. A memorial is raised on the place off this accident.

It's not really a danger, but more of a nuisance, but as the Mara is one of Kenya's most popular parks with the largest variety of wildlife, it inevitably also attracts large numbers of visitors.

A car parked somewhere invariably attracts all other vehicles in the area, as they assume that you must be looking at something interesting, if you're stopping. Unfortunately some drivers place their clients' interests ahead of the animals' interests, and I have repeatedly seen vehicles blocking a for example a cheetah's path so that the tourists can get a good photo shot, or driving so close up to a leopard that it felt hassled and disappeared again in the bush.

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Especially during the rainy season the tracks in the Mara can be difficult to negotiate. While the main tracks are usually ok, it can be difficult to go on some of the smaller tracks that crisscross the park without risking to get stuck in a mudhole somewhere.

Also the "road" from Narok to the Mara is not in the best condition, and as you can see on the main photo, you actually have to search for the tarmac in between the potholes.

Especially people with back problems should be warned that it can be a rather long and bumpy ride!

- Wild animals are very dangerous not matter how small and/or cute
- Listen to the camp staff and guides
- Do not wonder off on your own without a guide - even to your tent. After retiring at night, don't leave your tent
- Observe animals silently and with minimum disturbance
- Never attempt to attract an animal's attention
- Do not feed or approach any wild animal on foot
- Do not use your cell phone or smoke on game drives

There are no bathrooms in the trails while on Safari. The only possible exception is the stop at the Mara river where there is a system of unisex (shared) outhouses which are primitive at best.
Take this under consideration as you will be on the road for at least 2-3 hours at a time and you should consider your personal bathroom habits against your water intake.

Give the choice, proper hydration is A MUST in Africa and all attempts at keeping yourself properly hydrated should be a requisite!

Use only bottled water to brush your teeth!
Do not rinse your mouth out with tap water. Although lodges will tell you that some of their systems utilize filtration methods to get their water, don't trust it.
A bad case of dysentary will quickly ruin your vacation! Best to be safe than sorry.

NOTE: Once inside the park, you're not allowed to leave your vehicle meaning that if you're in a group of people and you suddenly have the "urge" you will have no place to go other than your pants.
Groups look down upon a driver having to make a hurried turn around and rush back to the lodge because of ONE person's carelessness to heed such a simple warning - especially if you're in the process of watching lions feed in the wild!
You're liable to be sacrificed to the beasts! he he he.