Marvelous Mara

Greetings all,

It’s mid-August and I’m still cataloging photos from a seventeen-day visit to Kenya two months ago. The main reason I’m not finished is making an iMovie of the trek up Kilimanjaro lasted longer than expected. But now it’s completed and I get to work with (and experience once again) a wonderful trip highlighted by my fifth visit to the marvelous Maasai Mara Game Reserve located in south western Kenya. The Mara (roughly the size of the Northern Range in Yellowstone National Park) is the northern extension of the Serengeti ecosystem and generally hosts the “Great Migration” July through October each year — approximately 1.5 million wildebeests, 500,00 gazelles and 250,000 zebras participate. This year the migration arrived earlier than expected and it was grand but then again, the Mara is always a special place. Below are a few photos.

Grasslands of the Mara spotted with trees and clouds  (Mara means spotted) – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Tanzania and Kenya border marker – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Male Agama lizard – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Little bee-eater – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Lilac-breasted roller – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Male Southern Ground hornbills – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Female Masai ostriches – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

African elephant with calf – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

African elephants – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Masai giraffes- Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Common hippopotamus – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Plains zebras – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Plains zebras – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Common wildebeests with Plains zebras – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Common wildebeests crossing the Mara River – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Spotted hyena – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Black-backed jackals – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Lions – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Female with male lion – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Male lion – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Sunrise on the Mara – Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya