The Mara Triangle is the southwestern part of the

Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...

National Reserve,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and is managed by the not-for-profit organisation The Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County Council. Divided from the rest of the

National Reserve by the

Mara River The Mara River is a river in that begins in Narok County (Kenya) and in ends in Mara Region (Tanzania), and lies across the migration path of ungulates in the Maasai Mara/Serengeti ecosystem. The River's Flow The Mara River basin covers a sur ...

, the Mara Triangle is less visited and less crowded, with a fairly good concentration of wildlife all year-round including the Big Five (

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

, buffalo and

rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

) and diverse plains 'game' such as

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toe ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

and many other species. The Mara Triangle is one of the areas where herds of the Great Migration enter and exit the

Maasai Mara National Reserve Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancest ...

from the

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located entirely in eastern Mara Region and north east portion of Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, making it one of the prime viewing locations for this wildlife spectacle. Crossings of the

are world-renown for being particularly dramatic, featuring in many wildlife documentaries such as

Wild Africa Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 Am ...

and

Big Cat Diary ''Big Cat Diary'', also known as ''Big Cat Week'' or ''Big Cat Live'', is a long-running nature documentary series on BBC television which followed the lives of African big cats in Kenya's Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai ...

Geography

The Mara Triangle is one third of th
Maasai Mara
National Reserve, with an area of 510 km². It has two natural borders and one political; to the southwest is the

Serengeti The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti ...

border, to the east is the

, and to the northwest is the Oldoinyio Escarpment (also called Oloololo or Siria Escarpment). The landscapes of the Mara Triangle include riverine forest, red oat grasslands, volcanic hills and the 400-metre high Oloololo Escarpment.

Tourism

The Mara Triangle is managed by the Mara Conservancy, under contract by the Trans-Mara county council, a local non profit organisation formed by the local Maasai people, and contains a number of anti-poaching units. There are two permanent lodges inside the Mara Triangle - Mara Serena and Little Governors. There are a few camps on the park's periphery which offer game drives inside the park: Angama Mara, Bateleur Camp, Kichwa Tembo
Kilima CampMara Engai Wilderness Lodge
Mara Siria, and Mpata Safari Club. it is also possible to take your own camping gear and stay at one of th
public or private campsites
and a number of seasonal mobile camps are set up to coincide with the arrival of the megaherds of the Great Migration each year. The Mara Triangle is easy to access by plane with Angama Mara Airfield, Kichwa Tembo, Mara North, Musiara and Serena airstrips, and with daily scheduled flights connecting it with other parks and reserves in Kenya, the Kenyan coast (Mombasa, Diani, Malindi) and Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta and Wilson airports). The Mara Triangle is also reachable by road.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Mara Triangle – Official website for The Mara Conservancy

Mara Triangle visitor map

Pictures taken in the Masai Mara

Conservation fees in the Mara Triangle
Narok County Parks in Kenya