Masai Mara National Park (Kenya) > Reviews > The beauty of the Mara

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Excellent
Shopping	Excellent
Nightlife	Good
Ease of getting around	Excellent
Family Friendly	Excellent

Advantages:	learning about an amazing culture/stunning scenery/up close with the animals
Disadvantages:	food and drink where we were staying was not inclusive so rather expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I travelled to the Mara as a part of a seven day safari. I stayed at the Serena lodge for one night and spent two fantastic days here.

The beauty of the Maasai Mara is the abundance of wildlife, we went on four game drives and were not disappointed once. Here in the space of two days we marvelled at lions, lion cubs and lionesses (one would have been enough for me - I was thrilled!) we watched them view "their" territory early in the morning and sleep side by side at night.
We also saw many other wonderful animals such as a cheetah and her cubs,a leopard, meercats,hyenas, zebras, wilderbeast and many many more.
The photographic opportunities were surreal, really stunning shots!

We saw the sun set over the Acacia trees as we finished our game drives - a truly african experience.

We were taken to the mara river where we saw crocodile and hippo.
all this in two days!

We were also treated to a visit to one of the local Maasai villages where the women danced for us, the children played with little gifts we had bought for them , the men taught my husband how to make a fire -(the maasai way )and we saw inside one of their houses.

Seeing this culture I had heard so much about was amazing for me and something that I will never forget.

At night, the skies are so vast over the plains with no cloud that you can lie looking up at the stars forever! We found some ledges and laid on them looking up a the wonderful African skies.

Our accommodation at the Serena lodge was fantastic -there was even a swimming pool!
Little monkeys would come and try to take our bottles of beer away as we sat and enjoyed the African sun.

The rooms were all decorated with hand carfted maasai items, the bath and shower were lovely and refreshing and the food and drink wonderfully tasty (if a little expensive).

Their was a gift shop to cater for all , and it was fun to sit, whilst waiting for a game drive, or having been on a game drive and write what you had seen on a postcard -there was always so much to tell.

There was nightly entertainment around a "camp fire" as well as visiting maasai during the afternoons willing to answer questions relating to their culture and teach us some of their dance moves!
The men had the famous "who can jump the highest contest" whist the women encouraged you to sing and dance with them, and dress like a maasai women with her beads for the afternoon.

The only disappointment was that we had a balloon experience booked for our second day, but it was too windy to take off...I'd definately go back though -so I hope I can do that again.

Of all the places we visited, the mara was by far the favourite of myself and my husband, filled with culture, music, dance,wildlife and amazing beauty it's definately a must!