Meet the finest of the wild in the wild, where the law of the jungle is literally show-cased in an open environment. Masai Mara is the place to view the famed migration of East Africa's wildebeests -- and other wild beasts. It is here that the world converges between July to September to watch wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, and others trek all the way from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, to Kenya’s Masai Mara. The Mara is the best place to watch this spectacle as the crocodiles, wildebeests, zebras all jostle for space, each having its own motive. While the wildebeest is attracted to sweet and aromatic grass across the river, and the zebra too is being enticed by beautiful shrubs and grasses across, the lion, the cheetah, the leopard and the crocodiles all are on a hunting mission.
The Masai Mara National Reserve is located in Kenya, Narok District under the custody of Narok County Council. It is about 270 kilometers from Nairobi and it is named after the native tribe – the Maasai –, and the Mara River which dissects the reserve. The Narok County Council Website refers it as the “Seventh Wonder of The World” for its wildebeest migration.
THE MIGRATION
Think of the migration as an epic film. When the movie begins to cast, blood spills all over the place as some animals lives end in the process of crossing the river. The crocodile pulls its catch underwater until it drowns, the cheetah grabs one for the day and the lion is not left behind. The migratory cycle normally takes place annually when the wildebeests and other animals move from North Tanzania’s Serengeti to Kenya’s Maasai Mara in search of grass and water. The Serengeti National Park hosts these animals for most of the year until mid June when the migration to Kenya begins. The animals make sure they arrive in Maasai Mara National Reserve when the grass is at its peak and when the lush vegetation seems to be the perfect place for grazing, browsing and shelter.
The migratory cycle is inherent in these animals. The wildebeest is commonly referred to as gnu and is feted as the clown of the Savannah. It has a structure bordering on a young horse with heavily built frontal shoulders and chest and a slender posterior. It has slender legs, shadowy long fur that flows on its peculiarly large head, front shoulders and inwardly curved horns.
The sheer numbers of wildebeests make this migration one of nature's most popular and famed wildlife spectacles. Estimated populations of one million wildebeests participate in the migration annually. Thousands of them die from drowning, stampede, and predation in every annual migration. But even this annual carnage is not enough to reduce their numbers due to a high birthrate. It is estimated that about four hundred thousand births take place a year.
VANTAGE POINT
The Mara River crossings are the best vantage points to observe the migration. The wildebeests will gather hesitantly in huge numbers on the river banks unsure of when to start crossing. The other wildebeests behind the front line keep amassing into huge numbers until the pressure on the front is too much to stand. They finally take the jump and when they do, even the patiently waiting crocodiles scamper and scatter to the flanks. The fear of being trampled by the millions of wildebeests is too real for even a crocodile to risk. Thousands upon thousands make parachute-like leaps into the water.
Kenya's Masai Mara Game Reserve was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a poll of experts conducted by ABC Television's Good Morning America. The six other new wonders of the world according to ABC are Tibet's Potala Palace; the Old Jerusalem City, the Polar Ice Caps in Iceland; the underwater Hawaiian Island's Monument, the Internet , and the Mayan Pyramids in Cancun, Mexico.
Alexander Eyong - I am a dedicated writer on humanitarian issues and poverty alleviation strategies.
