Masai Mara

Established in 1961, some 275 km (171 mi) southwest of Nairobi, it covers an area of 1,800 square km (702 square mi) and is demarcated by the Serengeti in the south, the Loita Hills in the east, the Esoit Oloololo escarpment in the west, and the Itong Hills in the north. It's also part of the Serengeti ecosystem that extends from northern Tanzania into southern Kenya. This ecosystem of well-watered plains supports one of the largest populations of numerous animal groups on earth. There are more than 2 million wildebeest; 250,000 Thompson's gazelle (arguably the prettiest of all antelope); 200,000 zebra; 70,000 impala; 30,000 Grant's gazelle; and a huge number of predators including lion (the largest population in Kenya), leopard, cheetah, jackal, hyena, and numerous smaller ones. There are also more than 450 species of birds, including 57 species of raptors. Every January, one of the greatest natural shows on earth begins, when the wildebeest start to move in a time-honored clockwise movement around the Serengeti toward the new fresh grazing in the Masai Mara. It's an unforgettable experience.

Local communities, not Kenya Wildlife Services, manage this reserve giving the Masai—who are pastoralists—the rights to graze their stock on the perimeters of the reserve. Although stock is lost to wild animals, the Masai manage to coexist peacefully with the game, and rely only on their own cattle for subsistence; in Masai communities wealth is measured by the number of cattle owned. You'll see the Masai's manyattas—beehive huts made of mud and cow dung—at the entrance to the reserve. The striking appearance of the Masai, with their red robes and ochre-dyed and braided hair, is one of the abiding images of Kenya. Many lodges offer visits to traditional Masai villages and homes, and although inevitably, these visits have become touristy, they are still well worth doing. Witnessing the dramatic ipid, a dance in which the moran (warriors) take turns in leaping high into the air, will keep your camera clicking nonstop. However, the future fate of the instantly recognizable Masai is inextricably bound up with the growth of tourism—it seems certain that their unique nomadic way of life in which they seasonally followed the new grazing with their flocks will be forced to change.

The Masai people named the reserve mara, which means spotted, but whether mara applies to the landscape, which is spotted with vegetation, or the hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and other game that spot the landscape, is anybody's guess. When you go, let us know what you think.