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Field notes from the guides, naturalists and hosts who live and work inside Kenya's Maasai Mara. We write about the wildlife at our doorstep, the people and culture of the Mara, and the daily work of protecting one of Africa's last great wildernesses.

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Tourism and tradition: how visiting Maasai villages create awareness
Ilora experiences
Tourism and tradition: how visiting Maasai villages create awareness
Why the Maasai are the reason the Mara ecosystem still functions, what a village visit funds, and how…
Nov 2025 8 min read
The Life and Legacy of Scarface Lion: Africa’s most famous predator
Masai Mara
The Life and Legacy of Scarface Lion: Africa’s most famous predator
The life of the Mara's most photographed lion, the Four Musketeers coalition he ran with, and the widely…
Nov 2025 3 min read
The art of Maasai Beadwork: Stories told through colours and patterns
Ilora experiences
The art of Maasai Beadwork: Stories told through colours and patterns
Maasai beadwork is a written language, readable across a field. What the colours mean, how the pieces are…
Nov 2025 4 min read
A day in the life of a Maasai warrior: Traditions, Duties and Courage
Masai Mara
A day in the life of a Maasai warrior: Traditions, Duties and Courage
How a Maasai boy becomes a moran, what warriorhood involves day to day, and how the same tracking…
Nov 2025 8 min read
A village visit in the Masai Mara: what actually happens
Ilora experiences
A village visit in the Masai Mara: what actually happens
What actually happens on a Maasai village visit: arriving, the homes, cattle and wealth, beadwork, the adumu, and…
Sep 2025 4 min read
A family safari in the Masai Mara: is it safe, and is it worth it
Conservation  ·  Safari planning
A family safari in the Masai Mara: is it safe, and is it worth it
Two straight answers for parents: why the Mara works for a nine-year-old and a seventy-year-old on the same…
Jul 2025 8 min read
Why the Masai Mara belongs on the list
Ilora experiences
Why the Masai Mara belongs on the list
Game density, the Great Migration, the country and the Maasai. What justifies a Masai Mara safari, and the…
Jul 2025 7 min read
Why a camp inside the reserve changes your photography
Masai Mara  ·  Safari planning
Why a camp inside the reserve changes your photography
Photography is a problem of time and light, and both are decided by where you sleep. Plus an…
Jun 2025 4 min read
What the animals of the Mara actually eat
Masai Mara
What the animals of the Mara actually eat
Predators, grazers and browsers, and how diet decides where every animal in the Masai Mara is found. A…
May 2025 5 min read
Trees found in the Masai Mara
Masai Mara
Trees found in the Masai Mara
The Mara is named after its trees. Umbrella thorn, whistling thorn, yellow fever, sausage tree and croton, and…
May 2025 5 min read
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