The Mara Triangle is my preferred area of the Masai Mara to visit mainly because of the controls the rangers put in play to manage the tourist density and behaviour. The Mara Conservancy has been managing the Mara Triangle for 25 years and have done an excellent job.

“Life is full of surprises and and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns. Just find your next adventure-do it well, enjoy it-and then, not now, think about what comes next.” ~ Condoleezza Rice

There are many benefits to visiting the Triangle late in October. Firstly, the tourist density is much reduced. The timing and size of wildebeest and zebra migration depends largely on the timing of the rains in the Mara and Serengeti. Some years there is plenty of wildlife in the Triangle at this time and other years most of the migrating mammals have already moved down into the Serengeti.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ Economic Survey 2026: Masai Mara visitor numbers fell from 419 829 in 2023 to 343 000 in 2024 — and then again to 213 300 in 2025. The Mara has lost roughly half its visitor base in two years. Meanwhile, Amboseli — which kept its fees substantially lower — saw visitor numbers rise from approximately 245 000 to 295 000 over the same period. For the first time in years, Amboseli drew more visitors than the Mara in 2025. The Masai Mara lifted its non resident tourist entrance fee during the peak July-December period from $80 per person per day to $200 per person per day. This hefty increase had a strong dilution effect on the tourist numbers.

The tourist numbers in the Mara Triangle have also been declining. The Mara Conservancy Archives show a total of 171 478 visitors in FY2023, the highest on record, including 94 901 non-resident adults. There were a total of 129 410 visitors, down 25% from FY2024, including 76 905 non-resident adults. In FY2026 to June 2026, 137 278 visitors entered the Triangle. The non resident visitor density varies considerably between low and peak season months due to the northern hemisphere holiday season from June to September. In February 2025, 4 937 non resident visitors entered the Mara Triangle. The numbers rose to 22 344 in July and 16 718 in August 2025 easing to 7 023 by October 2025. Source: Mara Conservancy.

“…there are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths.” ~ Mark Nepo

When most of the migratory mammals have moved south the predators have to work much harder to feed themselves and their families so, in my opinion, the predator photographic potential is higher. An additional benefit for wildlife photographers is that the grass is short on the plains at this time.

A major benefit for wildlife photographers was initiated in 2026 when the Mara Conservancy began enforcing controlled off-roading in the area along the border and in clearly designated areas in the southern section of the Triangle. Drivers are only be allowed off-road in this area if the vehicle has been fitted with a Masai Mara tracker, they are authorised and supervised by one of the Mara Conservancy’s anti-harassment teams and off-road vehicles are compelled to follow normal Park Rules on crowding and respecting wildlife sapce.

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” ~ Rumi

I have regularly stayed at Wild Eye’s Enkushui safari camp in the south of the Mara Triangle. The camp is located on the west bank of the Mara river just over a kilometre up river from the Purungat gate and bridge crossing. The camp’s location ensures that the camp residents are the first into the southern part of the Triangle at 6h00 and the last back to camp at 19h00.

“Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

When we start out on our morning game drive, it is usually just before the sun has risen over Outlook hill. There are often clouds lingering from the rains the evening before. These clouds provide texture and the sunrise colours set the sky alight presenting stunning colours.

There are two main options when leaving camp, either follow the Bottom River road north and this journey takes us past the crossing areas such as Peninsula, Fig tree, Maja Ma Chafu, Miti Moja as far as BBC. The alternative is that we drive west along Main road and travel south west on the Olare road which takes us onto the plains below the inselbergs along the Mara-Serengeti border. On occasion we see so much within a kilometre or two of the camp that we do not travel far at all.

The predators are usually moving around in the southern part of the Triangle in the early morning just after sunrise when the light is soft, ideal for our wildlife photography. There are usually lions on the west bank of the Mara river between Peninsula crossing and Miti Moja crossing. The Olare road is also very productive in terms of seeing lions and cheetah. Leopards can also be seen along the luggas ( natural drainage channels).

I took this image to show how the enormous size of this Nile crocodile. This is the Peninsula crossing point on the Mara river. I have seen one of these crocodiles with an adult zebra’s head in its jaws and it looked like a small foal’s head because of the massive size of the croc.

“A river doesn’t just carry water, it carries life.” ~ Amit Kalantri

Another benefit to visiting the Triangle outside the wildebeest migration, and before the short rains, is that there is a chance of seen unusual crossings such as a crossing of a breeding herd of elephants, a journey of giraffe and maybe even a male lion who has spotted his brothers or interesting females on the other side of the river.

The gradient of the Mara River as it flows through the Mara Triangle is very gentle, averaging roughly 0.5 to 1.5 meters per kilometre. With the gradient being so low, the water moves sluggishly and meanders in wide loops through the Triangle, creating deep pools and sediment-rich banks that are famous for the dramatic wildebeest river crossings. The Mara river has a flow rate that varies from 2 cubic metres per second (cumecs) in the dry season to average 42 cumecs across the year and peak in the rainy season at around 300cumecs. Compare that to the Zambezi river flow rate which peaks around 3 000cumecs in the peak during the rainy season.

“Rivers are places that renew our spirit, connect us with our past, and link us directly with the flow and rhythm of the natural world.” ~ Ted Turner

A large pride of lions can struggle to feed itself when most of the wildlife has migrated south into Serengeti. It is times like this that lions adapt to hunting warthog. Needless to say one or two warthogs will not go far among a large pride. If the male lions are around the pride gets very little of the warthog that the lionesses caught.

Hot air balloons usually take off between 6h00 and 6h30 and fly for about an hour. So any time you see an image with a hot air balloon in it you know it was more than likely taken between 6h30 and 7h30. The early morning air is cooler and the hot air balloon burner warms up the air inside the balloon creating the buoyancy.

“Life is a series of moments floating away like balloons in the sky.” ~ Unknown

I have always found it incongruent to see a Sausage tree standing alone in a vast area above the inselbergs in the southern section of the Mara Triangle. This is a favourite morning picnic site. When having breakfast you can be visited by buffalo, zebra and wildebeest.

In Swahili, the word ‘mara’ means ‘spotted land’. The grass plains are dotted with hundreds of Balanites. The Balanites aegyptiaca (desert date) is mostly seen in the plains of the Triangle. This species has long, straight green or yellow spines arranged in spirals.

In the open grassland plain along the southern border of the Mara Triangle with Serengeti below the ranges of inselbergs we often see lion, cheetah and elephants. Depending on the time of day, the skies can provide incredible backdrops for landscape images with elephants, balanites and inselbergs.

A typical scene of safari vehicle that had stopped for breakfast among the balanites. The image was taken looking west close to the Serengeti border with the Oloololo escarpment in the distance.

This an example of the vast vistas that your eyes can soar over. At times the grasslands are dotted with enormous numbers of wildlife. This can be combined in the afternoons with cumulus cloud buildup. The combinations can create wonderfully moody landscapes.

Having seen the large wildebeest Mara crossings before I prefer to visit the Mara Triangle at the end of the peak season in October just before the short rains when the tourist numbers have reduced substantially. The short rains usually last from November to December each year. This is a lighter and less disruptive rainy period than the long rains in March to May. It is characterised by warm temperatures and brief afternoon or evening showers that quickly clear up, reviving the savannah into lush green pastures.

“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Mara Triangle is about 150 kilometres south of the equator so sunset typically occurs between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM throughout the year. Dusk is quite short near the equator, but in October the cumulus cloud build up regularly create dramatic skies with oranges, yellows and apricot colours blazing through gaps in the clouds.

I hope these images have given you a sense of what I mean by big skies and vast vistas. I have been travelling back to the Mara Triangle for many years. Somehow the experience is always different. The variety of what you see always changes. The weather is different and I have never seen the same type of sightings in the same place other than at the Mara crossing points. Sometimes the tail end of the migration is late and you get to incredible crossings in October. Other times the migration moved on three to four weeks earlier but you many be lucky enough to see an elephant herd crossing or a journey of giraffe crossing the river. There are times when the really large Mara nile crocodiles come out of the water to warm themselves and you get to see just incredibly large these monsters can be.

“We live in a world which in some respects is mysterious; things can be experienced which remain inexplicable; not everything which happens can be anticipated. The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole. For me the world has from the beginning been infinite and ungraspable.” ~ Carl Jung

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike