A large number of mammals call the Mara their home. This page has a small sample of what you might see on a trip to the Mara. It includes wildebeests crossing the Mara river, hippos, rhinos, fighting zebra, beautiful giraffe, Topi young and adult, an actual birth of a Topi, and many graceful gazelle.

The large expanse of the Mara give you a nice perspective

Its this guy right here, called a wildebeest, that is the heart of the annual migration of plains animals in the Mara

When the wildebeest come to the rivers edge you never know what will happen. They might take a drink, just turn around and leave, cross in an orderly fashion, or cross in a chaotic manner.

When they do cross it might be in an orderly fashion


Then again, it might not. Some of them get scattered down river and have to swim in deep water

Even the zebra got disoriented sometimes


The black and white stripes of the common zebra give a nice constrast for photography



Male zebra in a real fight for dominance






Grevy zebra found in the central part of Kenya at the Lewa camp we stayed at. Their strips are much more narrow, they have a brown muzzle, and they are larger than the common zebra.

Notice the wound on the back of his left leg?


Male Impala looking over his territory

Impala male feeding and also marking his territory

His harem of females

Males prepared to fight for the right to take over the harem

Closeup of a Thompson’s gazelle

Herds of cape buffalo are a common sight. This old male had been pushed out of the herd, and is not an animal to approach.

Even though they might be comical looking, hippos kill more people in Africa than any other mammal





There are only a few rhino left in the Mara. We saw this one just after we saw the mating lions.

The majority of rhino we saw are in protected conservation areas like Lewa. This is a white rhino. Black rhino are quite rare. I went on a black rhino trip in Zimbabwe. Click here if you want to learn more about it.


This youngster was being hand raised at Lewa

Topi are interesting creatures, and the young sometimes frolic right in front of you






We got real lucky one day and actually got to see the birth of a topi. From the time it started until the time the calf walked away with its mother was 30 minutes. If it wasn’t for our guide we would never have noticed this topi was acting different.

The foot is starting to come out


The face is in full view

You can see the face and both front feet

She decided to lay down for the final push

And started cleaning it right away

His first look at the world was us- we feel priviledged!


He soon got on his wobbly feet and attempted to stand several times over 10 minutes. He was not very successful at first.


When he caught the hang of it off he went with his mother

We had plenty of chances to get some good giraffe shots, especiallly at Ol Seki camp

They are skittish, but sometimes they let you come a little closer.

At Lewa we got the closest because we were on horseback. These are reticulated giraffe. Compare their pattern to the Masai giraffe above.


Elephants are numerous in Kenya, especially since hunting has been banned since 1977. This female at the back is walking her family right past us one morning just after we ate our breakfast in the Mara.