Kenya's Masai Mara is teeming with wildlife

MASAI MARA, Kenya — What strikes you most about the Masai Mara, a massive game reserve in Kenya, is the amount of wildlife roaming its grassy plains. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of animals dot the landscape — from elephants and lions, to cheetahs, giraffes and the always cranky wildebeest.

Flying across the Masai Mara from Nairobi or Mombasa, you get a glimpse of the stunning landscape, with the Mara River winding across the sweeping grasslands that are dotted with rolling hills. But it's not until you touch down at the remote, dusty airstrip that the beauty of the area and abundance of wildlife becomes brilliantly clear.

We were lucky enough to visit during the annual Great Migration, when more than a million wildebeest, zebras and associated predators following seasonal rains cross from Tanzania's Serengeti into the Masai Mara in search of fresh grass. The animals arrive in July and return in September and October. It is one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth.

The short drive from the airport to Kicheche Mara Camp, which provided our lodging and tours to see the animals, was itself a mini-safari. We spotted hippos lolling about in the river, giraffes strolling across the plains, and antelopes and gazelles watching curiously as we went by.

Kicheche, which houses up to 22 guests, is not your ordinary bush camp. The secluded tents have a double bed and private bathrooms with flushing toilets. Deck chairs out front allow you to soak up the view across the sweeping plains. Unfenced, the camp often finds itself hosting hungry wildlife roaming in search of food.

We were woken the next morning by camp staff — local Maasai warriors — who would deliver tea, coffee and biscuits to our tent just before sunrise. Shortly after, it was time for our first game drive of the day.

Almost everywhere in the Mara is crowded with lions, elephants, cheetahs, buffalo, antelope, giraffes, hippos, gazelles, zebras, hyenas, kudu, ostrich, jackal, impala, and wildebeest — always looking hostile and often fighting each other. Then there's the warthog, renowned for its short memory, and often seen stopping midstride and wondering — so we were assured by our guide — where it was actually going.

An added novelty for me and my wife — coming from our current base in the polluted and chaotic Thai capital, Bangkok — was the Mara's incredible tranquility, with the few noises heard often just the distant roar of a pride of lions.

Setting off in a customized four-wheel drive, our guide Julius Ronjore found a secluded spot where he laid out our continental breakfast as we watched dozens of hippos bathing in the Mara River. Behind us, several giraffes chewed at the treetops.