The
Maasai Mara National Reserve (also known as
Masai Mara and by the locals as
The Mara) is a large
game reserve in
Narok County,
Kenya, contiguous with the
Serengeti National Park in
Mara Region,
Tanzania. It is named in honor of the
Maasai people (the ancestral inhabitants of the area) and their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara," which is Maa (Maasai language) for "spotted," an apt description for the circles of trees, scrub, savanna, and cloud shadows that mark the area.