English: Hot air balloon safari early in the morning. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve in Kenya named in honor of the Maasai people (the ancestral inhabitants of the area). It is globally famous for its exceptional population of lions, leopards and cheetahs. The wildebeest are the dominant inhabitants of the Maasai Mara, and their numbers are estimated in the millions. Around July of each year, these ungainly animals migrate north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, and return to the south around October. The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural events worldwide, involving some 1.300.000 wildebeest, 500.000 Thomson's gazelles, 97.000 Topi, 18.000 elands, and 200.000 zebras. These migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by hungry predators, most notably lions and hyena. When visiting the Maasai Mara you are likely to see the famous Big Five: lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo