Mara Triangle vs Greater Mara: Which Side to Choose

Entice Africa October 27, 2026Destinations, Experiences & East Africa Travel

The Mara Triangle is the south-western part of the Masai Mara National Reserve, on the west side of the Mara River, and a not-for-profit body called the Mara Conservancy runs it. The rest of the reserve, the Narok side, is run by Narok County Government, and the conservancies are separate areas of leased Maasai land around it. Each has its own managers, ticket and rules, and our complete Masai Mara safari guide shows how the pieces fit together.

The short answer: choose the Triangle if you want a part of the reserve with a published limit of five vehicles at a sighting; choose the Narok side for the larger share of the reserve, roughly two thirds of it; choose a conservancy if you want night drives, guided walks or camps with strict bed limits. The sections below set out the trade-offs.

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Short on time? Our 3-Day Maasai Mara Roar & Roam Safari starts from USD 1,420 per person, and you can tell the planner which side you prefer. Prices depend on season, group size and lodge choice.

At a glance: Narok side, Mara Triangle and conservancies

What “Greater Mara” actually covers

The reserve covers 1,510 sq km in Narok County, south-western Kenya, and it is contiguous with Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. The Mara Predator Conservation Programme defines the Greater Mara Ecosystem as a study area of more than 3,000 sq km that takes in the reserve, the Triangle and 16 conservancies or conservation areas. That is a research definition, not an administrative boundary.

The number of conservancies depends on who is counting. Wikipedia’s list names 14, while the Mara Conservancies association lists 22 conservancies or conservation areas across the wider Mara and nearby areas. “More than a dozen” is the honest answer. The Mara River ties it together: it is 395 km long, rises on the Mau Escarpment, runs through the reserve into Tanzania and drains to Lake Victoria, and the Sand and Talek rivers are its tributaries inside the reserve. For gates, rivers and airstrips on one page, see our Masai Mara map.

The Narok side of the reserve

This is the part of the reserve outside the Triangle, and Narok County Government runs it. It follows the standard reserve rules: no off-road driving, no night drives and no walking safaris, with wildlife viewing from sunrise to sunset on marked tracks. Sekenani Gate is the Narok-side gate that the Mara Conservancy’s fee page names when it tells Triangle guests where not to pay.

Crowds on the Narok side

We found no published cap on vehicles per sighting for the Narok side, unlike the Triangle and Mara North. Ask your camp what is usual in your dates. For context, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics figures reported by Business Daily put Maasai Mara visitors at 420,000 in 2023, 343,000 in 2024 and 213,000 in 2025. Those counts cover the whole Mara, not one side.

The Narok side suits you if you want the larger part of the reserve or the camp you like sits there. A night drive or a walk will mean adding a conservancy stay.

The Mara Triangle

What it is

The Triangle is about 510 sq km, with the Oloololo Escarpment, described as 400 m high, along its north-western edge. The Mara Conservancy manages it under contract on behalf of the county government. Its own website says it has arrested about 4,500 poachers, a figure we have not checked. The Conservancy also sets a five-vehicle limit at each sighting.

Tickets, ID and payment

The Triangle sells its own 12-hour ticket, valid from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm whatever time you enter. You can buy it online with a Visa card through KAPS, the e-ticketing company, or on arrival from authorised KAPS staff at Purungat Bridge, Oloololo Gate or Serena Airstrip. The Conservancy says cash is not accepted, while M-Pesa and credit cards are.

Bring a passport, national ID or, for citizen children, a birth certificate, because driver’s licences are not accepted. Without suitable ID you pay the non-resident rate. If you are staying inside the Triangle, the Conservancy says to pay only at Purungat Bridge and not at Sekenani Gate.

Camping and who it suits

Camping inside the Triangle is booked separately, and campers must hire two rangers for night security. The Triangle suits you if a published sighting limit and a not-for-profit manager matter to you.

The conservancies

Landowners lease their land for tourism and receive a lease fee or a share of profits, and in some conservancies Maasai herders still graze cattle, so you may see cattle alongside wildlife. Self-driving is not permitted in any conservancy, and only guests staying at member camps may game drive in one, according to Brilliant Africa. Night drives, off-road driving and walking safaris are offered in conservancies but not in the reserve. Walks are led by an armed ranger.

Mara North publishes its own etiquette rules, which show how strict a conservancy can be:

• No more than 5 vehicles at a sighting; extra vehicles wait 100 metres away.
• Each vehicle has 10 minutes at a sighting before giving way.
• Stay on the track, except to view wildlife; for the Big Five a vehicle may leave the track by the shortest route and keep 20 metres from the animal.
• Speed limit 40 kph, and guests stay in the vehicle near wildlife.
• Night drives only in designated areas, with red filters, back at camp by 10:00 pm.

Rules differ between conservancies, so ask your camp for its own. Africa Geographic puts bed density at typically one tent for every 350 to 700 hectares, and Brilliant Africa says some conservancies restrict camps to 12 tents. Our guide to the Mara conservancies compares them one by one, and our page on Masai Mara conservancy camps covers night drives and walks. Ask for the conservancy fee to be its own line in your quote.

Gates, bridges and river crossings

The access points we can name with confidence are Sekenani Gate on the Narok side, and Purungat Bridge, Oloololo Gate and Serena Airstrip on the Triangle side. We have not listed individual wildebeest crossing points because they shift from year to year and a fixed list would mislead you. Ask your planner what is being reported for your dates.

Fees and tickets in October 2026

Narok County sets the reserve fees. The Mara Conservancy’s 2023 notice used the same non-resident figures for the Triangle, but its current fee tables could not be read as text, so check the Triangle amounts with the Mara Conservancy.

A fee is charged for each day you are in the reserve. On the morning you leave by road, Kenyans.co.ke says to exit by 10 am or pay again, while Governors’ Camp says guests leaving after 11 am pay a further full-day fee; guests on the morning flight schedule are not affected. A balloon flight inside the Triangle or a conservancy on your departure morning also needs a full-day park fee. Our optional Masai Mara hot-air balloon flight is USD 550 per person.

These figures come from Business Daily, Kenyans.co.ke, the Mara Conservancy and camp notices, not a Narok County document, so treat them as a guide. Fees last verified: October 2026.

Which side for which month

The fee seasons are the one calendar fact we can state firmly. Herd positions change from year to year, so nobody can promise a side for a given week.

Which side for which traveller

Frequently asked questions

Can I visit the Mara Triangle and the Narok side on the same trip?

Both are parts of the same reserve, but the Triangle sells its own ticket, so expect to need the right ticket for each side. Ask for both to be shown in your quote.

Is the Mara Triangle cheaper than the Narok side?

Not on the published non-resident figures. The Mara Conservancy’s 2023 notice used USD 100 and USD 200 for a 12-hour ticket, the same as Narok. Check current amounts with the Conservancy.

Can I self-drive in the conservancies?

No. Self-driving is not permitted in any of them, and only guests staying at member camps may game drive in a conservancy.

Where can I do night drives and walking safaris?

In the conservancies. Night drives, off-road driving and walking safaris are not permitted in the reserve, and that includes the Triangle.

Do I need cash at the gate?

For the Triangle, the Mara Conservancy says cash is not accepted but M-Pesa and credit cards are. We could not confirm the cash rule at Narok-side gates, so ask your operator.

How many conservancies are there?

It depends on who counts. Wikipedia names 14, the Mara Predator Conservation Programme lists 16 plus the reserve and the Triangle, and the Mara Conservancies association lists 22. Say “more than a dozen”.

Photo: Laika ac Mara Triangle (9664700945) by Laika ac from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons