Regional Product As A Tourism Resource-Rural Tourism

Posted: August 5th, 2013

Regional Product as a Tourism Resource-Rural Tourism

Maasai Mara National Reserve is a vats wildlife game reserve found on the southwestern plains of Kenya in Narok County. The park is a continuation of the Serengeti National park in neighboring Tanzania. The park derives its first name from the local native tribe of the Maasai followed by ‘Mara’, which means spotted in the Maasai language. The two mean, “The Maasai spotted” due to the openness of the plains in the park, which enable people to have extensive views of the entire park and its surroundings (Game Reserve.com, 2012).

The park is famous for its rich wildlife and most precisely the Great Migration, which is the greatest animal migration in the world. The surrounding scenery in the park is also breathtaking as it is a true signature of a Safari. Furthermore, the surroundings hills of the Greta Rift valley are embedded with numerous bird species, which dot the air. The park covers an approximately 1,510km squared; this expanse makes it a suitable home for numerous animals with specific reference to the Big five animals which are on the verge of extinction, Gazelles, impalas, elephants, waterbucks among other animals. The diversity of the park has created competition among the animals as they seek food for survival making it one of the most challenging ecosystems for animals to survive in the world.

However, the constant encroachment by people into the park has increased the incidences of human wildlife conflict as people, and with specific reference to the Maasai herders fight for the decreasing water resources and grass with the wildlife. Thus, the park management should strive to put in measures, which will ensure that the people halt encroachment into the park through sensitization of the park’s importance and the effects of their acts.