Serving as the gateway to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Narok is a quiet provincial town in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. It’s a thriving commercial hub for the surrounding region and home to the 30,000-capacity William Ole Ntimama Stadium where regional soccer matches and cultural events are held.

Things to do

Learn about the region’s cultural heritage at the small Narok Museum where artefacts belonging to local Maasai tribes are on display. There are also exhibits dedicated to other Maa-speaking cultures, including the semi-nomadic Samburu people, the closely-related Ilchamus people and the hunter-gatherer Ndorobo tribe.

Spend a day or two exploring the vast savannah of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is one of East Africa’s most famous wildlife-viewing destinations. Game drives offer exhilarating encounters with African lions, bush elephants and cheetahs, as well as the Great Wildebeest Migration. This annual wildlife spectacle sees hundreds of thousands of animals moving between Tanzania and Kenya in pursuit of the rains.

Want to gain first-hand insight into Maasai culture? Embark on a guided village visit to tour their mud-built boma houses and listen to their rhythmic call-and-response singing. A highlight is witnessing the adumu or “jumping dance” as Maasai warriors attempt to jump higher and higher into the air. Hear how their lifestyle is intertwined with the raising of livestock before admiring the handcrafted Maasai jewellery and amulets for sale.

Getting around

Narok is around 2.5 hours’ drive from Nairobi and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, which has flight connections around the globe. Buses connect Narok with towns and villages across southern Kenya while private vehicles are the best way of exploring the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Narok is compact enough to explore on foot.