Floods strand dozens of tourists in Kenya's Maasai Mara

Nairobi: Nearly 100 tourists are among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya s famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpo...

Nairobi: Nearly 100 tourists are among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour, a local administrator said Wednesday.

Torrential rains, amplified by the El Nino weather pattern, have lashed much of the East African country and destroyed roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

"Approximately 100 or more tourists" were stranded in more than a dozen lodges and camps, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP.

"That is the preliminary number as of now because some of the camps are unaccessible," he said.

The world-famous Maasai Mara, in southwestern Kenya, is a tourist magnet and home to native wildlife including the so-called Big Five -- lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards and buffalo -- as well as giraffes, hippos and cheetahs.