Delia D'Ambra

The word Maasai in the reserve's name refers to the Maasai tribe that lived in the area long before British colonization took place at the turn of the 20th century.

The tribe was known for its semi-nomadic lifestyle, herding livestock, and bright red robes that male warriors don.

Today, Masai is spelled the way British settlers spelled it, with two A's instead of three.

But the proper way of spelling it is actually M-A-A-S-A-I.

Back in the day when soldiers from Great Britain forced many tribe members off their native land, bloodshed ensued.

The hand weapons that Maasai warriors carried were outmatched by their invaders' firearms.

And in the early 1900s, some members of the tribe signed agreements with white settlers to hand over two-thirds of their most fertile land.

They were then relocated to less desirable parts of Kenya and Tanzania to live.

Despite this dark history, the tribe has still clung to its deeply rooted cultural traditions and practices.

The people take pride in their land and all of the things that make it attractive to international tourists.

Visitors to the reserve can visit the tribe's village and learn about their rich culture.

The word Mara in the reserve's name is the tribe's word for spotted or spotted land and refers to the patches of acacia trees and shrubbery that are scattered throughout it.

And similar to that aspect of the landscape was the patchwork investigation into the death of a young British wildlife photographer in September 1988.

Information about what happened to Julie Ward while visiting Kenya seems to be dotted over the pages of time.

Little lies and little truths just sprinkled between various sources.

What I hope to do is wade through all of that, but come out the other side with something to hold on to.

This is Park Predators.

On Friday, September 9th, 1988, a man named Doug Morey was at his home in Nairobi, Kenya, when he noticed that Julie Ward, a 28-year-old woman he'd been renting a cottage to on his property, wasn't around.

His next door neighbors, an older couple named Natasha and Paul Weld Dixon, had also observed the same thing.

Julie was nowhere to be found.