Mare Bori is the best-known waterhole on the Pendjari game-drive circuit and the kind of place where, given an hour of patient waiting in the late afternoon, you can see almost everything the park has to offer pass through in succession. It is a broad shallow pan rather than a deep pool, and in the late dry season it shrinks to a muddy patch that draws elephants, buffalo, hartebeest, kob, baboons, and increasingly often a lion or two, lying up nearby and waiting for the herd to relax its guard.
The track approaches the mare from open ground, so animals at the water see vehicles coming and react. Most guides will park at a respectful distance and let the scene develop rather than push closer. There is no permanent infrastructure here — no hide, no facilities — just the pan, a single track around it, and the bush. The peak game-viewing months are March and April, just before the rains break.