The safari started on the morning of Saturday the 28th, when the company picked us up at the Mennonite Guest house in Nairobi. There were already two other people in the Safari vehicle, and we then went to pick up two more people. It was about a 5 hour drive to the Maasai Mara. The first three hours were back-tracking the route I take to Nairobi. After we went down the escarpment, we saw a herd of giraffes. I have ridden along this route about once a month since I got to Kenya, and all I have ever seen are baboons, so the trip was off to a good start.
After we got into the park, we saw a couple buffalo, gazelles, zebras, and elephants. They were a little ways off, but we were able to get some good pictures. But, then as we continued on, we came across a herd of elephants (with a couple babies) that were only about 10 feet from the road, which was pretty cool. Then, after we had driven around the park for a couple hours, our driver heard about a pack of lions over the radio. (All the safari vehicles have radios, and so they communicate with each other if anyone finds anything interesting.) When we got there, it seemed like a huge pride of at least 25 lions. Although there were nine vehicles there, they seemed very comfortable with the vehicles. A number of them walked between our vehicle and the next which was only about five feet away. There was also a large herd of buffalo very close by. In the herd, we could see one new born that looked only a couple hours old at the most (it was still all wet). For most of the time we were there, the lions seemed pretty relaxed and uninterested in hunting, but as it started getting dark and we needed to head to our camp, they seemed to be gathering up and starting to stalk in the direction of the buffalo.
We went out of the park to the camp we were staying at. The rooms were large safari tents, but it was hard to call it camping. They had beds and bathrooms in the tents, and the tents were up on wooden platforms with wooden roofs protecting the tents.
The next morning, we went back into the Maasai Mara for a full day. One of the first things I saw, was a hyena, but it was a ways off, and I needed to use my binoculars to see it (This trip is the only time I have used my binoculars in Kenya, but it was definitely worth brining them). Since it was a ways off, I was unable to get a picture. I also figured I would see some more, since it was still pretty early in the trip. Unfortunately I didn't, so I never got a picture of a hyena. Some of the other things we saw that morning, were ostriches, more giraffes, and warthogs. Just before lunch, we stopped at the Mara river. This is the river that is always shown in documentaries about the migrations in East Africa, where all the wildebeest and zebras need to dodge alligators. Unfortunately the migration was not going on at the time. It comes to Kenya in July and leaves in September (the worst time for me, since that was right after I got here, and right before I leave). However, there were still a lot of hippos and some alligators (or crocodiles, I forget which it is). There are always some game wardens here, so we were able to get out of the vehicle and walk down to the river. We were able to walk around, because they are all armed with rifles or semi-automatics, in case something dangerous comes too close. I was still a little of an adrenaline rush walking around in an area where you know there are hippos and alligators very close, along with lions, leopards, and cheetahs in the area. When we were almost back to the vehicle, we came across a couple of monkeys. They must have been pretty used to humans, because they just continued about their business, and one walked only about 3 feet from Ben.
The rest of the afternoon, we saw some mere-cats and Baboons. Then, on our way back to the camp, we came across a couple of cheetahs. Cheetahs are just awesome. We saw them jog a bit, but unfortunately never got to see them at a straight out run. However, they did come extremely close to the vehicles, which was cool. Then, as they walked off, we saw how good their camouflage is. When the ducked down in the grass, they completely disappeared.
That night, we went to visit a Maasai village. It was only about a 10 minute walk away from the camp, and most of the camp workers came from the village. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about their culture, but I don't think I would ever do it again. This is because the Maasai are in a very strange position culturally. I think it is pretty safe to say that of all the Kenyan tribes, they have stayed the most traditional. However, for that very reason, they are also in constant contact with the "modern world" through tourism. What bothered me most, was how comfortable they seemed with putting their culture on display as a tourist attraction. During our visit, I always felt like I was contributing to this struggle between two cultures, which I did not like. That is why I wouldn't ever visit a Maasai village again.
The next day, we slowly drove out of the Maasai Mara and back to Nairobi. We saw some cool stuff, but nothing new, so I won't mention anything here. In summary, it was a great trip. The whole time, it was hard to believe that we were really out in the wilderness. This is because not only are there some many animals in the Maasai Mara, but they are also all the biggest attractions at zoos. I think that the only animals that we didn't see, were leopards and rhinos. Both are in the Maasai Mara, but rhinos are very rare, and leopards are incredible hard to spot since they spend most of the day hiding up in trees.
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| The lions came pretty close |
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| An Ostrich with Elephants in the background |
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| Ben took up the rear as we walked around the Mara River. He had his pocket knife out for protection in case anything attacked from behind. |
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| Cheetah, also pretty close |
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| Us with some of the Maasai at their village |
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| Finally got a picture of me with my whole host family. |
