When one dreams of traveling the world, one of the top 5 images that pops into their heads HAS to be an African safari, no? Well, in our house it was anyway. And here we are, …off to world famous Masai Mara, Kenya’s finest wildlife reserve, where wildlife abounds like nowhere else in the Africa.

We are so excited. Even the 5 hour drive to the reserve is fascinating.  As we get closer to the reserve, all of a sudden you really recognize “Africa”. All those things you images comes to life,….vast plains of Serengeti grasslands with sporadic Acacia tree umbrellas here and there,  if you just look closely you can most always spot either warthogs or zebras on the plains, and it seems like endless heards of cows being tended by the spear carrying, red blanket wrapped maasai tribesmen. Yes, for real. Not a thing of the past, not just ceremonially dressed for tourists,… the real unspoiled Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like on our way to Nakuru, we see the most amazing sight just before we hit the park. Our driver pulls over spotting some movement up ahead, and we see a giraffe peaking high above the trees. Oh, there is another one, oh, wait, look there!……No less than 40 giraffe can be seen and they begin to cross the road right in front of us. Driver Joe says, to see them in such great numbers is not usual. Incredible… (You can’t miss our Masai pictures folks.)

Finally arriving at the game park and about 20 minutes later are at our camp. The Sarova Mara Camp. OH MY! We thought it would be pretty decent, but shopped for the best price, so never expected this decadence! Our “family tent” with ensuite bathrooms consists of two luxury tents, , connected with a huge glassed in porch looking into the jungley brush, very private, no other tent in our view, and beautiful grounds, swimming pools, all inclusive! On the grounds and right beside our tent are various monkeys and didyck (little deer type animals) prancing around, and the sounds are fabulous. One night I lay awake listening to lion roars, and crazy monkey screeches The boys are in heaven, as they are always impressed with BIG buffets of good food and clean sheets! I have to admit, coming in after dinner to my bed turned down, “window” all zipped up, mood lighting, mosquito killer lit, and hot water bottle IN my bed was pretty nice. In fact, Aaron and I went massaging too! (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous I tell you!)

But of course, the best part was the safaris! Over 4 days at Masai Mara, we went out for two safaris EACH DAY (sunrise and sunset) across this natural wonder of the world, for it’s remarkable eco system, the Masai Mara Reserve.  It’s  1500 sq km reserve, is connected to Serengeti National  Game reserve, and we can see Tanzania on our drive, where the famous migration of wildebeest starts every year. The terrain actually looks like the LION KING unanimated, and rightly so as it is home to the highest population density of lions in the world. 

What an unforgettable experience. We take very long drives across the plains to a low mountain range bordering Tanzania.  This is where the great wildebeest migration takes place from July until August. (Bummer that we won’t witness, this world famous event, but it doesn’t take away from what spectacles we do see.)  And we get to see a couple of wildebeest that must have been too lazy or old to migrate to Tanzania.  The wildlife was so abundant, and the gentle rolling grasslands ensured that animals were never out of sight.  Amazing birds with, well over 450 species recorded at the park.  We managed to spot some amazing animals including….

• A couple prides of Lions, so close, if they cared to they could have jumped in our truck.
• Cheetahs, just sunning on a mound
• Elephants by the boat load. Our first sight of this natural wonderland is breathtaking with the great herds of shuffling elephants browsing among the tree-studded grasslands with an occasional sighting of a solitary bull elephants roaming the plains.
• Hippos  maybe 30 feet from where we stood on the bank, in the Mara River, hippo submerge only to surface seconds later to snort and grumble their displeasure at our being there (VERY dangerous but we did it. Stupid tourists!)
• Ostrich Maybe a dozen
• Hyenas,  just 4 occasions, usually solo, including a baby just sitting outside it’s den, waiting for Mom to return with the grub
• Jackals, Giraffe, and mega groups of  Topi, Cape Buffalo, Gazelle, Impala, with the odd Crown Crested Crane which was doing a spectacular mating dance for us (perhaps I was having a bad hair day !)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You manage to see lots of great animals because if something particularly exciting is going on, they will radio each other. If you are in the area it works, but you can be miles away. The two radio tips we took were to see the Cheetah, and a lion pride with a couple BIG males and a bunch of cubs having a rest. At times we were 10 feet from these lions with open windows and roofs. I was a bit freaked but was assured I was being over protective. (Hey, I don’t want to be one of those people on Worlds Most Dangerous/Stupid Video shows!) The Masai people will tell you that they mainly fear the cape buffalo and elephants, as they are the most aggressive, but Driver Joe tells us the “lions are like dogs to them.”

Joe was awesome, very knowledgeable but fearless. If what you say is true Joe, why are we  going off roading (often) and doing round-up duties with cape buffalo and elephants?…uh, Joe? On more than one occasion, we were van trunk to elephant trunk, and someone was squealing “Go Joe, keep going!!!” (Oh, that was my voice.)

So yup, we saw them all.  The only animal that managed to elude us was the leopard, so we could hardly complain!

 But if the animals aren’t enough of a draw, the landscape, scenes of roaming Masai tribes people and violet skies are “worth the drive.”

Life is SO good. Blessed beyond wild dreams! PS. As Brendan says, we can never go to the zoo again.