Maasi Mara Safari - Day 1

Maasai Mara triangle, on Kenya's SW border

      Here is their website:  www.africasafaridiscovery.com/parks.php?p=maasai_mara

      The road to the Maasi Mara was really rough.  The last 40 miles were on an unpaved dirt, rocky, pothole- and washout-infested road.  The pounding on your butt and back has named this part of the trip "The Maasi Massage".  It took over two hours.  All I could think about was:  we gotta go BACK down this darn road two days from now.
 
Our tent.  Glam camping at its finest!
     The route took us through farm land and ranch land.  It started out as the same dry, dusty, scrubby roads we've traversed since arriving, with all the usual trash on the roadside.  But gradually, it got greener, lusher, and hillier.  Livestock got more and more sparse, and we see a zebra or two.
      Finally, we arrived at the safari camp, sore butt notwithstanding.  The camp was nestled back in a cove of bushes and tall trees.  The entire staff was out there to greet us, most dressed up in their bright red and blue traditional Maasi attire.  

Our safari wagon and Fred, our gude
     Joan and I were led down a footpath to our accommodations for the next two nights: a big tent.  It was fully furnished with a king-sized bed, plus electric lights and a bathroom with running water.  Now THIS is glam camping!  We were instructed to always zip the tent closed and lock the zippers WITH A PADLOCK.  The danger: monkeys, who had evidently figured out how to unzip a tent, get inside, and wreak havoc.  Our instructions also included a warning to not walk around after dark without a guide, as there were dangerous wild animals about who will eat you.

We saw LOTS of giraffs
    That afternoon we went out for our first official safari tour with Fred, our guide.  In a previous era, a "safari" meant toting along guns and other weapons, with the goal of killing animals and bringing home "trophies".  Well today our only "weapons" were cameras and binoculars.  But the adventure and spirit of the safari remained!
       Our vehicle was a big, rugged Land Rover.  It had 4-wheel drive, a diesel engine, manual transmission, huge wheels, heavy-duty shocks, a snorkel to the engine for traversing streams, and two big sun roof openings and room for seven passengers.  This beast could go virtually anywhere.

       What did we see?  Well, we saw:  giraffes; wildebeests; gazelles; dik-diks (a tiny deer); warthogs; secretariat birds; monkeys; zebras; buffalo.  And all sorts of birds and other wild critters.  Amazing!  Incredible!  There just aren't enough adjectives.

Hey sis, wake up, I'm gonna go catch me a giraffe
     The highlight of the day was when we came upon a group of three young female lions, snoozing in the grass.  Several giraffes were nearby.  One of the lions wakes up, stretches, sees the giraffes, and decides that she'd like to catch herself one of them.  She stealthily creeps toward a clump of bushes, with the goal of keeping the bushes between herself and the giraffe.  Her target giraffe, of course, knows exactly where she is.  In fact, ALL the nearby giraffes are watching this encounter with rapt attention.  As are we humans.
      The lioness creeps closer.  Finally the giraffe decides that this is close enough, and turns and breaks into a gallop.  The lion springs out of the bushes and gives chase - for about three seconds.  She quickly realizes that this is a totally worthless endeavor and there is no way in heck she's going to catch a full-grown giraffe, much less bring one down.  So she turns around and ambles lazily back to her companions to resume her nap. 
 
Stalking a giraffe
     And we saw all of this in live action!
      This place is beautiful beyond compare.  Rolling green hills, with low mountains in the background.  Solitary acacia trees poking up out of the plain.  Dense clumps of bushes hugging a creek.  A constant cacophony of bird chirps and chatter.  And of course the weather is perfect.  It is a huge contrast to Hell's Gate, where the dry conditions clearly stresses the animals.  Here, the animals all seem healthy and vigorous.
      That evening, we sat around the fire pit, rehashing the events of the day.  Standing close by was our "guard", a Maasi knowledgeable in defense in case a nocturnal predator comes around.  (Not very likely, however, as the fire scares them away.)
View of landscape, with acacia trees and giraffes in the distance
Family of monkeys.  Keep them out of your tent!

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