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Published: March 9th 2006
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lions
doing the dirty deed the safari was awesome. but I say that everytime.
The maasai mara is not a game park, but an area of land just north of the serengetti. It is not fenced and the animals wander freely. The land used to belong to the maasai people who are mainly pastoralists, but the government approached them and asked if they could relocate so that tourists can use the area as well. suprisingly they agreed (or were forced to) and today the villages of the maasai are near the mara but not in. the maasai take their cattle to the water sources in the evening and then allow them to grase where ever.
On the way to the Maasai mara we saw goats, zebra, giraffe, cows and sheep.
The first day we arrived around 4 pm and immedaitly went on a game drive. It sounds cheesy, and it sort of is, but it was fruitful. all the vans have radios because the area is morethan 1500 sq kms it increases the chance of seeing, say, a lioness feeding on a wildebeast. or a male lion sleeping, or giraffe and less than 5 feet.
The rain came just as we were getting to
maasai
and the french men the campsite (thank goodness the tents were set up under a little hut) and it poured for 5 hours. our entire campsite was flooded, even the tents. the tents had little beds set up for us, so at least the bedding didn't get wet.
This area has been expereinceing a drought for the past year. they say that the last time it rained (prior to a week ago) was about september 05 and only for an hour or two. This explained the numerous cow carcasses near to the campsite and the maasai village.
We hung out and chatted to a canadian family who have been traveling around the world for 8 months. What a blast eh?
The next morning we headed out early for a game drive and again we were rewarded with lions, cheetahs, heartbeast, wildebeast buffaloe, buck, antelope, gazzell and more. One of the highlights of the day was comming across (with 20 other white safari vans) a couple of mating lions. Lions mate for a week or more. up to 200 times a day. the best part is it last for 5 seconds. ;-)
The other cool thing was that I spotted a lion, no one
cheetahs
brother cheetah's in the maasai mara else had seen it yet, and we were the only van around. It was late in the afternoon and it was hot, so I figured i should be focusing my gaze towards to underbrush, and I saw a tail switch, so I asked the driver to check it out, and it was a lioness panting in the hot sun.
That afternoon we headed back to the camp, but with a stop over in the maasai village. The villagers are rasing money to build schools and buy more cattle. It cost us about 1000 ksh each to visit the camp. The camps are surrounded buy acacia bushes to keep the lions out, the houses are maede of cow dung, and the men keep as many as 10 wives, each in a different house. we were treated to a dance by the males which felt a little silly, especially whenthe french men we were on safari with joined in. Then the women danced and sang and it felt very contrived. In fact down right resentful. Fine, i get that feeling alot.
All the animals are kept within the village walls at night, and the babies actually sleep inside the house.
We were walked back to our campsite by a maasai fellow who said his father was the cheif. He explained to me two things, one is that 50% of their cows died during the weeks leading up to the start of the rainy season and yes, they still practice female genital mutilation. ie, female circumcision.
The next morning, we went for another quick game drive, but all the animals had moved off, and we saw antelope, buck, buffaloe, giraffe and zebras. No disapointment for me, the day before was overwhelming. Then we headed back to nairobi.
Today we are headed to a town called nanyuchi to start our mt. kenya trek. talk to you all in about 7 days ;-) and I'll add the xrated lion pictures when we get back, the computer I am on is too slow to download pics.
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deleted_9521
deleted_9521
Sounds fantastic! Are you planning on climbing Mt. Kenya? Might as well, you two have done everything else. Have a good time, be safe and write as much as you can. I can't wait to see you. Love Mom