Bribes, baboons, beer-looting and the Big Five

Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Masai Mara NP
September 17th 2007

Published: September 18th 2007

Ah, Kenya - that most quintessentially African of countries, with a heady mix of big game, big country, and big corruption. Not to mention plenty of banditry, petty theft, and tourist rip-offs. But did I enjoy it? Goddamn, yes. The journey from Addis to Nairobi was about as epic as they come. 1600-plus kilometres, by bus and truck, along crumbling roads, dusty bush tracks, and the occasional pav... Read Full Entry

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Tom Griffith

Ouaga

Travel happens when I can fit it in, nowadays, but it will always be my favourite hobby. Here's my list of the best bits so far, in thirteen years of hopping around the world: Asia Angkor Wat (Cambodia) Taj Mahal and Varanasi (India) Annapurna Range and Kathmandu (Nepal) Bagan (Burma) Koh Phiphi (Thailand) Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors and the Forbidden City (China) Peshawar and the Chitral-Gilgit road (Pakistan) Istanbul and Butterfly Valley (Turkey) Luang Prabang (Laos) Americas Teotihuacan and Mexico City (Mexico) Lake Atitlan and Tikal (Guatem... full info

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Lion on a rock

A large male lion has a nap on a big rock in the Mara

Distant rhino

That's as close as we could get without risking one and a half tonnes of rhino charge...

Me on safari

Standing up in our converted Nissan Urvan

Stuck in the mud...

Sheree, Courtney, and our Masai guide keep a close look out for big predators, after our van gets stuck in the thick Masai Mara mud.

Aftermath of the Great Migration...

A pile of wildebeest carcasses, victims of the previous day's crossing of the Mara river (stuff of a million wildlife doccos). And there's even some hippos lazing on the opposite bank.

Posing cheetah

A beautiful cheetah poses on an old tree for the gawping crowds. He KNEW we were watching him.

19th September 2007

Callie
non-member comment

Fantastic
Tom, you have such an enthralling writing style that I can't seem to stop reading your blogs. Great work on presenting the realistic side of traveling in Africa, but still making it sound like the adventure of a lifetime. Cheers, and please keep it up for those of us bunkered down at home wishing we were not! Callie

19th September 2007

Bernie
non-member comment

Enthralling
This is just what I needed to get me through the last couple of weeks of term (remember them??) Tom. Wonderful descriptions of the wildlife took me back to Zimbabwe when it was a wonderful, vibrant country to visit. Your comment on Ethiopian time will undoubtedly surface in my Society and Culture students' HSC responses this year if they get the right question. Thanks for your wonderful, vivid writing, and allowing us to live vicariously through your experiences. travel well mate.

20th September 2007

Linguist
non-member comment

Wonderful writing but....
where did you learn this word 'Goddamn' ? Not in the Griffith household that's for sure. I can think of several more Australian terms. Your blogs are still wondeful though!

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Bribes, baboons, beer-looting and the Big Five

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