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Published: February 17th 2009
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Last step of my Africa trip, back to Nairobi with another Kilimanjaro viewing flight, then a 3 day Maasai Mara Safari. On the way from Nairobi we stop on the cliff side to take in the sight of the great rift valley before continuing the 4 hours to the Maasai Mara park.
Kenya is ahead of Tanzania in the tourism game, but struggling since the violence from earlier in the year, so has a higher level of accommodation when on safari. This time I have opted for a camping safari rather than staying in the lodges, as Kenya is also more expensive than Tanzania, but the camping is in another league. My tent is in a permanent site and has a bed, adjoining bathroom with plumbed sink, shower and toilet and even a veranda with lounging chairs. The weather is cloudy with a few showers in the afternoon so I never have chance to use the veranda, but it's still luxury compared to the pitch-your-own-tent sites Dan had stayed at in Tanzania.
Day one we have an afternoon drive around the park, there is only one other person in my group, an older Israeli man. He has not been on safari
before and seems to think it's a zoo so asks when feeding time is and then asks when he can get out of the jeep...! It's amazing how many people don't realise these are wild animals living in the wild!
The rules are slightly different here to the Serengeti, there are far more off track paths made by jeeps racing to see an animal across the plains. This also shows in the animals behaviour, they stay in the open for far less time so are harder to spot up close.
Over the three days I see the same animals as in my Tanzanian safari, just in slightly different surroundings. No leopard but I add dik dik to the seen list. On the second day I have signed up for a hot air balloon ride, so start out before sunrise over to the launch point. There is an Aussie pilot commanding many locals into setting the balloon up correctly and getting the cold air going. Once the balloon is almost full of cold air, the hot air can be turned off to get it to tip upright. We all clamber into the basket and then we're on our way. The sun
is starting to rise and we see many herds of different types of deer on the plains. It's very peaceful in the balloon when the hot air isn't blasting, so it's a very serene way to watch the wildlife. Unfortunately the elusive rhino stays that way so no sighting today, we see hundreds of animals and it's my first time in a balloon so I have a great time anyway. The landing is surprisingly stable, we even then lift off again to land the balloon on the back of a truck, amazing precision by the pilot. The trucks are all waiting there and a chef has prepared a huge buffet breakfast out in the wilderness. Eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, fruit and most importantly champagne. Luckily no lions smell breakfast and turn up, you can tell all the tourists are slightly on edge and keeping a watchful eye.
We are then dropped off at one of the lodges to wait for our safari jeeps. The lodge is a luxury hotel but in the wilderness. It has its own nature walks, one of which leads to a hippo pool, most hotels I've been to only have Koi carp in their ponds!
The
safari continues and we even end up at the Tanzanian border, you can only tell by a stone pillar, there is no control or guards, this is the area where most of the annual migration will travel through. We see much more of the wildebeest migration on this side of the border, they have travelled up from the Serengeti. Many are following each other in lines, there is usually a more dominant wildebeest leader the herds.
In the afternoon we come to another hippo pool, this continues to the river where many of the migrating herd cross to continue their trek. It is possible to get out of the jeeps at this point but for the walk around the pool you must be escorted by an armed guard! We see many crocodiles on the far bank but no herds crossing at this time. Further down stream where the current is faster, there are a few dead wildebeest where the water won.
The Israeli starts to worry he won't see any big cats as it's our last day. Giraffes, elephants and zebras are great but most people would rather see a big cat. Just as we are leaving on the last
day, Caca our guide, spots a male lion sleeping at the side of the track. He's so peaceful, he looks dead! Then we see another one in the long grass. They wake up and show us their teeth while yawning, but they aren't bothered by us watching them at all.
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