Masai Mara, Kenya

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12th November
This morning we met up at 07.00 for the journey from Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara national park. Unfortunately I am feeling rather delicate due to the sensitive nature of my bowels. Which adds stress to what I am warned will be the bumpiest ride we go on. The roads are not expected to be good and there are many potholes and other obstacles. I’ve had an Imodium and rehydration sachet so I’m all bunged up and ready to face anything!

We headed southwest about 300km. We branched off at Nairobi. We came down a fair few hundred metres which took us back toward the more barren flat landscape that had been seen at Amboseli in the south. Early on, not far out of Nakuru the landscape was varied and green. As we headed towards the Mara we descended down through the Great Rift valley. What a spectacular sight this was! The 1st vantage point was the highest so in many ways the most memorable. From here if you looked directly across through scores of miles of landscape you could see at that far point where we were aiming for on our way to the Mara. However this as the crow flies sighting was not the way our vehicle was going to go as dictated by the roads! The road was following the route of the valley and was winding and turning back on itself at every opportunity presenting glimpses of sheer drops, valleys and rivers as we went. It was an amazing journey.

We had passed from about 2500m above sea level to about 1500 metres altitude. At this point the landscape became barren, similar and ongoing as we followed a straight ‘main’ road towards the Mara. About 2 hours out of Nairobi the road began to deteriorate very badly. We passed through a large town and as we went down a dip the sight before us was of a road with potholes, boulders strewn all over it and what seemed like actual craters. It was as if the road was waiting to receive relief aid after an earthquake. Somehow Nick, who has obviously driven this route roughly once a week for the last 5 years, negotiated it with a knowing smile while I prayed that the Imodium was kicking in!

Even so Nick had to cautiously pick a route and negotiate these obstacles. I thought of my brother Tim and felt sure he would be impressed with the driving. The road appeared to be on 2 different levels as the result of piled up debris and possibly explosions. It is difficult to know quite what caused the holes but it was something beyond the normal wear and tear or natural erosion.

The inevitable question came to mind. ‘why don’t they repair them?’ I asked. Everybody had told us that the road to the Mara is notoriously bad. I spoke to different Kenyans about this who told me pretty much the same thing. The Masai Mara national park owns airstrips from which it receives very substantial revenues from planes owned by tourists, media, dignitaries etc to land on it and cut their journey time considerably. So if the roads are repaired and potholes filled in it will become more attractive for visitors to come by road and not air. They would consequently lose a nice little earner. So they do not repair the roads and the tourists have to suffer a sore backside and a 7-hour journey!

We arrived at the Mara at about 14.00. It was about this time that I realised my stomach was not in a very good state.. I had a light lunch and then went to my room. The 5th in 7 nights! The Mara grounds are very large. From the entrance to the national park to where we stayed at the Mara Serena lodge is about 65km. The size of the park overall is over 1000 sq km. On the way to the national park for the last 100km the landscape is similar to that of the Mara with many sightings of goats and cattle being manipulated through their territory by herders.

The 1st drive this afternoon was the best. As stated before the Mara landscape is fairly flat and dry. However there are a variety of landscapes that aid the animals in making this such a rich park for wildlife. There is some cover through small hills and forests. There is also water by way of a river and marshlands where the animals cover themselves in the swamp and stay in there to keep cool. There is long grass that is suitable for stalking prey and means animals have to keep a constant look out.

The highlight of this drive was undoubtedly the lions. We saw 2 prides at different times producing behaviour that was electrifying to witness. We sighted a mature male lying by the side of a tree. He was just sleeping as we watched him. As more and more tour vans were radioed news of the sighting more appeared. The lion wasn’t bothered. This is his landscape and he seemed as comfortable as a pisshead in a pub at 11.00am with £100 in his pocket! As the vans trundled up the lion awoke and started stretching and yawning. Then he pinched one of my cat Georgie’s best moves! He rolled over and over with his massive paws limp in the Air in some sort of cat heaven, stretching and flexing his legs and scratching his back, all with a contented smile on his features. The lion had been finding shade underneath a small tree and through a process of long slow movements was leisurely grooming himself. We stayed and watched this sight for about 30 minutes and I was literally within touching distance of this magnificent male lion. A real treat.


This Lion looks like he found the Catnip

After a time of moving away from this lion we came across a pride by the river that is such a feature of the Mara. It was beginning to grow darker and mother lion was attempting to gather her little ones together for the evening. She prowled around the circumference of where the cubs were playing trying to herd them in. At different times one or another of the cubs would escape her sphere of influence and wander away. Mother would leave the rest and bound off and lift the little cub back into the centre of the pack. Whilst this was going on, naturally, another cub would wander off in search of some sort of adventure.

I guess this scene must be familiar to mums all over the world and to most species! Still, this Mum was doing a pretty good job but it must have been important to her to make sure they were all safe and accounted for before it got totally dark as at this point the cubs would be in more danger from prey and more difficult to find. The cubs were really tiny. Nick said that they were only 5-6 weeks old. The mother lifted one back to the family by her mouth, with the little one growling and snarling in protest as loud as it could. At this point another cub escaped from the group and strolled up to our van, only a few metres away, meowing quite powerfully for its size. A low, deep moan. I t was a privilege to be so close to it.


The Lioness tries to get her babies in before nightfall

We toured the river and spotted a Crocodile sleeping on the rocks looking just like a log. It was only when it yawned that we could see it was a creature. There were many hippo’s lying in the river and only the tops of their heads and ears could be seen until they came up for breath when a spluttering, panting and sneezing sensation was visually witnessed through a tremendous rippling on the water. There was also the memorable sight of a spray gun effect Hippo dump that I really wanted to get on camera for my two good friends Declan and Tim Smith who I know have a professional interest in this area!

Sunday 13th November
I felt pretty lousy in my stomach over Saturday and Sunday. Today is the last day of the safari. And it turned out to be the most disappointing. The rest of the week was excellent and we were hoping that this last full day at the Mara was going to be the cherry on the cake. The morning was bleak and there were very few animals around.
After this came the 1st part of the holiday where I could just relax and catch my breath, as we were on no excursions and we were not driving to a new destination.
So I enjoyed some time in my room, drinking coffee, writing my diary and listening to music.

It began to rain at 15.00, which scuppered Nick’s plans to take us off road for our last game drive. The roads are not reliable enough to traverse when it is wet. Our van is not 4-wheel drive so it was too much of a risk, which was disappointing. With the wet weather the animals need to come out to look for water is lessened, as there are many temporary pools and puddles that fulfil this. We did pass by the area of the river where the great Wildebeest migration takes place. One of the greatest natural spectacles on earth. In the river there were lots of skeletal remains of the animals that did not make it and were trampled underfoot.

14th November 2005
We left the Mara at around 07.30am for the 6-hour drive back to Nairobi. It did not seem so bad this time. We stopped at a curio shop for a toilet break.. A little guy on crutches, who I believe had Polio spotted or smelt we smoking a crafty one skin and walked up to me shouting Ganga which pissed me off a bit. I finished it quick said ‘No’ to him and walked off back to the minibus. We had another break at the Great Rift Valley viewing stop and were accosted by frankly desperate older men asking us for school pens. These are usually to be given out to schoolchildren. But I imagine they also represent some sort of asset.

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Photos

Mother lion and baby
Mum is taking care of her wayward cub

Hippo's at Masai Mara
This is one of the rivers that the Wildebeast have to cross, not all of them make it.

What a boy
This lion has found the Catnip