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Published: December 6th 2008
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The Maasai Mara was the last destination on our safari itinerary. It is said that what you don’t see elsewhere you’ll surely see at the Maasai Mara. This I would have said would be a fair assumption had we not already seen so much at lake Nakuru national park. The Maasai Mara is huge, covering an area 720 square miles it borders Tanzania and stretches into the Serengeti, it is also the scene of the annual Wildebeest migration, which, as it turns out we had missed and as such most of the wildebeest and game were actually in Tanzania. This meant that many of the said game’s predators were also in Tanzania but it did also mean that there weren’t too many tourists on the Kenyan side of the park. Fortunately none of these issues presented a problem and we did get to see plenty even though most of the animals were on holiday in Tanzania.
Our first game drive (we had four all together) took us through the south-eastern hills of the park where we got to see elephants and lions, the pride and herd were both very large in number and were fantastic to watch. Helen was just
as excited when we came across the lions who had been shading themselves in some bushes but seemed to come out to say hello when we arrived as she was when we saw the three lions on ‘pride rock’ the day before. As Helen has mentioned, she had envisioned the Kenyan landscape and its wildlife to be just like that of the ‘Lion King’. What she didn’t mention was what exactly her reaction was when she first saw the lions yesterday - lets just say her language wouldn’t have appeared in the ‘Lion King’. It would have been quite a different film had Simba shouted ‘oh my ****ing God’ when he was presented to the masses to the tune of ‘circle of life’. As it was she managed to keep her expletives to herself this time but if I am honest I think her reaction was quite justified, seeing lions in the wild for the first time is an awesome experience especially when you have convinced yourself that you won’t see any at all, as Helen had done. And as for the ‘Lion King’, well the animals don’t sing and dance, well at least when we were around but the
scenery and the animals are familiar as are the names. For example Simba in Swahili means lion as Pumba means Warthog, Hakuna Matata is also a very popular saying here, so as it is Helen’s vision wasn’t too far off.
The next two days took us through various parts of the park where we got to see more lions, zebra’s, giraffe, hippo’s, gazelle, impala, elephants, baboons, jackals and warthogs. We also saw loads of birds including several types of eagles, cranes, storks and vultures. What was perhaps most exciting for me was seeing a serval cat which are normally quite difficult to see as they are usually nocturnal. It’s a very pretty creature and not that much bigger than a domestic cat although with a somewhat more exotic coat that’s not that unlike a cheetah’s. The one we saw was down to luck more than anything, I asked our driver to take a detour by a stream and just as we were passing the orangey-brown and black coat of the serval caught my eye. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who had seen him as he was stalking his prey because moments after we turned off the
engine several birds stared squawking at the small cat, his game was up, or at least we thought, but he seemed to ignore the birds protests and suddenly lept on his prey. Whatever it was we don’t know because it was too far off but whatever it was, it had certainly met its match.
While we staying in the Mara we took the opportunity to visit a local Maasai village that was very interesting. Our tour included a look around the village and the Maasai houses, a traditional performance of a warrior dance and a birth dance by the ladies, we also got to visit the local school, which appeared very modern with its brick walls and tin roof. Most of the houses in the Maasai villages are made of a type of wattle and daub, though the daub is made from cow dung instead of mud as are the ‘carpets’ and pretty much all of the ground in the surrounding area. The Maasai for the most part are cattle grazers who live off the blood and milk of their cows but if they ever decided to turn (as some have, I think) to agriculture I reckon they could
do quite well as they are sitting pretty on some very fertile land what with all the cow shit everywhere. We also learnt a little about their initiation ceremonies and the lengths to which some males have to go to attain Moran (warrior) status. Although I have heard various accounts of the process and tradition the general gist goes something like this: young men, some as young as 16 are expected to join a group of other young males and live in the bush for a period from 6 months to several years, living with their herd they are expected to be self sufficient and protect themselves from all manor of nasty beasts. Finally, to achieve warrior hood they must kill a lion. In the past each individual was expected to kill his own lion but for obvious reasons and due to the intervention of the government this practice has been changed so that a group kills only one lion, brave stuff, either way. I am not sure how much this practice actually continues as it seems that modern ways are penetrating the Maasai more and more, they are also be criticized for being ‘stuck in their ways’ particularly as
other tribes, like the Kikuyu are embracing the modern world. Whatever the future holds for the Maasai people it is clear that progress won’t wait and unless they find ways to adapt they are going to be swallowed up in the wave of modernization that is sweeping across Kenya. I was in the Maasai Mara nearly seven years ago on my first visit to Kenya and in that time it seems to have changed, there is much more habitation and the dreaded scourge of rubbish has infiltrated the land with bits of plastic scattered on the edges of the reserve. After our informative tour of the village we headed back to camp where we quickly devoured our dinner and prepared for an early night as we were set for a very early game drive in the morning.
Our final drive before heading back to Nairobi took us past the pride of lions that we saw on our first day and up into the hills to find, either a black rhino, cheetah or hyena as these were the only creatures, or at least popular creatures we hadn’t seen in the Mara. As it was we were lucky to come across
two cheetah’s preparing for a hunt, by the time we arrived at the spot where the cheetahs were there were several other vehicles already there. And within minutes several more vehicles turned up which I am sad to say probably ruined their chances of a successful hunt. Its very hard viewing animals knowing that our presence can cause such problems and yet without our presence many of the national parks couldn’t survive or at least prevent the continued problem of poaching. As more vehicles turned up we decided to leave and try to see the lions on our way out of the park, who, unlike the cheetahs don’t seem that bothered by our presence. We were in luck, they were still in their same spot, and there was a male who was proudly parading around showing off the reason why he is king of the jungle. Our final memory of the Maasai Mara was of this incredible creature opening up his huge jaws with a yawn before wandering back into the bushes. Priceless.
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