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Published: November 12th 2021
We had a very exciting morning game drive! We saw lots of zebras, an elephant herd with several baby elephants, lions mating, and a big group of hippos!
We enjoyed a very nice breakfast our lovely camp (they have fruit, little pastries, cereals, an egg station, and hot accompaniments plus excellent coffee). It was another lovely sunny day, but with a cooling breeze. We headed out on our morning game drive at 8 am. We saw lots of zebras first, then an elephant herd in the distance, with several baby elephants. They are so cute! We also saw various antelopes including Thomson’s gazelles, Eland, and Topi.
We drove quite a distance up to the lookout in the Maasai Mara. It was really nice to get out of the jeep and stretch our legs, as the roads in the park are very bumpy and we are jounced around a lot in the jeep. On game drives we have to stay inside the jeep, so despite my Fitbit telling me I got over 20,000 or even 30,000 steps, in reality we don’t walk much. The Fitbit steps are because of the bouncing around in the jeep. ? The view was very
lovely from up at the top.
We drove down from the lookout, and there were reports of a lion sighting, and after awhile we found a pair of lions, an older male and a younger female. They were both lounging, but to my astonishment, soon began to mate. Now that was something I’d never thought I’d see, especially so close to where our (and a few other) jeeps were parked. I think we all were astonished. Apparently the lion pair stays together, away from the pride, for a few days, and mates numerous times (Stanley called this the honeymoon). Then they return to the pride. We waited for awhile, thinking the lions might mate again, but they mostly just lounged (maybe they wanted more privacy!) so we left to continue our game drive.
We came across a pair of Reedbuck, which were a new animal for us. They are very shy and elusive, so I felt privileged to see them. They darted off as we drove closer, but then stopped, and we were able to get a good view of them before they took off. A little while later we spotted a Thomson’s gazelle who had very recently
given birth. The baby was just struggling to get up, and we watched as it managed to get up, after several tries, and totter close enough to begin to nurse.
We then left the mother and baby in peace, and continued to the Mara River, which is the river that the massive wildebeest and zebra herds cross every year into Tanzania. The wildebeest have already made their migration and are in the Serengeti now. We were looking for hippos in the river and we saw two in one location (mostly submerged). Then we drove a bit further and Stanley spotted a large crocodile sunning itself on the opposite bank. He provided us with lots of information about crocodiles (did you know they have no tongue, so they have no sense of taste, and that is why they will eat decomposing animals).
We then drove a little bit further, and around the bend we very suddenly came upon a large male lion. He was quite handsome, sitting up, but then soon laid down and was difficult to see, so we moved on. Around the bend in the river was an enormous group of hippopotamuses in the river, which was
something I’ve never seen, even on TV. I had no idea they hung around together in such large groups. There were two separate groups, and apparently they are rival groups. Hippos can be quite violent towards each other, and interestingly they have tusks, not teeth.
We drove away from the river, and headed back to camp for lunch (I had excellent minestrone soup and salad) and a Tusker lite. After lunch some of the group who wanted to visited a Maasai village (this was an included activity and we were interested to see it, so we went). First we dropped by a school in a local village to deliver some school supplies. We saw a classroom (very basic) and the girls sang a few songs for us. They were young teenagers, and sang beautifully (Christian songs so I guess this is a Christian school). While we were walking back to the jeep Susan stepped on an acacia thorn which went about an inch into her foot! It was bleeding profusely so we washed it off and cleaned it with sanitizer, and it seems ok.
After the school we went to the Maasai village. The traditionally dressed men sang
and danced us a welcoming song, then the chief’s son told us a bit about their culture. They showed us how they traditionally make a fire (using elephant dung and two sticks made of different types of wood), and we saw the inside of a hut. It was very dark and smoky and I wouldn‘t want to sleep in it! Then of course they had a large marketplace (lots of tables of handicrafts). I had been looking for a nice Maasai beaded bracelet and I found two here. After the obligatory bargaining we came to a deal and we left the village and headed out for the evening game drive. We had taken longer at the school and the village than we thought, so we didn’t have too much time.
Stanley heard there was a leopard spotting, so we drove around searching, and checking with the driver of the other jeep, Seif (pronounced Safe), and other jeep drivers. We tried and tried, but unfortunately we could not locate the elusive leopard. As we headed back to the camp we admired the beautiful sunset. We were quite late (too late really to be out in the park), and it was
Elephant herd
With several babiesvery dark. At one point we drove through an enormous herd of Cape Buffalo, which was quite exciting. They are really large animals, and it was slightly intimidating! They were eyeing the jeep and if they wanted to, could have done a lot of damage to it (and us!). I asked Stanley if Seif’s jeep had seen the leopard and he said yes. Totally jealous! We finally found the camp in the dark, and headed straight to the bar for a G&T. Then we saw the amazing photos the others had taken of the leopard (and its cub) eating a kill. I had really wanted to see some Maasai giraffes, and they also saw a large number of giraffes at sunset! And we didn’t see a single one! I tried, only partially successfully, not to be consumed with jealousy, but I admit I was pretty cheezed we hadn’t seen the giraffes. The leopard I could understand, because they are so elusive, but seeing the giraffes at sunset like that would have been so incredible. But the morning was so fantastic, and the visit to the school and village so interesting, I really couldn’t complain or be unhappy. That would just
be a waste of time and I reminded myself to be grateful for all I have seen and experienced here. Plus we have the amazing photos Malcolm took from the other jeep. Photo credit to him in the photos.
We had a lovely last dinner in our camp. It was a special dinner to thank our drivers, and to celebrate our last night of the safari. The staff set up a private table in a clearing in the middle of the woods, and it was so lovely. We returned to the lounge for a bit, then were escorted to our tents for our last night in the Maasai Mara. We really enjoyed the Ilkeliani camp, it was such a fantastic place and the staff were all incredible. We asked for the tent flaps to be left open to the balcony (so we could see outside all night), and the flap by the shower to be left open so we could have a shower with a view (which was pretty awesome the next morning!).
I didn’t have time to do the blog our last day in the Maasai Mara, or the following day when we drove back to Nairobi,
and flew to Mombasa, so I’m typing this blog entry by the infinity pool, overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean, in our resort in Mombasa. Pretty sweet!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Lovely. LOL.
You are staying in some very nice places. Did you organize this trip yourself our use some help? Great photos.