Massai Mara

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At the airport I reserved a room at the Kipepeo Hotel & I took a taxi to it & checked in. The next day I booked a 3 day safari with Big Time Safaris to the Massai Mara, leaving at 11.am that day. I was with 7 other people. The road was non-existent & we arrived at the Big Time camp at 4.30.

This was a permanent camp, the tents were like rooms with lights & en suite toilets & showers with hot water. The camp was right beside a Massai village & about 1km from the Mara Conservancy.

We skipped the coffee on offer I went on our first game drive in the Mara. Our guide/driver was George was very smart & well spoken. We saw Massai Giraffes, Zebras, Ostriches Buffaloes & Lions.

They were a pride of Lions with 2 males watching the cubs & 6 females who were stalking widerbeast, we actually saw a brief unsuccessful chase. I was amazed at how close drove to the animals, he always left the track & made a bee line to any interesting animals. We were less than 2 ft at times. It was a 100 times better than the Serengeti. There the driver never left the track & we could only really see some of the animals with binoculars. So I got lots of good photos.

We returned to camp at dusk & had dinner.

We arose at 6.30 & had a delicious breakfast of beans,sauasages & pancakes. Our game drive began at 7.30, we followed vultures to a pride of Lions with 4 large males finishing off the remains of a Buffalo. Then we saw little for about 20 minutes before heading into the Mara triangle area, a smaller area around the river Mara. There we saw more lions, hyenas & elephants. We even went for a short walk. Then we stumbled on 3 cheetahs finishing off a thompsons gazelle. We watched them for about 20 minutes.
It was a packed lunch of sandwhiches & fruit, eaten under the shade of a tree. The game drive continued until dusk & it started rain as we approached our camp. It rain all night. After dinner I had a beer talking to Zak & Perin, I was getting a taste for beer Afrcan style that is warm. I remember Lucky getting a cold Tusker & asking for it to be put in a microwave to heat it up!!

It was a very early start at 5.30, we were having breakfast when we returned. On this last game drive we did not see much, but we could not complain, as we had seen so much & so close. These drives were better than all the other ones I did with the Absolute Africa trip & well worth giving up a couple of beach days in Unjugu to see.

Back at camp we ate a late breakfast. Afterwards we went for a nature walk with Massai warriors, they showed us the plant from which they get the red dye for their robes & aloe vera plants etc.

We came back through their village & I asked him why the bomas here where square shaped unlike the circular ones in other villages. He told me that these are modern massai copying the shape of modern houses, but that inside the square outer shell the inner part is still circular as they believe evil spirits dwell in corners.

After the nature walk we said our goodbyes, as we all had different itineries. Elle, Cathy & myself took a van to Nairobi, they went straight to the airport, I had still had nights before my flight. I went to the Kipipeo Hotel to check in. I had dinner in the hotel & just watched tv that night.

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Photos

Riveri Mara
Hippos

Comments

[i'm from nj]

masai mara rocks
dude, I went here to! it was kick butt!