Masa Mara

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We got to spend our last 3 nights in Kenya at the Masa Mara.

Our driver had warned us that the last hour of driving would be an "African Massage" but we had been on some pretty rough roads in Rwanda and in Kenya so didn't think much of it.

We set out from Lake Nakura and headed west on the main highway. This was quite busy with a mixture of vehicles in a hurry and those not in a hurry which meant our van pulled out into the other lane to pass quite often and cars driving in the opposite direction pulled out into our lane. We passed thru small and medium sized towns and of course made one stop at a carving shop. After about 3 hours, we turned off the main road onto the dirt road to Masa Mara.

The road exceeded it expectations and was extremely rough necessitating our driver to swerve all over the road, drive on the shoulder and occasionally straddle the shallow ditch all the while never really slowing down. We were passing through the cattle country of the Masai but as we approached the Masa Mara we started to see giraffes, antelopes and zebras alongside the "road".

After an hour of bumping and grinding we entered the Fairmant Mara Safari Club. As was usual we were greeted with hot towels and a welcome drink before being oriented to the facility. The manager was talking about "tents" and we assumed that he was just using the term in the way some hotels call their rooms villas or cottages, however each room is actually a canvas tent on a platform with a stone floor, and indoor bathroom and a nice deck outside. The facility is located overlooking a muddy but fast flowing river and it is possible to see and hear hippos.

After checking in we had a buffet lunch overlooking the river. There are huge catfish in the river which one of the waiter demonstrated by throwing buns off the deck.

At 1600 Peter picked us up for out first game drive. We used the same minivan as we used to get there. These have the roof "cut off" so that it can be raised and one can stand up to look for game or take pictures. Over the next two days we had early morning and afternoon game drives. The Masa Mara is the northern extension of the Serengeti. In July the Wildebeasts migrate north accompanied by their predators. There were already some Wildebeasts around but the migration hadn't begun in earnest yet.

We did however get to see a lot of species. I have already blogger about the honeymoon couple:

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We saw the above Lioness about 1 km from the honeymooners. By the third day she had joined them, except for the sex.

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Ostriches.

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Cheetah. We this individual quite a bit and actually witnessed him start to hunt on the last day.

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There were a lot of baboons around the hotel.

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Hippos in the water. These are fascinating to watch and we were able to see a group from the hotel grounds. We didn't get to see any on land.

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Lot of birds including this secretary bird which actually looks like it is walking in high heels.

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Lots of different types of antelopes.

I will post a few more as I start downloading off my camera.