This a follow up to my previous entry about our visit to Masai Mara in Kenya. Attached are photos of some of the animals that we saw on our game drives. It was exciting to see these animals in their natural habitat. We saw four of the 'Big Five', which were elephants, lions, leopards, and cape buffalo, but no rhinos,which are hard to find there. The giraffes in the photo are a family of the mom, son, and dad in that order. We woke up the lion as we drove near him and he didn't look too happy about it. The animals were familiar with the Land Rovers that we were riding in, but we were told never to get out because of the danger of being attacked, or charged, depending on which animal.
It was an unforgettable experience.
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Masai Mara
After three days of hard work in Nairobi, it was time to take a break. We had heard, previously, of Masai Mara, a very well known and one of the best game reserves in Africa. It so happened that a group of senior missionaries and the mission president from the Kenya Nairobi mission were planning a visit to Masai Mara, while we are in Nairobi. We signed up for the Masai Mara trip early on and they welcomed us along with another senior missionary couple from the area office in Johannesburg.
So we got together and boarded the airplane to Masai Mara, which was about a 45 minute flight south of Nairobi. Our plane was a 35 passenger turbo prop that landed on a dirt air strip near the park. We were picked up by drivers in their Land Rovers, from the Mara Intrepids, the camp where we would be staying. The ‘rooms’ we stayed in were actually luxury tents with all the comforts that would be expected in a 4 star hotel. The cuisine was very good and we enjoyed hanging out with the other missionaries. It was to be considered a ‘conference’ and a time for a little R & R from the rigors of serving as missionaries. The package included two nights in the camp, all meals, four game drives, and air fare to and from the camp. The rooms included mosquito nets over the beds, a hot water bottle in the beds to keep our feet warm, and hot chocolate served at 5:30 am as they made their wake up call. We were treated very well.
The game drives were very interesting. Reuben, our driver was very knowledgeable and provided lots of information about the animals in the park. We actually went on four game drives in the early mornings and late afternoons, when most of the animals were feeding and/or out in the open. We saw the following animals along with a variety of birds that were native to Africa and that we had never seen before. We saw elephants, lions, cheetahs, hippos, cape buffalo, ostrich, spotted hyenas, wart hogs, jackals, giraffes, tortoise and even 3 elusive leopards, which are very difficult to find. With the leopards, we have now seen all of the ‘Big Five’ in their natural habitat, (the elephant, rhino, lion, cape buffalo and leopard). The game drives each lasted about three hours, with three couples in the Land Rover and Reuben, our driver taking us to places where animals would most likely be, depending on the time of the day. The drivers would send radio messages to other drivers if they found an animal or group of animals of interest.
We also visited a remote Masai village and saw some of the Masai men perform their traditional dance. The Masai is a tribe of Kenyans that live in southern Kenya, mostly in small remote villages. They live in compounds of very small huts made of mud, with no windows and maybe 2 or 3 tiny rooms. We visited one of their homes, and when we entered it, we found it to be very hot inside, with charcoal coals burning on a stove like burner, total darkness, and a feeling of claustrophobia. I only stayed in it long enough to hear part of what our guide had to say about it and made a hasty exit. The Masai women also performed their traditional dance for us in their colorful native dress. h
Besides the animals, we enjoyed the beautiful Kenyan bush country, the sunsets, the night stars, the good company of our fellow colleagues and Reuben, our Land Rover driver, and delicious cuisine.
Attached are some photos of Maisa Mara, our 'room', the Masai people, and Reuben, our driver.