Mara Bushtops Masai Mara National Reserve

... with some beers listening to music and chatting with Shane.

Dinner was our favourite, chicken curry, prepared by our cook Moses. So far so good with the food!

Our camp was good with nice permanent tents with proper wooden camp beds and a mattress. Apparently we should make the most of it as our next camp site, as we head for Uganda is supposed to be pretty rubbish.

Apparently on the first night a couple of the girls were ...

... spotted a whole lot of trucks parked up so we headed over to see what they were looking at. It turns out that there was a leopard in a tree in the distance but we couldn't see it. Someone took a zoomed in photo and then zoomed in on it and we could just make it out. We didn't bother staying around too long as the leopard is a nocturnal animal and probably wouldn't move for hours. That night we camped in the middle of the Serengeti at an open bush camp. We were told that animals would ...

... Mara safari, we felt so lucky. We had seen four of the big five (lion, elephant, rhino, wildebeest) with only the leopard being too elusive for us. Having said that we did trade it for a couple of cheetahs, and seeing as they are the fastest land mammal, that is surely a fair swap.

We had a lovely relaxing evening and couldn’t believe all that we had seen over the last few days. We were pretty exhausted but it was phenomenal and we had loved every minute.

... taste of the parks wildlife. Out across the Talek River we passed a Maasai village and arrived at the Gametrackers campsite which was solar powered and had little huts and tents there with toilet and showers. Being the only people there we were given a hut which was great as had a double bed and would be great as we spent 3 nights here. After lunch we went on a game drive from 4pm till 6.30 pm when the park closes. We went deeper into the park and saw the ...

... your bleary eyes and confusion.... And you have a typical border crossing. I honestly had no idea where to go... and for a while everyone from my bus seemed to magically disappear, where did they all go?? And the waiting, wow....just so much freaking waiting. And did I mention the bathroom that I paid to use? Oh yes.... One beautiful hole in the ground....a squat venue covered in everyone else's pee. If it hadn't been for all the men with guns I would have much ...

... Crocodiles basking along the water's edge, cuts through the Masai Mara with a life giving ribbon of water and green riverine landscape. You will get to experience one of the new 7 Wonders of the World - The Wildebeest Migration. Dinner and Overnight at Mara Serena Lodge (Full Board)

MASAI MARA!!!!!! This was our first real game safari as honestly we just got lucky in QE Park in Uganda. We piled into some safari vans for the long, bumpy trip from Jinja to Acacia Camp. Maggie, our trusty Dragoman truck had officially told us that she was not doing one more safari trip and that she wanted her retirement that was promised to her last July. The safari vans were a much better option though as they allowed us to take less worn tracks in the ...

... this time it wasn't lions but Bananas had got himself in another right mess.... We headed over to where he was and found him sitting at a 45 degree angle with his passenger side tyres almost submerged. The drivers once again ran to the rescue with one of them telling Bananas that he had to get out and push as he was way too fat to sit in the cab ! Harsh but fair - he had evidently consumed his fair share of pies in the past so was a bit rotund..... The ...

... roads (everyone keeps saying it is much better now!). Even before we hit the bad roads, we passed a fatal matatu accident in which the vehicle had rolled off the road and four passengers died. (matatus are small van taxis that hold up to 14 passengers - the main method of public transport in Kenya) Kenyans are used to this type of tragedy. It happens way too often here. It was a hot day and there was a great deal of traffic on the bumpy roads (partially under construction ...

... a great factor in this is that rarely do any "flush" toilets in Kenya actually accomplish their goal. Usually when one wants to drop a present into the porcelain bowl, five people before you had similar ideas. That, and hovering is highly over-rated. We're all very comfortable with our squatting positions and I've acquired a frightening affinity for my pit. From one traveller thinking of extending her visa, and not just for more "pit" experiences...