Olonana Masai Mara National Reserve

... which was well suited to the bellys. The bill came and we had no idea how much the set meals cost. It was a lot but worth every penny!!! We went straight to bed when we got back to the campsite and slept like babies.

The next day was Sunday and the beginning of the third stage of our trip. We left the campsite just before 8am and drove to a hotel in Nairobi city centre where we picked up the new passengers. There were eight of us staying on (four of us all the way from Cape ...

... many fall victim to
the feeding frenzies of the carnivorous beasts.

We spend five wonderful days in this beautiful park. All the images that you dream about
and associate with African game viewing came to life here. Another incredible
blessing – God must have had a lot of fun during creation, the constant beauty
around us is a permanent testament to this.

... has been such a highlight that it is hard not to rant. These animals and their habitats are threatened as Kenya has been deforested and is in drought as a result and the pattern of lessening rainfall is removing the grasses and feed for the animals so I am grateful that I have seen them before the environment is unable to support them. We saw evidence of the drought and the low rivers and dried up water holes and the grass less and more yellow having dried out.

... well in the trees and bushes so many people leave their safari without having seen one. I was lucky and had several sightings. While looking in the leopard territory we found a dead gazelle up in a tree, this would be a leopards kill. The leopard wasn't there but we can back to that spot several times knowing eventually the leopard would be there. The first time we saw this leopard he was way up in the tree standing on the branch that his kill was on, he then bounded ...

... to go.

I handed over my KSh 1600 ($20) entry fee to the small boy who bounded up to the van to collect me and was told it went towards educating the children, which is good. I was informed if I had any questions to just ask, again good, but when it turned out I had none (I’d just woken up from the journey) it seemed he had little to tell me without prompting which was a little disappointing. There was no real learning to dance ...

... able to hunt!). We watched as a few were picked off and carried under that water and ever a few were missed and escaped to make another crossing. It was intense and amazing to watch. I can't wait to share the pics, but that will have to wait until I return (slow internet). I flew back to Nairobi on a little plane, on clay and rock runways with animals just off the side of the runway. This was an adventure in itself, the cockpit was open so you could watch ...

... down (this time the suspension gave way) so the journey back through he rift valley was a little cosy with 11 in each van rather than 7. We returned to Nairobi and the big truck rather late with Sammy getting a little sensitive to the banter we gave him around time keeping. He was soon placated with a beer though ! After dinner the first of the drinking games started and with it came the first nakedness of our African adventure. A game of killer pool was ...

... village was a large circle where the keep the cattle at night. In the center of it was the circumscion pole. They use this pole when he slaughter a cow and for the cerimonial circumscions of BOTH the females and the male. The males have it done when they turn fifteen and the females have it done anywhere between the ages of ten to eighteen.

... the trip-on a pillow borrowed from the lodge to help soften the effect of the bumps on his sore tail. But it didn't slow him down a bit and he recovered completely in a few weeks. Thursday, 21 July Ed and Pat took advantage of the opportunity to take a hot air balloon ride over the Mara. They had to get up at 4:30 a.m. in order to see dawn from almost 1000 feet high in the balloon. They were able to see the migration rather well. After the ...