Mara Hippo Lodge Masai Mara National Reserve

The Comfort Inn lived up to our expectations - we were woken at 2:30am to a rather loud alarm which went on for about 5 mins, and then went off another 2 or 3 times in the night! We both awoke with a start to blazing sun outside thinking we’d missed our alarm only to find it was 5:30am and so we could go back to sleep for another hour.

After breakfast we had a short cab ride with a chatty driver to meet our truck and everyone else on our ...

... and the scenery was amazing as the sun rose over the horizon. Many people were out in hot air balloons overlooking the sun rise over the Serengeti....expensive! We went back to the campsite for brunch before packing up the tents and heading off on a game drive on our way out of the park. We saw some pretty exciting stuff....cheetahs, spotted hyenas, black faced vervent monkeys, rock hyrax, Coke's hartebeest, Defassa Waterbuck, giraffes (including some babies-6 months old ...

... the savannahs long lines of the wildebeests and zebras where moving. I had bought a small pair of binoculars in Nairobi and these were excellent to get close up views of the animals as the trucks must stick to the dirt roads and not interfere with the savannahs or the animals in anyway. The park is massive and it was great that we had 3 days to see it. So I will condense the next 3 days here and talk about the sights we saw.

Tuesday and Wednesday 28 and ...

... Airport for my flight. The Masai Mara National Reserve is located in Western Kenya and borders on the Tanzanian Serengeti. Flew into Ngerende airstrip (after three other stops within the park at other airstrips) and was met by Latif, who would be my driver for the duration of my stay. Within minutes of leaving the airport I had already seen zebras, baboons and a huge gathering of hippos. Upon arriving at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club.... I was met with a soothingly ...

... however I had to take the opportunity whilst I had it. My searching online for tours had proved confusing and not particularly useful. The endless links and different companies didn’t seem to cater for what I wanted. I’m not a big fan of camping, therefore was looking for something a bit more comfortable without the added price tag. I hit a big stroke of luck, when after a leisurely and very enjoyable lunch date at the Simba restaurant in ...

... We set up for lunch under a small enclosure just big enough to fit our cooking gear and food. Just as we started to eat we heard a crack of thunder and everyone looked accusingly at Heath and I as we are officially the Canadian Rain Gods who bring good fortune to drought stricken countries everywhere, but bad fortune to travellers. The skies literally opened just as we were explaining how good it was for the farmers and suddenly there was rivers and ...

... wracking given you know lions, snakes etc etc etc! Anyway, we survived and my baby sis took time to file her nails!! Honestly some people :) The guide during our day commented that the lodge we had originally been booked in (Seronera - which Kuoni changed at the last minute) would have probably been better for game viewing. Given that I was already irritated that we had missed a game drive to ...

... in Oz you get bogged down a lot! So the girls got out of the vans and started piling rocks under the front passenger tyre and in no time Bananas truck was on it's way....score one for the girls there... By now it was still nowhere near lunchtime yet so we stopped at the picturesque Fig Tree Lodge for a civilised mid-morning coffee in the shade. Once back in the vans we headed off and under seemingly endless African blue skies viewing buffalo, gazelles ...

... later that evening! Once in the park, all the guide/drivers communicate via CB radios. If someone finds a lion or cheetah, everyone in that part of the park races there en masse. It is strange to see 12 vehicles parked in row or semi-circle around lounging lions who could care less! Everyone, from all over the world, together - snapping away with a diverse array of camera gear. Some highlights: We came upon a cheetah who appeared to be hunting wildebeests... but it ...

... and tons of zebras, most of whom wanted to turn their backs to us. We reckoned most of our photos could be put in book called "***** of Africa". The scenery was spectacular especially in the crater. The face is a little burnt after hanging out the top of a 4 weel drive for 4 days. Back in Arusha now for a couple days rest before going trekking in the Ushambara mountains.