Mara Timbo Camp Masai Mara National Reserve

... we went, taking in all the usual, including the Ws above, zebras, giraffes, water bucks and a host of gazelles. But then came the surprise. As we were all admiring a beautiful rainbow that spanned the mountain range, he stopped suddenly. There were our other 4x4s and we were all told to get out for a surprise. There we walked 100 yards into the bush where we encountered 3 white rhinos. We were 30 feet from them, on a walking ...

... All in all the team seem like a very friendly bunch. Heard hyenas whooping in the distance and saw some buffalo's grazing just outside of the camp. And on a not so nice note I realized that I suddenly didn't have my money bag with all my money and the extra credit cards on me. I though I was carrying it with me at all times and didn't remember leaving it in the truck with my rug sack and stupidly did not put it in the safe where most people ...

... cats, zebra, warthog, giraffe, waterbuck, hartebeest, topi, wildebeest, dik-dik, impala, gazelle). The lodge was amazing. Great meals, pool, private bungalos, etc. More info is in the captions to photos. We are with a great tour group (Barney, Kate, Desmond, Liselotta, Asha, and Jason). The biggest story was that Lisalotta got out of the van ...

... earlier. Don was still out, so I just found the thermometer we always keep with us and was disappointed at the reading of 101.2. Being the baby I am, I just threw on more clothes and crawled into bed, and piteously wailed Don's name every few minutes. When he finally returned, and checked my temp again it was up to 102.5 - not good. Even with the help of some drugs it was a hard night, as every muscle ached, and my constant chills kept me shaking and ...

... to find at least a couple more people to make a safari cost effective. We would probably also need to pay in US dollars, cash (we didn't have any). And we needed to find a reliable budget safari company (something that is apparently very difficult). It was a tricky problem. So after looking online and gasping at the prices, we decided to just land in Nairobi and take it from there. It was about that time that I stumbled upon the GAP ...

... afternoon in the park was completed with some hyena sightings and the start of the 'fruit wars' ('van violence' involving lobbing unwanted lunchtime fruit or haribo sweets into the tops of other vans in our group in a stealth manner as they pass). Once the game drive was over we were dropped at the local Masai village. Our village guide was called John and as with most Masia was unusually tall. They sang some Masai songs for us and performed a couple of ...

... was seeing the wildebeasts cross the Mara river. As they crossed, a huge crocodile swam up alongside one and we must missed seeing the take as they passed right near where we were parked and there was a small bluff between us and the Mara river. There was a rather loud splash and then both the croc and wildebeast disappeared......never to return. The number of wildebeasts ...

... to pot-holed gravel and billowing dust. The cratered track to our tented camp [the whole trip booked through Eastern & Southern Safaris, a private safari company, i.e., just the two of us, www.essafaris.co.ke] passed by the outbuildings of a Masai village. Every time we drove by ragged children tumbled out to wave and call frantically. It also traversed the patch of an aggressively territorial pair of dik-diks. Dik-diks are a tiny mouse deer (about the size of a big kiwi ...

... White Rhino. The concern had been that with only two hours in the park that we might miss the main feature but happily mammy and baby rhino and friends showed up on our last lap of the park. Incredible creatures! The next morning we took off for the Maasai Mara for the good stuff!! And that's where the drama started. We had to go back almost as far a Nairobi to meet another bus of 3 people that were to join us - 2 Belgians and a Kiwi who were sound - just ...

... opgepikt moest worden. En het ging nog allemaal goed ook.
Ergens rond vieren kwamen we aan, en werden we eerst nog niet geheel
vrijwillig gedropt bij een Maasai dorp, waar e dan moest betalen om foto's
te mogen maken en in het dorp te mogen kijken. De chief werd aan ons voorgesteld,
een jochie van hooguit 20… beetje vreemd, we denken dat hij die promotie
vooral te danken had aan het feit dat hij ...