Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Trip Start Oct 06, 2008
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Trip End Dec 22, 2008


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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

We left Nairobi for our Masai Mara Game Reserve Safari at 8am on Friday. It was only supposed to be the two of us. At the last minute, a British guy named Loren showed up after an all-night bus from Uganda and was hoping to join us. This would work out great. As we were ready to leave, Loren realized he had left a bag with his passport, his phone, and his camera in a cab earlier that morning. After much discussion as to what to do, we took Loren down to the bus station in hopes of finding his cab and driver. He got out and looked around quickly with no luck. Loren decided no to go on our safari and was going hang around to see if his cab showed up. Our Safari guide Fred was busy with something for awhile and then we were off. When we got to the end of the street, we could see Loren waving with his missing bag in his hand. The cab driver had simply locked it away in his trunk in case he came looking for it. So all was well, a very lucky start to this little adventure.

We drove about an hour outside Nairobi which sits at an elevation of 2000+metres, and rounded a sharp bend which revealed the Great Rift Valley. From our viewpoint, it looked as if stretched for 100kms, it was huge. We continued down the mountainside to the valley below and drove most the day on some terrible roads, driving through various villages made up of simple concrete, tin, and/or mud brick buildings. On route, we stopped for lunch in a Masai village. Here, Fred hired a cook and a trainee guide to accompany us. These young guys were members of the Masai tribe, with large hooped earrings, red capes, and cell phones. There names were Chaos and Justice (...seriously the pronunciation, but spelling may be incorrect). With names like that, we knew we had the right guys....our Masai posse.

We arrived at our campsite, Acacia Camp, around 3pm just outside Masai Mara. Campsites are different here, They have great permanent tents usually set-up on a wooden platforms. The tents are large, have actual beds, and sometimes even a bathroom. The set-up at Acacia was excellent.

We headed out on our first game drive before dinner. We definitely got off to a great start. We saw Giraffe, Zebra, Elephant, and a huge old male lion within feet of our van. It's hard to describe, but it felt like we stepped back in time a few thousand years, when animals simply roamed free. Like a true version of Jurassic Park

We spent the entire next day driving around the reserve, seeing loads of wildlife. At one point, a van in front of us blew a tire and had to change it in the middle of the park. In some bushes, not more than 100 meters, we came upon 3 lions carefully considering a small man changing a tire for their lunch. It was cool. A great day with lots of pictures that we are having trouble uploading.

We returned to camp where Chaos cooked us a great supper, and we had a few drinks then off to bed. Headed back to Nairobi the next morning with a short game drive on route. A really great experience!!!
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Comments

mastrans
mastrans on Oct 17, 2008 at 11:35AM

Hello
Must not be anything like African Lion Safari....LOL

petcrazy
petcrazy on Oct 19, 2008 at 10:03AM

hi guys
Glad to hear B-Rock finally got his posse!!
Sounds like an exciting adventure. The kids and I are following your blog as we are all crazy about animals here since this is my new job. I am managing Pet Crazy in Woodstock and loving my new career! Have fun,be safe and can't wait to see the pics.

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