Four of the Big Five
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
230
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Masai Mara National Reserve,
Kenya
Friday, August 1, 2008
That big word had been hanging over our heads for the last couple months as we prepared to head into Africa. It was a must do, but the question was, how?
Without a doubt, it was going to be the most expensive thing we would do during our entire trip. Coming as it was during the end of it, we didn't exactly have a lot of cash to spare. There were other issues as well. It was apparently high season in Kenya and Tanzania, and we would need 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.
topi
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 Adventures website. Not only did they have a three day safari of the Maasai Mara leaving on the first of August, but they also had a guarranteed group departure at a reasonable price. Even better, we could make the payment online, and they seemed to be a fairly large company with tours all around the world. It seemed like the best of both worlds.
There were a few problems, of course. It turns out that because we were booking so late they needed to ask the Nairobi office if they could accomodate us. This process took quite a long time. In fact, we had already committed our details but still didn't have a confirmation by the time we left Cairo to fly to Nairobi. But finally, the next morning, we had a confirmation and were ready to go. It was quite a relief because we didn't have to deal with the safari-tout-shuffle in Nairobi.
On the morning of our departure we met our fellow safari-goers, Mike and Lorraine from Scotland, at the Boulevard Hotel. They had just been in Madagascar and were heading home right after the safari
Vervet monkey
. Our driver and guide, Dixon, picked us up and we began the 5 hour drive to Maasai Mara. It was just the four of us so there was plenty of room to spread out, and the van was pretty comfortable in any case.If I haven't mentioned this already, the roads in Kenya are horrible. This road was no exception. They are unpaved and full of potholes. We passed two trailer trucks that had driven off the road. We spent a good portion of the time with our rears in the air. I couldn't sleep, but somehow Erin managed.
We stopped at a viewpoint to look down at the Rift Valley. Friendly guys offered some information and then tried to sell stuff. As we got closer to the park, we began to see the Maasai. They walk along the road (or on it), herding small groups of cattle, sheep, and goats. They generally have a staff and a red checkered cloth wrapped around them. It was cold so a lot of them had jackets and wool hats. Some of the women were decked out in bright colors and wearing big necklaces. They also put giant holes in their ears and when they don't have earrings in the skin just hangs down. Some of the men put the loop up over the top of their ears to keep it out of the way.
We bumped and bounced into our camp for the next two days
cleaning time
. It was pretty fancy for camping: we had a tent with a roof built over it. The tent had two wooden beds with comfy mattresses. They even had hot water in the outdoor bathrooms. We met Isaac, the smiley cook, and sat down to lunch. It was lots of food and very good. We prepared to take our first afternoon game drive in the park.The van has a pop-up roof which lets us stand up and have 360 degree views. We bounced into the park, passed some solitary zebras and Thompson's gazelles, and made our first sighting of wildebeests. After that the sightings started coming hard and fast.
Being on safari is kind of different from what you might think, especially in a big, famous game park like the Maasai Mara. First of all, there are lots of white safari vans. They are kind of like another herd of strange-looking animals. On the one hand, this is annoying because vans tend to congregate around various animals. On the other, this is good because if you head towards a group of white vans you'll probably see something good. Also, although the animals are huge (how can you miss an elephant?), the park is enormous. It swallows up entire herds of game animals. You can drive right past a herd of elephants 200m to your right and never know they were there. So you can get lucky and see a lot of animals or get unlucky and see none at all.
We got very lucky on our first game drive. In fact, it kind of spoiled us for the rest of the trip. We just drove from one animal sighting to another. We started off with a female lion, sitting proud on a termite mound. Later, we saw three male lions lazing about on a rock
wildebeest tussle
. We saw a small herd of elephants by a water hole. Luckiest of all was the beautiful leopard we observed for several minutes sitting on another mound. In Eldoret some friends of Marcia told us they had lived in Kenya for 22 years before they saw a leopard. They are very shy animals. Coming back we saw two ostriches and a couple distant buffalo. Dixon told us we had seen 4 out of the big 5 in our first game drive. The big 5 (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhino) refer to the most ferocious animals that safari hunters faced. Our chances of seeing a rhino were slim. Dixon told us there were 23 in the park. Considering that the park is enormous, it would be similar to looking for a needle in a haystack.The Mara is mostly a vast plain and the clouds have quite some personality. This evening it was cloudy and light would shine through in very dramatic ways. It was hard to focus on the scenery when we were meant to be looking for animals.
All in all, a very good first day on safari.
~Travis
