Today was great. But hey, have to say I am exhausted. This safari business is hard work! Up so early, bouncing around in a Jeep for 6 hours looking at amazing animals, today a fabulous photography lesson and then a 2 hour nature walk, with a Maasai warrior, one of the best things we have done this holiday. In 45 mins we have to front up to our guide Douglas who is taking us to a bush barbecue which we are looking forward to. Every day has been along similar lines, not sure we could keep this pace up much longer. Good job late tomorrow we head to the Kenyan coast for some relaxation before heading home.
We met Douglas at 6.30am he asked what we would like to see, I sheepishly said Black Rhino, as we have only seen them in the distance but there are only 13 in the whole of the Masai Mara and Cheetah as we have not seen one and anything else that might come along.
Along the way we saw about 6 of the spotted Hyena which we had not seen before, they seemed taller than the brown Hyena.
Took a few hours to see the Black Rhino, we had given up and went searching for the Cheetah it was then we saw a Black Rhino, it crossed the road quickly near us was a good siting but alas no photos.
Not long after we saw a very large Hippo that also crossed the road near us, it is unusual to see them out of water.
Along the way we saw 3 lions, 2, 4 yr old male lions. Their mane is not very long. When they are 5 they get a fuller mane. The third lion was 7yrs old it was much bigger and stronger with a bigger mane.
We also saw a Wildebeest mum and baby, the migration has not yet arrived in the Masai Mara, but should be here soon. They are late this year due to the heavy rains they had until May. The migration lasts for 4 months.
Had a lovely picnic breakfast around 9.30am. Overlooking the Mara. Then spent the next hour looking for Cheetah.
The landscape changed as we went further out looking for a Cheetah, was more open space. The grass was dry. A few areas have been burnt. Cheetah like flat, open ground so they can look around. We got very close to the Serengeti On our drive, even turning around a Marker that indicated the border of Kenya and Tanzania. There are 33 Cheetah here, they don’t have their own territory they roam, so it is more difficult to find them. 2 brothers were seen in the area we were looking last night. But we had no luck finding any.
On the way back we saw a giraffe sitting down. First we have seen here, it is unusual. Giraffes don’t lie down their neck always has to be up.
We returned to camp at 12.30pm for lunch. We were both tired and enjoyed just sitting still. After lunch we walked up to the Photography studio and met Adam who spent an hour with us giving us hints about our cameras. He is a great photographer, his photos are stunning, felt lucky.
At 4pm we met Fred, a Masai Warrior, we went on a nature walk with him in the nearby area. During the walk, I asked him what his birth name was. I was pretty sure it was’t Fred. And he told me the story of his names. He was born Kerika Sinoni, it changed to Fred at 9 when he went to school. Was not his intention to change his name, but he had a teacher from a different tribe/background. All of the students were using their given name. The Teacher couldn’t pronounce their names, so he gave everyone a new name, one that he could pronounce. ?. At school, a friend gave him a nickname of camppo, he asked his friend why that name, he named him after a French footballer called Fred d camppo. He said his preference is his birth name, it is what his family call him.
Kerika graduated 2 years ago as a warrior. He has been doing these walks for 4 yrs and is employed by Angama Mara where we are staying, his home is 7 miles away, but I presume he lives here while working as everyone else does. We spent the most delightful couple of hours with Kerika, he explained so many interesting things about the flora and fauna we were seeing on our walk. We both thought it was one of the best things we have done this holiday. Oh yes and he has the best sense of humour, was fun and very interesting.
Dinner was a bush barbecue tonight. We found when we met Douglas that there were now two other couples in the vehicle too and that not only were we going to the bush barbecue with them but on a game drive in the morning before we leave. ? they were both 20-30 years younger than us, the first couple we met were delightful, they were from Belgium. The other couple arrived late and were America, from New York. This is all quite a saga as we had to all agree on the timing of the game drive in the morning. Douglas suggested 6.30am to 9.30am I said that was great, the best time to be out observing the animals before the heat of the day. Belgium couple were happy too, but the other female, was some major princess, who was obviously used to having everything her way. She said she was on holiday and who gets up at 6 on holiday. She was only prepared to go out for two hours then wanted to be brought straight back and it went on in this vain. I felt for her partner, he looked terribly embarrassed.
Nothing was resolved, so we headed to dinner. Fortunately we did not have to sit with the princess. We had a most enjoyable evening sat in the bush with lanterns for lighting, it was beautiful, the food delicious and good company. Before we headed back princess was berating the general manager, for not having a private car for her and that if she couldn’t have that, then the 4 of us had to compromise with her. Was rather a shock watching such a carry on. I am hopeful that she will be sleeping when we head off at 6.30am tomorrow!
After the game drive, we will have breakfast then pack and head out to the airstrip around 1.30pm, for our flight at 2pm to the Kenyan coast, our last stop before heading home. We found out tonight that we are able to keep the room until we leave tomorrow. That made us happy ?
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