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We arrived in Nairobi early in the morning after a delayed flight and had a taxi waiting for us to take us to the campsite. We then fell asleep until lunch time due to a lack of sleep on the plane. After meeting Matthew who had a safari booked for the next day we decided we might as well get out of Nairobi too as not many recomendations to hang around. Picked up early the next day and we were on our way. We had a family on our bus and a local who now lives in England which was a good sign we had chosen the right safari. Our first stop was at Rift Valley which was good to see Africa with all the plains not a mass of people and buildings. Lots of people trying to sell you stuff for ridiculous prices, as of course all english are rich!
We arrived at Masai Mara late afternoon and just had time to dump our bags and off we went into the park. We were not dissapointed saw lots of Zebras, antelopes and wilderbeasts which we were amazed with, little did we know that it would be a regular sighting. Then our guided Joshua spotted an elephant ear miles in the distance (not surprisingly the rest of us did not have a clue where he was pointing at). This was amazing there was a herd hidden among the tress and we drove right up to them. It was cool how they just walked right in friont of us for a nosy and there was a few babies amongst the group. They were well camouglaged as were most of the animals we saw I think the Zebras are the most unlucky ones as they stand out for miles. We also saw too sleepy male lions who were not stirring for anyone. Not a bad first day.
Next morning off we went again for a full day in the park and yet again no dissapointments. We can't really mention everything we did so will keep it brief. Saw the migration of wilderbeast and zebras the line went on for miles it was a truly spectacular sight pity we couldn't actually see them make the break for freedom across the river. We saw two lioness guarding their kill hopefully put a video on for you later so you can see nature at it's crulest. One of the highlights was seeing a carcus of a wilderbeast being ripped apart by a pack of vultures and cranes. No food is left rotting for long!
We drove along later in the day to the otherside of the park where you saw a river full of hippos. We had to have an army guide as it used to be a popular place for Tanzanian bandits. He was very informative telling us that hippos literally rip you in half if they get hold of you just for fun as they are herbivores. A few crocdiles were lazing in the sun watching the baby hippos. If we had been lucky this would have been where the wilderbeast cross but as our guide said at this time it is hard to get close as the smell of rotting animals is imense as most die in the water attacked by crocodiles and hippos and if they make it to the other side the lions lie in wait.
On our way back our guide spotted an antelope hung over a tree we all got excited because we thought he said there was a leopard but not to worry as when he drove around the back of the trees the leopord was laying in the shade underneath. He was so hard to spot as he blends in very well with the deep undergrowth. But due to my fantastic camera we have a great picture to frame later.
Another early night and a mass of food including beans and toast for breakfast (very English) we set off for one last look in the park. We were lucky to see even more elephants both close up then a herd of about 28 on the horizon. The girraffes were very gracefull walking slowly between the trees then they delicately pull the leaves off. Unfortunately no rhinos yet but that is something to look forward to in the next park we are visiting.
Couldn't have had a better start to the trip.
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