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Up at 5.45 and on the road by 7am, im still in shock to the fact that the three of us managed to be sensible once in our lives! After getting fuel, coffee and croissants for breakie (which incidentally cost us more than hiring a guide for a day in the Masai!) we were on our way out of Nairobi and entering the real Africa. As we drove down over the edge of the escarpment unfortunately cloud covered part of the view and I can only imagine how breath taking it would have been should we have been able to see the full panoramic bottom of the valley with the volcanoes in the background as we could see probably a third of it where the cloud parted. With Rups as tour guide we learnt about Longonot volcano, erupting last in 1860 with its resident baboons and stunning baseline scenery and also an insight into Africas Great Rift Valley - although I don't think we needed Rupert to tell us why this geographical epic is visited by so many - the view over the escarpment was breathtaking (although we had a better view on the way back as cloud was covering half of it off in Narook we had our second breakfast of the day (well we are travelling with Daubs) of coffee and the best samosas I have ever eaten.
The road ran out someway between Narook and getting to the Mara and Daubs was back in his element off roading. So what do you do if your on a very dodgy track and an equally dodgy looking Masai man with a hoody and leather jacket hails you down and asks for a lift? Well if your name is Christopher Daubney you stop of course, re-arrange the kit in the car and make room - great Daubs, it's me he would kill first being in the back next to him, if of course this was his intent. Luckily it was not and intact this was a good call by Daubs and a complete result. As I was worrying about intent, Daubs was thinking what better person to show us the way, someone who knew the roads, and park backwards it seems - Masai John became our guide for the three days we were in the Mara.
The Thomas / Daubney luck stood strong, within half an hour of being in the park we had seen two lioness with a zebra kill. The afternoon continued with a pack of 10 hyena with a kill, a huge heard of 700+ buffalo The rest included Giraffe, zebra, elephants, many kinds of Antelope including heartbeats (getting their name from the heart shape their horns make), waterbutt, impala and topi. Thompson and grants gazelles. Vultures including lappet faced, nubian, white backed and ruppels. Birds including ostridge, white bellied bustard. Wilder beast and warthog.
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