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Jambo!
I am back from the weekend safari! We had a fantastic time. On Friday Steph, 4 other volunteers and I left Nairobi and drove the 6 hours southwest through the Great Rift Valley to Maasai Mara where the annual wildebeest migration is taking place. The Great Rift Valley is quite barren, very dry and dusty, and sparsely dotted with trees and bushes. We passed through tiny Maasai villages where the adults would stare and the children would wave. We often passed women wearing traditional red cloth carrying water jugs on their backs or child shepherds herding their flocks of goats or cattle. As we drove further and further into the valley, the tin Maasai houses were replaced with houses made of mud. The road was absolutely horrendous and we bumped and bounced the entire way. At some points off-roading was a better option than actually driving on the road. As I rode along I listened to Eddie Vedder's "Into the Wild" soundtrack on my iPod, which I felt was appropriate. The first time I spotted a zebra we were absolutely ecstatic! I attributed my animal spotting skills to being raised by the Master Hunter (Dad). All those years of spotting for white tail deer have paid off!
We finally arrived at the camp. There was a large pavilion where we would be eating our meals, plenty of tents, and a common bathroom. If you are thinking I am crazy for sleeping in a tent in the African wilderness, do not fear...there was an electric fence surrounding the entire camp. Steph and I dropped off our bags at our assigned tent, which was just big enough for two beds and an area to place our belongings, and then we all hopped back into the matatu for a 3 hour safari ride that evening.
Besides seeing plenty of wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, buffalo, baboons, and even a tucan (Froot Loops!), the highlight of the evening was seeing two lions for the first time. A male and a female lion were laying in the tall grass about 10 feet off the road. I was so excited and had my video camera rolling, waiting for the moment that they stood up. Just then, my camera went "ding!", notifying me that my memory card was full. As I clamored around looking for another memory card in my bag, the female stood up and walked to the center of the road, about 20 feet in front of our van. As I continued to fiddle with my camera, the male followed her to the center of the road, and then to our disbelief, they began mating! Just as I got my camera working again, the Kodak moment was over and they laid down side by side on the road and went back to sleep. Frustration is not even the word to use to describe my feelings at that moment!
On Saturday we spent the entire day driving and looking for animals. We saw more lions, warthogs, vultures, eagles, dikdik, hartebeest, etc. The highlights were the elephants and giraffes. We found a herd of elephants and one kept walking towards us and came within 20 feet or so of our van. It was so awesome. Afterwards we were driving along and I spotted giraffe heads sticking out of the tree line in the distance. We drove closer and parked, and 7 giraffes walked out of the trees into full view. Two kept walking closer and kept staring at us as we were taking picture after picture. They are amazing creatures. We sat there for a while just taking it all in since the animals didn't seem to mind us being there.
We stopped for lunch at a river where we saw hippos. We were watching a group that were sunbathing on the side of the river when we heard a noise and realized there were about 5 other hippos submerged in the water that we couldn't see until they came up for air.
The wildebeest migration was amazing. We saw thousands of them. There were a lot of packs scattered across the land. We would often find them grazing but at times they would be on the move, following one another in a straight line. The wildebeests and zebras were friendly, often mingling within the same herd. I took lots of pictures of the wildebeests but I'm sure the pictures will not justify how many wildebeests there actually were.
We came across a lion that was sleeping next to her freshly-eaten wildebeest. We also found a couple of carcasses along the way with vultures fighting over the remains.
Sunday morning we left at 6:30 AM for another 2 hour drive and were able to watch a beautiful sunrise. The highlight was seeing a rhino, which are so rare that I was not even hoping to actually see one. While most of the rhino's body was hidden in the bushes, it was still neat to be able to have had that experience. After the drive we ate breakfast and then hit the road for the 6 hour journey back to Ngong.
I really wish I could upload pictures!
Later!
Kristin
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