Oh my goodness! Words cannot describe the last four days we have had! The people we have met, the cultural knowledge we have gained, the animals we have seen and just the beauties of the country have been overwhelming. On Saturday morning we were picked up by our lovely guide for the next few days, Hazan, in a 4WD Landrover. We were all very excited and had been on the road for about half an hour when a red light appeared on the dashboard. Some important thingy in the car had snapped, so we had to stop at a mechanic for about an hour. We then drove for another 2 hours before we reached Hell's Gate National Park. We embarked on a 4 hour mountain bike ride through the wildlife. This was a rough journey for Anne, who hadn't ridden a bike since primary school! We saw so many animals, it was amazing! We rode past Zebras, Giraffes, Warthogs, Baboons, Buffalos and many more animals. The sights of the park were absolutely gorgeous! After 8km, we reached Hell's Gate. The name originates from a whole tribe being buried by a volcanic eruption. We stopped to have a snack and when we turned away from the table for one second, a Velvet Monkey stole our spicy peanuts. And trust me, they were spicy so it was hilarious watching it eat them! On the way back we came across a huge number of Buffalos crossing the road just ahead of us. When we finished the return trip, we drove to Fisherman's Camp which is a lovely little camping spot by Lake Naivasha, where we were greeted by the sight of Hippo's at the lake. Our cabin was beautiful and we even got a cat with it and a houseful of personal supplies, giving us the impression that we were staying in someone else's house... Mum and Anne got red wine with our pizza dinner and slept very, very well! Sunday morning we departed on a 6 hour drive to Masai Mara. The Masai are a tribe in Kenya and Mara means land. This area is known for the range of wildlife and is about 18 000 square kilometres. The road there was terrible and we spent almost one third of the trip bouncing up and down in the car. We arrived at Kimana Camp, a beautiful tent-camp and were amazed to find we were the only ones staying there. We relaxed until 4pm, and then set off on our first game drive! At the gate where we paid for entrance, the car was surrounded with so many crazy, enthusiastic ladies trying to sell their hand made gifts. Their hands were reaching through the window and we had to lock the doors. Mum got out and was surrounded by the ladies, but we didn't dare get out of the car to go to the toilet. I thought I'd rather go with wild animals. The drive was spectacular! We saw Giraffes, Elephants, a Leopard, Buffalos and Gazelles! Masai Mara is truly amazing. The next day we left at 7am for a full day Safari! We saw 4 out of the Big 5 (Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Rhino). Anne (who owns a dairy/beef farm with her family), spotted four lions in the grass and we think that years and years of spotting the calves has come to good use! We drove to the Mara River where the Hippos and Crocodiles are and where the migration of Wildebeests occurs every year around July to September. The Hippos were awesome to watch and listen to! On our drives around the land, we spotted so much wildlife by standing on the chairs and looking out through the open roof of the car! There was one certain herd Elephants that came very close to our car and we got some beautiful photos! The one animal we didn't see was a Rhino but there are only 7 of them left in Masai Mara. We finished our game drive at 4pm and then visited a Masai village of about 30 people on our way back to the camp. This was very, very interesting! The Masai live a lifestyle that gives you the feeling that the middle ages still exist. They have huge earring holes (considered beautiful...), have their front two teeth pulled out at a young age and wear bright red blankets to identify a brother from miles away. Their houses are made of cow dung and sticks. We were horrified with their living conditions but they don't know any better. The women have absolutely no rights and do all the work for the men. There are arranged marriages and women are still being circumcised even though it is illegal. Masai men have many wives, on average about 7. Mum and Dad got offered 20 cows to buy Jette and I. The amazing thing is that they all have a sense of humour and are so lovely! We danced with them and they performed the ritual of jumping very high, which they are known for. We shopped in their market and Dad took the price they told us down by 15 000 Kenyan Shillings (AUS $220) for 17 small items. We still ended up paying way too much... Before we left today, Mum went back to the gate to buy some bracelets from one of the many Anna's (the ladies all call themselves Anna, just to make it easy for the tourists), because she promised that the day before. The 6 hour drive back to Ngong was interesting. Hassan is full of knowledge and is very easy to get along with. He shared many stories with us about his life and experiences and could also answer any questions we threw at him. We had an amazing few days and gained so much information from him. He told us that he has Facebook and Whatsapp! This we found very surreal. When he spots an animal, he sends a message to other guides of it's whereabouts. There is mobile service in the outback of Masai Mara and it's very strange to see the Masai men texting while minding their cattle... They have way better service than in Australia! Tomorrow is going to be relaxing after 4 days of sitting in a car and getting burnt from the hot sun. However it was all very worth the knowledge we gained and the sights we saw!