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Hello,
We are now in Kenya at the Masai Mara Game Reserve. It is not a National park as I thought, but belongs to the Massi tribe who live in it and have their cattle and goats in it. Seems weird when the native animals are roaming too.
It is an extension of the Serengeti in Tanzania. The Wildebeests do an 800 km annual migration up here to eat the green grass then head back once the rains come in the Serengeti. It is prettier here with open plains and rolling hills.
We saw the 'Big 5' animals again today but closer. We saw 2 rhinos close by, a cheetah next to the road, lots of lions, 100's of skeletons. There is obviously oodles of food for the predators.
I was shocked to see a dead giraffe, apparently recently killed by a lion.
We are in a nice tented village with generator power for 7 hrs a day and hot water. The food is ok, not great.
Our guide this time is a Massi, speaks good English but other than pointing out the animals says nothing- no history of the Reserve or the Masai!
Luckily we know some from Tanzania.
The drive from Nairobi Airport to the city was terrible. We thought we had rush hr problems- nothing compared to their hassles, and no road rules, but they are polite about pushing and shoving between lanes.
People stood all thru the lanes selling food, handbags, papers, anything really.
The hotel was a dump and we had to have dinner on a tray sitting on the bed in our room!
I have yet another head cold so feel yuck again. Need to be better soon or no Gorilla visit.
It isn't as clean here which is a pity. The Massi villages are grubby, typical of Aborginal camps.
The men don't wear the tartan shawl as much here, more often in western clothes.
They seem to have more permanent dwellings but are still walking the poor goats and cattle( a type of Brahman cow I think) up and down and across the roads. They seem rather skinny , maybe as they don't get to just eat the grass but always being moved on.
Mon.
We had a b---y long dusty bumpy drive out of the reserve and up to a National Park with a lake in it.
It's famous for having 1000's of flamingoes but we only saw a 100 or so and not close.
BUT we saw 7 rhinos fairly close by, of which 5 were the rare white ones!!
How lucky were we! Actually the park has a concentration of them ( there are armed rangers babysitting them ) but that doesn't mean you will see them.
Not sure how but we are in a lovely lodge, in a garden villa, and are the only guests. So we just had dinner sitting on the lounge in front of a specially laid fire!
We 'll have to tip now !! b*****!
Tmw after a late start we go back to Nairobi and the airport for our flight to Rwanda. No 6 out of 17 flights!
- comments
Deb Hopkins Poor giraffe, but that is life in the wild, it would upset me too....glad you ended up in a nice hotel. Keep safe Love Debz
Netta and Mary Carol I am telling my friend Mary who has been to Lake Naivasha...is this the one? She says it is a memorable sight.