Safari Part Two

I woke up an hour early on the second day of the safari. I don't know if it was because it was so cold or if I was just being like a kid on Christmas - too giddy to sleep. At 5:30 it was the coldest weather I can remember waking up in and by far the coldest I've felt in Kenya. At 6:30 a knock came on our tent door; the help had brought hot chocolate and the most polite wake up call I've ever received. I got out of bed and literally put on every layer I had. I think the grand total was 5 layers and I could have used one more.



Mornings are the best time to get out and see the animals. As soon as we left the camp, we saw hippos trotting back to the water where they spend the day time. A few minutes later we saw a pack of hyenas fighting over a zebra's bones. None of the photos turned out all that blog worthy but the experience was noteworthy. Our driver referred to warthogs as the Kenya express. Most of them went around in family groups like this. There tusks are enormous and they can really move!



During our morning game drive, the theme song from Dances with Wolves kept running through my head. i couldn't capture exactly how many zebras there were. At points the herds would extend as far as you could see.



We didn't really stop for the herbivores though. We were out to find Lions. As we drove we saw a group of safari vehicles all sitting in one spot. As we approached our guide shouted "a Lion!!" We all perked up and saw our first lion of the trip/ my life. Not just a lion but just about every meat eater was accounted for. There were hyenas, a jackal, and some really ugly vultures. As far as we could tell the hyenas were trying to get the Lion to get up and go hunt so the other members of the group could have something to eat too. I shot some pretty amazing video of the display, which I may eventually get to post. The scene was nothing like TV. The lion just lay there very relaxed while the hyenas would stay quiet and then work up the courage to go and attempt to coerce the king of the jungle to go get them some food. The lion would subsequently growl and the hyenas would back off. It was beyond description.



The lion was a bit young but very majestic. It seemed completely unconcerned with our presence.



The car in the back ground was a BBC film crew. We were kinda ruining their shot but they were getting paid so who cares.



After the lion we went out looked for more animals. This group of cheetahs were very very hard to see. The cheetahs also changed my perception about how nature works. I don't ever remember of thinking of them as a group that hunts or travels in groups. I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasn't all a dream. I really couldn't believe my eyes.



This secretary bird is a snake killer. The name seems very fitting. It looks like a thin woman with with a black pony tale.



After the secretary bird we headed back to camp. This dragon fly got my attention as it flew by. Since the wings are transparent, it looked like 1 bug with 4 others flying very closely to it. When I went over to investigate I saw that it was one of the most unique bugs I've ever seen. I ended up taking 15 pictures trying to get a good picture of it. Thank goodness for digital right?



This structure at the camp was made out of mud walls and a thatched roof like the ones in the village I posted pictures of. Turns out it was the bathroom, but I guess you didn't need to know that.



This guide helped our driver get around the huge area of the game reserve. It turns out he owns 150 acres including the land that Olare Lodge is built on. I felt pretty safe with him in the car.



Masai people are do all kinds of things with their ears. I didn't want him to see me take a picture but I had to have a picture of them. I know its hard to tell whats going on but basically his ear lobes were stretched long enough that he could stretch them up and over the rest of the ear. It looked kinda cool but it definitely fits into the "I'm not sure I could pull that off in a job interview" category.



After lunch our group insisted on being taken to the Masaai River despite his best efforts to stifle our plans. On the way there we passed one of the air strips that people use when flying to their safari camps. When a plane took off the field next to us came alive as everything ran for cover. Epic.



When we got to the Masaai River I was suddenly even more thankful for Blair and Sam's courage in demanding we be taken there. It was out of this world. We saw a larger variety of animals there than any other place on the trip. It turns out you aren't supposed to be let out of the car but our guide did a good job of keeping us safe. You can see a group of hippos about 20 strong in the water behind me. The bank of the river was about 15 feet tall so we were completely safe.



As we stood baffled at all the hippos and crocks in the water, our guide quietly got our attention and motioned us to follow him through some bushes towards another part of the river. When we emerged from the bushes we saw some crocks basking directly under us on the river bank. They quickly jumped ship and swam away and we went back to our other spot.



Like I said, this spot had an amazing variety. This giraffe loved posing for pictures and kept standing in place for some really majestic shots. This picture has a crocodile, a hippo, a giraffe, and a gaggle of zebras. It was becoming clear that the safari was worth every single cent.



If that concept wasn't clear at that point, then it would really solidify in my mind on the drive back when we saw this elephant. This was the first elephant we had seen out in the open. As we approached it used its trunk to throw mud from a nearby puddle onto its back. We slowly drove past in a tirade to take as many pictures as possible. We stopped and waited as long as we could stand as the enormous elephant came towards us. I think this is the last picture I took before we balked and drove off. This will be a great conversation starter this school year when I use it as a wallpaper on my laptop.



As we headed back for dinner we saw ostriches, and the winner of the oh my gosh, thats the ugliest animal I've ever seen contest, the wildebeest. We all laugh about the fact that Kenyans pronounce this "wild beast". They have a horse's tail, a buffalo's head and some other animals' body. Very much the ugly duckling of the Masaai Mara.



After dinner we went out for another evening game drive. Our van high centered on a rock for a few minutes as we drove through the grass. It seemed like a good photo opp.



This picture was during our little pit stop. I'm wearing a shirt that no longer belongs to me. Its a great story, but one that will have to wait for tomorrow.



The evening was as fruitful as the other excursions. We came upon a group of giraffes as we drove around. This was one of the largest giraffes we saw all trip.



As the sun went down the park became so much more beautiful. This tree had weaver bird nests in it. They are very intricate, fully enclosed birds nests.



As we drove our guide shouted again... LIONS! I have absolutely no clue how he saw the lioness that was at least a half mile away on a hillside. I'm even more baffled by the fact that he was able to navigate us at least a mile and a half out of the way to bypass a creek between us and the lion and then get us to the exact spot where it was creeping along hunting. We definitely threw some serious salt in its game as the lioness was looking for little dinner.



This Sunset finished the night off perfectly. The haze on the horizon made the sun not only turn a brilliant reddish maroon color but gave us the ability to look directly at it. I was only able to snap two pictures as my battery died. Again, pictures do not do justice to how stunning the sunset looked. As the sun neared the horizon it started too look bigger and bigger until it looked like a giant illuminated tent on the horizon. It was the perfect end to the day.