Safari!

 July 22 and 23

Our two day safari adventure started on Sunday, July 22nd. We had two short game drives into the Masai Mara National Reserve, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. The animals aren’t very active during the midday so we went at times we were likely to see the most animals. And we immediately began spotting zebras and warthogs. As we continued the very bumpy ride our eagle eyed guide and driver were both pointing out various animals and native plant life. Charisse’s highlight of the day was the giraffes. Mine was the elephants.

                             

                           

This wasn’t my first safari, but my 2019 safari in Uganda yielded no big cats and no elephants. Therefore I had a lot of excitement regarding what we would see. We lucked up and saw a female lion with two very playful cubs that we nicknamed Toryian and Navi. I learned the difference between the Thompson’s gazelle and the impala, and we also saw an animal I’d never heard of before, called a topi. We then saw a lone water buffalo. Sam informed us that it was an older male who had been expelled from the herd and would remain alone for the rest of its life. During our late afternoon sojourn we saw an adult male lion lounging by himself. 

                             

Day two of our safari was a long day. We left on our gane drive at 8am and didn’t return to the safari camp until nearly 5pm. We entered a different gate this time- a large structure that was crowded by Masai women selling goods. The theme of the day was wildebeests! As far as the eye could see! Having seen 3 of the Big 5 on day one, we didn’t necessarily expect to see the other two. Leopards are nocturnal, and rhinos are not known to be in the Masai Mara. Surprise! We saw a leopard, hidden under some low hanging bushes. He was near a water source where a lot of wildebeests were. The perfect spot for an ambush.

We drove to the Mara River to see hippos and crocodiles and also saw a lot of dead wildebeest bodies floating by. Apparently when crocodiles attack the wildebeests crossing the river, they just take a bite out of them and leave the carcass. We found a juvenile male lion who was enjoying a fresh wildebeest kill. When he got full (and his tummy was VERY full) the carrion eating birds that had been hanging around swooped in and went to work on the leftovers, removing the meat in strips. There are no elephants in this part of the Mara because they don’t like the wildebeests, who are skittish animals.

                          

We also happened upon a pair of mating lions and one very large adult male who was clearly in a food coma, as there was a large bloody bone lying next to him. The pair of mating lions caused quite the traffic jam as all the safari driver communicate to each other by radio, so everyone currently in the Mara rushed over to the area. At one point I counted 40 vehicles in that one spot, which created a choke point at the one tiny bridge until one driver got out of this car and started directing traffic. For a while we chased the reports of a cheetah sighting and when we found them, there turned out to be two juveniles who were calling for their mother. Later on that day we spotted a mother cheetah and four cubs who left a small bush to find safety in a larger cluster of bushes. In the middle of the day we enjoyed a packed lunch right there under a tree in  the savanna. 

                               

                               

Word of the day: hapana- “no” - a word I had to use a lot as the women selling wares at the gate were very persistent