Masai Mara: Day Two

We awoke early on Sunday to the sound of birds and insects, and stepped outside of our tent to take in the sunrise over the Mara. It’s very cool at night, but we were comfortable in pants and sweatshirts. We soon proceeded to the main lodge, where we took a nice breakfast of cereal, fruit, tea, juice, toast, eggs, and bacon. The bacon was in really wide slabs and was quite good. I’m still under the delusion that it was warthog bacon. After breakfast, we met our guide (Edward) and headed into the bush. We tooled back in the way we had come, but soon took a turn and headed for new pastures. The wildebeest and zebra were too numerous to count, and within 15 minutes, we came upon a group of six or so giraffe.

Of all of the new animals that we’ve seen since arriving in Kenya, I think I’m most intrigued by the giraffe. Part of it may be the kinship I feel as a fellow tall, ungainly creature, but I think that it’s the improbability of its form that does it for me. From running, to drinking, to eating; they’re fascinating to watch. They’re also the most unassuming and gentle animal on the savannah, so we were able to get very close and it didn’t seem to disturb them. Check out the awkwardness of a giraffe drinking:



After the giraffe, we continued to motor around looking for other points of interest. Edward drove us to a small river (really more a string of small, narrow ponds), where we were greeted by a cacophony of snorts and bellows. Welcome to the local hippo pool. We were allowed to exit the car and walk a little closer for some pictures at this point. At first we were tentative, as it’s reported that hippos kill far more people every year than lions, leopards, hyenas, crocs, etc., but we figured that getting your clients killed within 24 hours of arrival was bad for business, so we went ahead. I’d conservatively estimate that this pool was 15 feet wide by 60 feet long, and maybe six feet deep, and it contained about 30 snorting, farting, wallowing hippopotami. It’s pretty amazing that so many very large mammals could all be content in one place, but they seemed pumped to be there. At times, there would be very little visible other bubbles and maybe a few nostrils above the water, and then all of a sudden, the water would erupt in a spray and huge hippo bodies would be sliding over other huge hippo bodies. It was quite a sight. Our guide, who’s English was not-so-good, explained to us that they just “shit and live in their shit”. We stayed there for about 20 minutes or so, much of the time waiting for the famous “open maw” picture, and once E had captured her shot, we decided that we had done a good job not getting eaten, and left the hippo pool.



After swinging by the airstrip to pick up a couple of British honeymooners (Justin and Lisa), we went back out in search of the cats. At this time, it was nearing midday, and with the beating sun, most sensible animals hunkered down under a shady bush to nap away the heat of the day. This appeared to be the case, as we weren’t having much luck, aside from the omnipresent wildebeest and zebra. Edward drove us to the famous Mara River crossing, where the millions of wildebeest cross and the not-so-lucky ones fall prey to the giant crocodiles or the hippos that develop a taste for meat. Unfortunately, the majority of the migration back from the Mara to the Serengeti had occurred in the previous month, so the crossing was quiet, save quite a pile of hippos, some crocs, and countless wildebeest carcasses. We ate a packed lunch under the shade of a isolated tree at the top of a knoll, and headed back out.

So game drives generally consist of three elements: 1) Enjoying the scenery, being awestruck by the vastness of the park, 2) Looking intently into the trees and bushes for the more secretive animals, and 3) Looking for congregations of other safari vehicles, as they have likely found one of the more secretive animals. Now, obviously the first two options are the most pleasant and enjoyable experiences, but if you want to see all that you can see, follow the Land Rovers.

In the early afternoon, we came upon a small herd of Land Rovers across a narrow creek, and of course, crossed the creek to join our ilk. Our guide caught wind that a leopard had been spotted nearby. The leopard is the most elusive of the “Big Five” (lion, cape buffalo, rhino, leopard, elephant), as it’s nocturnal, and being a cat, very stealthy (and likely untrustworthy, but that’s another blog). Most of the “bush” is actually not bushes, but rather grass and dirt, so it is not difficult to drive off of the trails. At this particular location, it was much more bush, so we began stalking our prey by subtly plowing over every bush in our path. This was rather cringe-inducing, as we are generally not anti-bush (pun intended), but we didn’t really have too much say in this, as Edward was going to show us that leopard, damnit! We got a glimpse of it for a few seconds, and then in fled deeper into the bush. The convoy followed, and by this time, there were probably six or eight vehicles in pursuit. We stopped and waited for a few minutes, and eventually the leopard ambled slowly in front of most of the vehicles, as if saying “alright, look at me, I’m a leopard, now please leave me alone”. After he disappeared from sight again, Edward geared up to go after him, but we said that that was enough for us.



We left the leopard area, pretty pumped that we’d seen the elusive leopard, but still slightly uneasy with what it had taken to see it. E and I both found this one of the more unsettling parts of safari. Anything beyond the mundane is called in by radio to the other guides, and soon, what was previously a wonderful sight in nature becomes animals doing things in an outdoor zoo. There is a “rule” that no more than six vehicles can congregate at a time, but it is frequently broken. We benefited by this arrangement in that we were able to see things that we wouldn’t have otherwise, but we both agree that some of our favorite times on safari were when there were no vehicles, and actually, no animals around.

A little later, we came to a lioness lounging under a bush during the heat of the day. Lions are incredibly “lazy” spending up to 20 hours per day in repose. When they’re resting, one can get very, almost uncomfortably close to them without much to fear. It’s pretty unsettling being close enough that the lion could bite your face in two seconds if she wanted to, but again, we trusted the guide. No face-biting occurred, but instead, E spotted a young lion walking through the savannah directly towards our site. We stayed still, hoping that it would keep its course, and it did, passing directly in front of our truck before taking a load off right next to what we presume to be its mother. I believe that this was our only solitary big cat experience of the weekend, and though we aren’t quite as natural as a bush, I’d imagine that the situation wasn’t as stressful for the animals.



We ended the game drive at around 4 pm, and headed back to the camp to rest up, have a cold beer, and celebrate our anniversary!