Masai Mara

To see the earlier parts of this adventure,

https://lynntowin.ca/nairobi-kenya/

We drove for a few hours inland, getting views of the Great Rift Valley that runs vertically through the continent. Our tour leader told us there are 42 tribes in Kenya, all speaking different languages. The Swahili language is common to all, and English is taught in the schools.

We arrived at the gates of the park around noon. The gates are there to control traffic on the main roads within the park, that you are required to stay on. There are not fences around the whole park, so the animals can go wherever they want to.

Masai

Right inside the park gates is a village of the Masai tribe. We paid $30 to the chief for a visit here, so they seemed genuinely happy to show us around. It was an eye opener.

The men greeted us outside the village, then did a welcome dance, and a jumping performance they are famous for. They jump in place as high as they can, to show their strength and to attract a bride.

The villagers live in a circle of mud huts. At night, the men herd their goats and cattle within the circle to protect them from predators, and then close the entry with branches. Here we met the women of the tribe.

The men invited us into the tiny mud huts, with just a hole for light, plus a solar panel. Each woman has a hut where their husband can visit. Men have several wives, depending on how many cows they have. There are no toilets, it’s bush only.

Men herd the animals and build huts, and women do everything else it seems. It’s not common for anyone to leave the village for a new life elsewhere, least of all the women. Female genital mutilation is a thing. They leave their dead out for scavengers, to not contaminate the soil.

I read a book and watched the movie White Masai, where a European woman fell instantly in love with a masai man in Kenya. She went back home, sold everything, and came back to find him. She opened a shop right around here at the gates of the park. They had a child, but she eventually left him due to cultural issues … no kidding.

First safari

We left the village and headed out on our first safari in the Masai Mara. The park was lush and green since we were at the end of the rainy season in May.

We spotted wildlife for hours – young cheetahs, lion prides, serval cat, antelope including topi (nicknamed cowboys), eland, and waterbuck, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, elephants with babies, giraffes. In a month or so, the Great Migration happens here. Thousands of wildebeest stampede through the park and its river canyon, and in the frenzy, lions or crocodiles have a picnic.

Our camp for the night was a compound twenty minutes outside the park gates, in simple cabins. There are mosquito nets for the beds, but we didn’t need them. No mosquitoes and no tsetse flies either.

Leah, our tour leader, told us a story that night of a British guy who left the compound one night to follow an elephant wandering around. He was found the next morning, with a video on his phone of the elephant turning to crush him. His tombstone is beside the bush where he was found.

Second safari

We had another early morning start to see the animals when they are most active. There was lots of action, with vultures and a hyena at a buffalo kill, and big prides of lions. We saw four male lions setting up around a buffalo herd. One buffalo wandered away from the rest and looked like he might be the morning meal, but he noticed their movement and got back to safety. After a while the lions gave up and came to lie around the many safari vehicles gathered to watch and ruin their chances.

Our safari driver/guide told us lots of stories. Some were of the warthog, or pumba. Pumba means stupid in swahili. They have very short memories, and are known to run from predators, then forget what they’re doing, and turn around…

We stopped on a plain with a lone tree to have a picnic lunch, watched by a 5 foot tall maribou stork (one of the ugly 5) looking for a handout.

We carried on to the steep cliffs on the banks of the Mara River where the wildebeest tend to lose their lives during the Great Migration. Hippos stood in the water and crocodiles sunned themselves on the banks.

Our afternoon rest stop was the border with Tanzania and the Serengeti.

At dusk, we headed back to our compound. Just outside the park gates, we stopped at road lined with rudimentary bars, for a Tusker beer. We had lots of fun, standing outside at a makeshift table. A local guy at the massage shop over the picket fence kept us entertained with jokes and stories.

We walked from the shops another ten minutes back to our compound, where we were served intestines for dinner. Thankfully there were other dishes on the menu!

Back to Nairobi

We had a very early start, for an uneventful drive back through the park on the way back to Nairobi. The rest of the drive was more eventful with a detour due to a lorry accident near the Great Rift Valley. We finally arrived at a women’s workshop charity for lunch and shopping.

Back at our first hotel in Nairobi, we got an Uber to a place serving local food. Someone asked for that, even after intestines last night! We were treated to stringy chicken, no alcohol, no utensils, and no washroom – our tour leader led me to a closed mall nearby in the dark.

It was a treat to be back at our hotel in the outdoor bar, where we played cards, and got ready for our adventure into Uganda the next day – https://lynntowin.ca/uganda/