May 23, 02:05 PM
Wildlife Safari in Kenya's Masai Mara
“Everything is big in the Mara. It is a country of breath-taking vistas, a panorama of vast rolling plains and rounded hills, of intermittent groves and acacia woodlands and dense thickets of scrub” (John G. Williams, A Field Guide to the National Parks of East Africa).
Established in 1961, the Masai Mara National Game Reserve is 700 square miles of awesome beauty, slightly resembling rolling prairies in America, but, ya know, with huge animals.
From Friday 5/19 to Sunday 5/21, Mark and I were on our first ever wildlife safari. It was amazing.
About six hours outside of Nairobi (a city of 2 million people), you find the Masai Mara, surrounded by nothing but beautiful, vast lands where you can see for miles. During our three-day trip, we camped right outside of the park in a tent with beds inside of it, hearing the call of baboons and other wild animals throughout the night.
Here are some the highlights:
- Each day we saw a family of four cheetahs; at one point, they were catching some shade under a bush, while early Sunday morning, we caught them eating a freshly killed gazelle and licking its blood off their faces.
- A huge male lion, fifteen feet from our safari vehicle, shading himself from the sun on the banks of the Mara River, looking bored, as we stared at it.
- A lioness, sitting regally atop a mound of dirt surrounded by grasslands. With a guttural and wild growl, we heard her call her cubs to her. Mark says it sounded as though they might be in trouble.
- Several Masai giraffe, one of whom leaned down toward us, maybe looking for a banana inside the vehicle. We saw others walk gracefully off into the sunset.
- A baby elephant (already weighing in at about one ton), scampering toward her mama as we approached but careful not to take too much time away from eating her daily quota of about 200kg of grass and vegetation.
- Several huge bull elephants (with rather large packages) who were about 50 years old.
- Many more elephants who were so close to our safari vehicle that we could hear them tear the grass from its roots and gracefully swing it into their mouths with their trunks.
- Although we didn’t see a leopard (the hardest game to see ‘cuz they’re so darn stealthy) we did see one of its kill. It was an impala, securely hung inside a tall tree by the leopard so that he could feast on it for his dining pleasure later that night.
- During the day, hippos make such loud sounds from spitting water that you can hear them before you see them. Inside the Mara River, we saw about 10 different hippos. Hippos are huge animals, weighing in at 2000kg. You don’t want to be out at night when they come out of the water to graze, as they will attack you if you get in their way.
- Huge crocodiles along the banks of the Mara River.
- A big troop of baboons, babies clinging to the backs and tummies of the mamas, marching off to find lunch.
- A group of vervet monkeys along the banks of the Mara River, looking for scraps of food from the picnic lunches of safari-goers. Some males have bright blue scrotums; it’s a sign of status. Interesting.
- Large African buffaloes, chomping on grass in the afternoon sun.
- Warthogs, very shy animals that are sometimes called the “Kenyan express” for how fast they move when they see a safari vehicle coming. But, we did get to see several.
- A plethora of hoofed animals, ranging from tiny Kirk’s dik-diks to the 250kg Blue wildebeest. In between, there are impalas, gazelles (both Thompson and Grant), hartebeest (a smaller, browner, and less bearded version of the wildebeest), topis (which have violet patches on their rear thighs), and waterbucks.
- We also saw a wonderful range of birds, big and small, including vultures, tawny eagles, storks, and ostriches (which are so cool to watch as they look like huge chickens dressed up as French maids).
- We can’t forget the ever cute rock hyraxes (different variety than we saw on Mt. Kenya in March).
All in all, the safari was a definite must-do before we left East Africa. It was an incredible experience and so fun to see such huge animals in their natural habitat. We also mastered the best way to ride in a safari vehicle, which can be quite an adventure in and of itself, with all the off-roading that occurs to find the animals. Aside from our driver, we only had two other travelers in the vehicle, which made it really easy to view the animals from the popped up top in the four-wheel drive Toyota safari van. Standing up inside that baby allowed for great viewing of animals and a fun, wild road trip.
How amazing! What in the world will put you in more awe than what you have seen on this trip? I am so grateful that your trip has held so much that is memorable and meaningful. All love, Mom
— kathlen millson May 23, 07:12 PM #
Neat! I remember being in the back of a pickup truck, waiting to cross the border into Botswana, having to wait for 30 elephants to cross the road. They were so close I could hear the wind their ears made flapping around.
— abby May 23, 07:31 PM #
A guy on my summer abroad program in Kenya actually did get attacked by a hippo! He was o-kay—a slight bite to the shoulder and a broken wrist—but make no mistake. Those puppies are NO JOKE. So glad you guys had such a great safari!!
— amalie May 30, 05:49 AM #