26-28 Sep - Leave Kenya--Arrive Tanzania

Black Backed Jackal

One of two young male lions in the bachelor's group.

At the Hippo Pool--she had a baby beside her.

Checking the area for preditors.



Dust bath.

 

I’m not sure where the time has gone…I know that we have been up before the sun every morning and dead asleep by (or before) 9 pm every night. In the few hours that we are not in the jeep out on a game drive, we are eating our faces off, washing out clothes, packing & unpacking, rearranging our little duffle bags to hold one more item or downloading photos. Unfortunately, the blog has been set aside for the past couple of days since we were a bit overloaded for spare time but here is where I think I left off……
We left our luxury accommodations early in the morning and headed for the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. We’ve heard so much about it and while it isn’t as large as the Serengeti GR, it is also rich in animals and experiences. It turned out to be all that and so much more. However getting to the lodge was not a great experience. We’ve learned that the roads in Kenya are much less that ‘okay’ and between speed bumps at regular intervals, police checks that involve laying spikes across the road, pot holes the size of North Bay, and herds of cows and goats, getting anywhere is an experience. We got off the main road and onto a dirt road to go to the lodge. I use the term ‘dirt’ loosely and it was really a ‘rock’ road. It was almost debilitating…….if you have any kind of a back issue, this road could, and almost was, a killer! I think we were 5 hrs on the main highway and then 90 minutes on the killer road and the second seemed twice as long as the first. We had made a brief stop at a traditional Masai village along the way and there clearly was nothing ‘touristee’ about it. Again, it was absolutely interesting to see how the Masai live day-to-day, but I could have done without that stop. Along with the men in native Masai dress there were bloated babies with flies all over them and garbage and cow dung everywhere. The cows are brought into the enclosure every night for safety and then the dung is collected to make solid walls on their huts and dried to burn for fuel.

When we pulled up to the lodge, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were tired and dirty and sore all over and more than one of us had lost their sense of humour. We walked through the front doors and once again, the sight that met our eyes took our breath away! We were again given a hot towel and a cold drink and faced an entire wall of glass that looked out over the rolling grasslands of the Masai Mara, complete with herds of zebra, wildebeest and giraffes. It was stunning! Through the glass doors was a balcony and we discovered it was a wonderful place to sit with a cup of Kenyan coffee (which I am now addicted to) and watch the sunrise. Each of the rooms also faced the same scene and as exhausted as we always to be, it was impossible not to have ‘just one more look’ before leaving the room or going to bed. We had to keep the doors closed as the baboons would invade if they were left open, as I found out. I was sitting in one of the chairs inside the room with the doors open, reading a book. All of a sudden a huge baboon jumped up on the railing and we were literally eye-to-eye for about 5 seconds until I let out a scream and it went running for the hills.
The Masai Mara GR isn’t as big as the Serengeti but certainly filled with wonderful sights and experiences.  Here we saw a Cheetah directly beside the road, laying under some bushes to escape the afternoon heat. The next day we would see a another female Cheetah with 5 babies not 20 feet from us. The babies had a piece of skin from an animal she must have killed and they were chewing on it or one would grab and run with it while the others chased it. I could have watched for hours but after 20 minutes the Mother cheeped and few times and they all left for another less crowed part of the park.

Breakfast as the Hippo Pool was a surprise as well as a thrill. Guide Sam took us to the pool where the hotel had set up a beautiful ‘bush breakfast’ similar to the one we’d had in Samburu. Once again, it was starched tablecloths and napkins, and all the breakfast goodies a person could possibly think of wanting. Our table was on the side of the pool overlooking the river and it was filled with hippos of all sizes. There were even a couple of Wildebeest carcasses left from the most recent river crossing. Although there were a couple of mondo crocodiles there, they must have been sated as it was just the vultures eating them.

Corky and I did our hot air balloon ride here as well. We were up at the crack of dawn and in the sky by 6 am to float over the Masai Mara and Serengeti. We saw thousands of wildebeest, zebras, and antelope that had not yet crossed the Mara River but they were doggedly heading in the same direction and the next stage of the great migration should be taking place soon.  We keep hoping we will be able to see the crossing…or some stage of it…but I don’t think it will happen. While they will gather and cross in groups of tens-or-thousands, they don’t all go at the same time in the same place. Both of us loved the balloon ride and when it landed we were once again treated to a champagne ‘bush breakfast’.

After two days here it was time to once again pack and leave for another adventure, although it means we will be leaving Kenya and our beloved guide Sam. He has become a friend who never gets tired of telling us the what and wherefore of everything we see and answering our questions. The Serena Hotel—we are staying in their hotels for almost the entire trip—has an airstrip here so we flew to Migori where our new guide Vincent met us, and then on to the border town of Isebania where will went through the immigration and customs process at the Tanzanian border.

OMG…the people…the noise…the fumes…the confusion!! The official stuff went very smoothly and it was on and off the jeep quickly. However it was Saturday…market day…and there wasn’t a square metre of ground without a person selling something. Huge trucks lined the road taking unrefined oil into Kenya for processing.  We had to pass through a series of gates that were only opened after an attendant looked over the jeep, kicked a tire or two, and handed Vincent a piece of paper. Who knows………

We think Vincent is a NASCAR driver wannabe. I kept my Kenyan position of third row back so can’t see a thing other that what’s outside my window. I do know that a few times I saw Corky cover his eyes and then shake his head…I’m assuming because he’d realized we were still alive…and know that Vincent is driving at top speed. He tells us it will be about a 4-hr drive to our lodge in the Serengeti National Park. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell us that 3 of those hrs was going to be driven on a typical ‘rock’ road!  It was an awful drive and it didn’t matter if you had a back problem or not, we were all affected by the jarring bumps, huge potholes and washboard sections that Vincent sped over.  We were told later that the big trucks that must come in daily to bring fresh food to these mega lodges are responsible for road conditions and while I’m sure that’s true, I haven’t seen much evidence of any kind of road repair here. Wait…..we did see a huge grader in one of the little towns but it had 4 flat tires!

We got to Serena Serengeti in time for supper and the 5 of us had trouble staying awake long enough to eat supper. We were required to call security to come and escort us to and from the dining room as this lodge has no…repeat no…fencing around it so wild animals wander through at will. NOTE: an elephant came in through the night and took down a tree by the reception area. It’s a lovely spot—we are in domed huts overlooking a valley and it’s very beautiful.

We were up early this morning to out on a game drive and as we came down the hill I looked up to see a lone giraffe standing on the hill in front of us. So beautiful! The landscape here is totally different and we drove for quite a while before stopping at a hippo pool to watch these giants grunt and groan their way through the herd before flinging poop into the face of their nearest neighbour. Vincent has slowed down and is very good at explaining animal behaviour and while we were viewing a herd of elephants, he told us what to look for if the matriarch decides to charge and flatten the jeep! A short drive down the road revealed a freshly killed wildebeest and beside it a pride of lions with fat tummies sleeping off the meal.

We’ve had such a busy 10 days that when he suggested we take the rest of the day and evening off and take packed lunches for a full day drive tomorrow…we jumped at it; hence the long, catch-up blog. Corky and I took a break from hand washing stuff and sent a bag of laundry out to be done so all is right with the world. Last night we both slept soundly from 9 pm until the alarm woke us at 6 am. He maintains the malaria medication is giving him vivid dreams….I maintain it has tripled my appetite! Carmel, I have dick-doo!

I know I have not written about half of what we have seen…it’s impossible to do so I think. I know that I will be spending hours, if not days, going through photographs and reliving this adventure. ..and it’s not over yet!

Until next time, love and hugs to all. Xx