Ian, Emma and Merryn

Wow, I only have ONE WEEK left!! Blimey!

Anyway, i’m back at KKV after returning from safari in the Masai Mara yesterday, all very exciting! So i’ll tell you a little bit about my 4 day adventure…

I got up at the-crack- of-stupid-o’clock on Monday to get down to the safari pick up place in town, this early morning carry-on was something i’d have to get used to (yes, as you can guess, I was thrilled). So anyway there were 5 of us and we soon joined up with a group of 11 who were on a longer safari taking in other areas before the Masai Mara. Our group was a kind of League of Nations (for those of you old enough to remember that, or young enough to remember your history lessons), we had….

4 Americans

4 Germans

2 Danes

1 Canadian

1 Norwegian

1 Frenchman

1 Uruguayan

1 Kenyan

…and me, the only Brit, hoorah!

And everyone played wonderfully to the national stereotype (including me I guess, I was terribly polite you know). So the Yanks were loud, the Germans very organised and a bit serious, the Canadian was offended I thought she was American, the Frenchman was always shrugging his shoulders and making big hand gestures and the Danish girl looked like the singer from Aqua (think Barbie Girl & Dr. Jones (may mean nothing to you, but they were Danish!)).

Anyway, we travelled down in a 26 seater wagon – a kind of coach on top of a lorry. I’ll show you a picture when I get back! Anyway, this meant we had good elevation to see the animals, with big windows that wind all the way down. The trip from Nairobi to Masai Mara took EIGHT hours (including a lunch stop), and the closer we got, the bumpier it got! This was good preparation for the next 3 days, comfort is not an option. We stayed in a campsite, where we were based for the 3 nights.

So, over the next 2 days we spent probably about 16 hours out in the Mara on ‘game drives’, spotting just about every animal bar a Rhino! Masai Mara is around 900 sq miles and is simply awe inspiring, with plains that seem to go on forever, broken only by occasional trees & streams set against a backdrop of rolling hills & mountains.

The first animals we saw were Zebras. Bless the Zebras, most of the other animals are shaded in yellows & browns to camouflage themselves, or at least a solid dark colour. Not our friend the Zebra, he’s stuck looking like a walking bar-code with about as much chance of hiding as a man in an illuminous suit at a disco. And then they get ignored by all the safari vehicles because there’s so many of them, they’d rather find a Lion. Anyway, to cut all this short, we got up close to see some brilliant stuff, like Elephants, Giraffes, Cheetahs best of all some big roaring Lions, oh yes!

It is quite an odd spectacle however when animals are spotted, suddenly a sleeping Lion will be surrounded by half a dozen vehicles full of umpteen gawping tourists pointing cameras at it! Not sure i’d want to wake up to that! And there’s no chance of sneaking up on them either, not with our armoured vehicle chundering along!

But all things said, it was an amazing experience, and I feel now that having spent time in Mombasa at the coast & in the Masai Mara I have a real feel for Kenya when combined with my experiences in Nairobi. Its an exceptionally beautiful country that seems to be let down by its governance. More on that another time though.

So, just 1 week left, which means i’ve lots of loose ends to tie up before I go, so must be off to do that now!

Bye for now!

Love

Ian