Masai Mara Safari - Day 3 in the Wilds

Day 3

On our third day at Masai Mara, we woke up  to see two Hippos fighting, out of the water and a baby Hippo amongst them. The Hippos loved the water so much it was difficult to see them out of it. They are called "jalahasti" in Odia (translated to water elephants) for a reason, I guess.  Dik Diks (little deers) roamed around the camp leaving their traces in between and marking their territory! The robins, starlings and the swallows accompanied us as usual at breakfast. The chef Julius at the camp was a genius and provided us with amazingly well prepped meals every time. That required some commitment since we were the only guests at the resort as it was the middle of the week of an extremely lean rainy season.

The rains ensured that the grass was long, which hindered game viewing. Cheetahs were harder to spot this time of the year. The staff wished us luck in spotting the elusive Rhinos and Cheetahs as we started on the third day of the drive. 

The drive took us to the banks of the Mara River. We went to the Mara Crossing, the place lakhs of zebras and wildebeests cross over from Serengeti and then make their journey back in July - September.  The place is infested with crocodiles during the crossing season as they prey upon the wildebeests crossing the river. We spotted a huge crocodile basking on the shore while a team of Hippos lazed around the other bank. The area during crossings must be a sight to behold teeming with wildebeests, crocodiles, zebras, and hippopotamuses.  We had our lunch on the banks, under a tree. 

The second half of the drive was spent trying to spot a Cheetah. Peter followed the tracks, the movement of topis and impalas, the wind direction, trying to hush up a Cheetah. However, the grass was too long for the low-slung stealthy and shy creatures to be spotted. We did get to see the Rhinos, magnificent two-horned ones, at the Nairobi National Park. We managed to catch pictures of the variety of antelopes and gazelles as they pranced about. We came across a large herd of elephants, including a day-old baby, during our Cheetah search. 

Our adventure was not yet over, though! As we returned and were almost near our camp, Peter slowed down as he saw a herd of Topis on extreme alert. Then we spotted the lions far off, coming out of the trees, towards the Topis. The Topis waited as they tracked the lions with the last one on guard. Peter told us that the lions would not be attacking them as they had been spotted. true to his words, the lions moved towards the antelopes and then veered their course. We watched all this from our open vehicle. Then the lions started coming towards us. As we sat frozen, they majestically moved towards us and veered around the jeep and crossed the road to the open field across. Definitely not a sight to be forgotten in a hurry!

Peter our guide seemed totally unconcerned about the lions being so near. Once when a male lion became slightly aggressive when we came across some lions before lunch, Peter eyeballed him and the lion settled down. I am sure of that though my husband was not inclined to believe me! The Masais, the rangers and guides and the wildlife seem to have some understanding, here.

We made our way back to the small airstrip the next morning bidding our goodbyes to the dancing Thomson gazelles (or dumsum gazelles as we heard our guide say), the shy warthogs, the observing giraffes, the elephants, the wise baboons, the sturdy zebras, knowing we would be back again. 

One last trivia. All the zebras’ prints are different like fingerprints on a human. How cool is that!

 

Mara Wonders - Travel in Masai Mara

We have just returned from a Masai Mara trip. 

We reached Nairobi from Mumbai in the early hours of the morning. From there we went straight to the Wilson airport to catch a Safarilink flight to the depths of the Mara. Safarilink operates many flights to and from Nairobi to various airstrips in the Masai Mara Reserve Forest region. We were taken to the Mushiara airstrip from where the vehicle from our resort and our guide for the next few days were waiting for us. 

The little plane gave us our first glimpse of the vast Masai Mara reserve. There was an incredible vastness with rivers looking like little channels interspersing the landscape, the mountain ranges bordering the huge stretches of savanna, herds of buffaloes, cows, elephants, zebras looking like toys, only the movement revealing them as wild creatures of the area. 

The vehicle waiting for us was the hardy Land Cruiser which we came to realise was exactly suitable for the wild terrain. The open sided vehicle provided the right viewing experience as it went through ruts, muddy banks, grass with ease. Apparently, it had a handy competitor in the Defender from land Rover but we got to see mostly the Toyota vehicle in our forays into the Reserve Forest during "Game Drives" as they were called. Our guide and driver introduced himself proudly as being from the Masai tribe. Not surprisingly, he had a deep knowledge of the landscape and its inhabitants. He shared insights about animal behaviours, tracked movement with other drivers and rangers, and guided us to the best spots for wildlife viewing. At times he reminded us of the "trackers" in the vampire Twilight series! Masai Mara gets its name from the Mara River and the Masai tribe, the custodian of this part of the wilderness. 

On the way back to the resort itself we got to see the our first "game". I guess the term "game" comes from the creatures being games for hunters. Thankfully hunting is banned now. And what a rich cornucopia of untamed wilderness we encountered just on this first journey of the safari! As we crossed the gate of the reserve, we found Zebras drinking water from the spring crossing the road. By the third day of the safari, we were as accustomed as we could be to greet Zebras wherever we looked, in herds, playing, running, grazing. As per our guide about 3 million zebras and wildebeests cross over during migration. 

We came across Pumbas (warthogs, called so, thanks to Disney). They were by far the shyest and smartest creatures we saw, forever wary and looking about for dangers.

We were lucky enough to see giraffes and a herd of elephants really close up on the drive back to the resort. The land cruiser lived up to its expectations as the guide drove us through the shrubs right next to the giraffes and elephants. One must feel the experience to understand it. Right in the forest reserve of East Africa, wild elephants, and giraffes almost within touching distance, grazing, moving around, slightly wary, but not really bothered, from an open all terrain safari vehicle. 

The day's wonders were not yet over. Our camp was right next to the Mara River. We settled down and had tea on the lawns watching Hippos and even a sun-bathing crocodile on the other bank of the river!

In Meryl Streep's word in "Out of Africa". It is a real gift, the forest, a glimpse of the world through God's eyes, as intended...

The day's sightings included the zebras, hippos, elephants, wild buffaloes, giraffes, wildebeests, many of the antelope family like elands, Topis, Thomson's gazelles, Grant's gazelles, impalas, warthogs, dik-diks, and even a lone crocodile amongst others. It took us a couple of days to distinguish the various animals and there were many other small ones pointed out by the guide.