Wilderbeest Stampede Take One - Masai Mara Safari

(July 21-23) Okay animal lovers here is another safari posting. I will try not to write about the same things I wrote about the Tsavo East safari, which should be easy since various new things happened.

Departure from Nairobi was scheduled for 8AM on Wednesday. In true Kenyan fashion that meant we would make 552 random stops (okay maybe 7-8 for real) before leaving the city an hour and a half later. Good thing we didn’t have an appointment with the King of the Jungle later. The drive to Masai Mara was rough at times given the road conditions but the beautiful landscape made up for it. We stopped at the Rift Valley viewing point for pictures, the bathroom, and forced souvenir shopping (which I hate but is all part of the experience). This stop was along a busy winding road and the little shops were precariously perched on the edge of this very high valley. Later the drive became extra dusty, and I swear I ate more dust than can be found in a room full of knick knacks (that’s for you Henrik). On the upside, I was covered in the orange/brown dust which made me look like I had a Jersey Shore bronzer tan that I did not have to pay for! (Although I still did not look as good as I did for Alex and Beth’s Denver Jersey Shore party – thanks guys!!).


John and I headed behind one of the buildings to get a better view and picture. There was this ridiculously dangerous old deck (rotting, missing boards – I would never want to insure it ;) – nerd alert) overlooking the valley with 2 very mean chained barking dogs hiding under it. I went to stand by the deck sign that said “Jambo, Scenic View” for an ironic picture when the dogs came running and barking from behind me with fury (see picture below and note the dog coming out from the deck). I jumped the highest I have ever jumped (like a true Kellogg bullfrog) and was panicked. I was just far enough away for them not to bite me, and since I opted out of the extra special rabies prevention shot in the US I was extremely thankful. After I calmed down John, Ben and I got a good laugh out of it, and I avoided foaming mouthed dogs the rest of the time (bye pretty puppies).


We eventually made it to Masai Mara and our camp (Chui which is Leopard in Swahili) just outside of the park. We stayed in little buildings with beds (covered in leopard printed bedding – which would turn out to be the only leopard spots we would see), bathrooms, and complete with Masai watchmen. It was clean and nice enough, but paled in comparison to the Tsavo accommodations we had at the last safari.

We went out on our first Masai Mara game drive and saw a lion’s family with one king of the jungle male, 2 females and 4 Simba cubs. It was exciting to see them, but for the most part they did not move since it was hot for them, and lions are only active in the early morning and late evening when it is cooler. I can relate. New animal spotting included: wilderbeest (so ugly and mangy) and topi (light brown relatively large deer-like animals with black on each side of its behind). We also saw giraffes, dik diks, zebras, elephants, ugly water buffalo, impalas, a jackal, and goats and cows in one small area early on (no joke there was nearby farming).



It was gorgeous as we headed deeper into the Masai Mara park. Masai Mara is the Kenya side of the Serengeti Park in Tanzania. The famous wilderbeest migration takes place from Tanzania across the Mara River to Kenya in July and then from Masai Mara to the Serengeti in December, so we were hoping to get lucky and see a huge rush of wilderbeest migrating. The park is 1,510 square kilometers and is surrounded by hills. It was much greener than Tsavo and there were far more animals, especially of the grazing variety due to the golden grass begging to be devoured.

Okay, now that I described the basics I want to provide another perspective of the area. Masai Mara is extremely famous and reminded me of the Las Vegas of safari parks. Before you close down this blog page in disgust, humor me for a bit while I flush out the comparisons for you. First of all there are long lines (safari vans with limo like top openings) waiting to get in and see the hot spots everyone is talking about (where the lions are, migration etc). Your host (safari driver) tries to get you the best viewing spots (much like getting that favorite Vegas table at the club) and you go out in groups with your friends very early in the AM and later at night. I was also amused as numerous fans (10+ vans) surrounded the annoyed celebrities (lions) that often tried to hide, and huge paparazzi style cameras rapidly zoomed and clicked away like it was a red carpet event. There were even bachelor parties going on in the park (groups of all male animals like impalas that go in packs and eventually fight over females – sound familiar?). Don’t get me wrong the DJ and great club music were missing and the park was still gorgeous and a great experience, but there are some pretty interesting similarities.



Anyway, we were happy to have gotten to the park to see some new animals. More safari stories to come in the next posting. Until then…Sarah.