Masai Mara, Kenya

I hit the snooze button on my travel alarm clock for the first time on the trip today. That felt good. Unfortunately I couldn’t really manage to fall back asleep so I just ended up getting up anyway. I needed to be downstairs in the lobby at 7:30 to meet up with my driver who was going to take me out to the Masai Mara, so I got up and started to pack up all my crap and do the normal morning routine.

I had requested that breakfast be sent up to my room the night prior (they have room service but no TV?) so I was excited when there was a knock on the door and a dude carrying a giant covered tray came in and set it down on my table. I hadn’t really had dinner the night before so I was quite hungry. I tore off the top of the giant platter and sitting there on the plate were two small croissants and a glass of orange juice wrapped in plastic wrap. Oh well, better than nothing.

I finished packing and headed downstairs, where I proceeded to wait for almost an hour after he was supposed to show up for the driver to arrive. I’m quickly learning than Kenyan time is different from the rest of earth time. If someone says they will be somewhere at 9:00 o’clock, what they really mean is they will be somewhere at some point in the day after 9:00 o’clock. You’d think a nation full of people who win marathon after marathon would put the ability to move fast into a bit more practical of an application in their everyday lives.

Anyway, the driver did eventually show up. He’s a nice enough guy, but straight off the bat I could tell I wasn’t dealing with a rocket scientist. So to protect the innocent, we’ll just call him D for now. D informed me that there was another person he was supposed to be picking up as well and asked if I knew where she was. I was sitting the lobby of some run down motel in the middle of Nairobi. I barely knew where I was. I certainly didn’t know where this other chick was. He turned to the girl sitting next to me on the worn couch in the hotel lobby and asked if she was the person he was looking for. He showed her the name he had written down, she shook her head and said that it was not her.

D looked at her for a few seconds, walked away, then came back and asked if she was sure it wasn’t her. I could already tell this guy was going to be awesome. Eventually the girl next to me managed to convince D that she was indeed, not the person he was looking for and after a few very confusing sounding phone calls he determined that we were not at the right hotel to pick the other person up at. So we hopped in the truck and headed off towards the new girl’s hotel. To D’s credit, we only got completely lost enough to ask random strangers on the street for directions two times. So in a way, it was a step up from my first night in Johannesburg.

Eventually we found the girl, who was also named Siobahn but who I will call Siobahn2 so as not to confuse her with the Irish Siobahn. She’s a medical student from England who had been in the country for several weeks already doing volunteer work. When the driver hadn’t showed at 7:30 she’d just figured he’s forgotten or decided not to come as is so often the case here evidently and didn’t think much of it, so she seemed somewhat surprised when we actually showed up.

Small shops along a steep cliffside road - Kenya - Nairobi

Kenyans are very fond of high speed games of chicken - Kenya - Nairobi

Once we were all situated there we tore out of Nairobi in the truck pretty quickly. It was about a five hour drive through increasingly rough roads to get to the Masai Mara reserve and our campsite, which is just outside the grounds. One thing you notice pretty quickly here is all the dust and sand/dirt that gets kicked up everywhere. Any time a car drives by, any time a herd of sheep crosses a road – big old plumes of dust are kicked up and left floating in their wake. You just kind of have to accept the fact that you’re going to be covered in it for as long as you’re here.

Road to the Mara - Kenya - Nairobi

Stopped at a gas station - Kenya - Nairobi

We got to the campsite about midway through the afternoon. No sooner had I gotten out of the truck with my stuff than I saw Michael hopping out of the truck next to us. He was also just arriving. We figured we’d run into each other here, so as soon as we got situated in our tents I gave him his t-shirt he’d left with me last week.

We also met up with another couple who are staying at the campsite (which honestly is just a few tents set up next to a shack that is for eating in and another shack that is for crapping in) named V (that’s what she introduced herself as) and Ben. V was a med student as well and was also doing volunteer work and Ben was her boyfriend who’d just come for a week and a half to be with her before he had to go back to work. They were both from England as well and had only been in Africa for a day or two. You could tell because they still seemed to care about how dirty they were.

Campground dining room - Kenya - Masai Mara

Campground bathrooms and showers - Kenya - Masai Mara

After a quick lunch we hopped back into our trucks and headed out for our first game drive in the Masai Mara. I could sit here and describe all the stuff we saw, but I think these probably get the point across a bit better:

A whole lot of nothing out there - Kenya - Masai Mara

My first lion - Kenya - Masai Mara

Nothing special, just thought it was a cool picture - Kenya - Masai Mara

Another lion - Kenya - Masai Mara

Sunset on the Mara - Kenya - Masai Mara

It is also worth mentioning, that we saw a leopard after having been in the park for maybe a half hour. Back in Kruger, Gerrie had mentioned he’d only ever seen three leopards in his life. I’d now seen two, and each within minutes of entering each respective park. Not too shabby. As you can see above, we also saw some lions pretty early on. So at this point, I’ve seen all of the big 5 and the only thing I’d have liked to have seen but haven’t was a cheetah. And apparently nobody ever sees cheetahs so I’m not too bent up about that. And honestly, the animals are cool but the real fun has been hanging with and meeting the people.

Best shot I could get of the leopard - Kenya - Masai Mara

After we got back from the game drive the five of us had a simple but excellent dinner at the campsite and just sat around and talked for a few hours. One nice thing about being there with four Brits was I got to talk about Doctor Who and Torchwood, two of my favorite shows. They are both produced by the BBC so nobody in the US has ever seen them but like everyone in the UK has, so it’s always the first thing I mention. I think I even worked Torchwood into the first conversation I had with Andy and Katrina two weeks ago back at the Amadwala lodge.

Eventually we all got kind of tired and decided to head back to our tents. I think everyone else is asleep by now, but I really have to pee. Unfortunately there are a group of mean looking baboons that hang out over near the little shack with the toilet in it so I’m a little hesitant to go stumbling around in that direction at night. The empty water bottle I have in my tent from earlier is looking mighty tempting right about now. Decisions, decisions.

Comments

[Moncler jackets]

Next time I'll put on some lederhose and sing "Adelvice". That should shatter the Captain Von Trapp illusions most thoroughly..

[Ugg Outlet]

I sat there wide-eyed with my jaw on the ground not being able to tear myself away to try and get ready for work. I couldn't even fathom what was happening or why. All I knew was that a plane flew into the tower. I didn't know details.