Hello!!! We hope all are going great! We just got back from our safari, and it was incredible! We don't have a lot of time to post because the internet cafe is about to close. Therefore, I typed up an entry from the journal I've been keeping (This is Emily, by the way). We will finish writing about the safari, because believe it or not, it got even more incredible after as the days went on! As for Will's request for a baby elephant, we very much wanted to bring a baby size of all the animals home! Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us out of the park with one!
6/25, 6:45pm.
Wow! We just got back from our first few hours in the Massi Mara Park! It was absolutely breathtaking. On the way here, we stopped in Narok for a really nice lunch: rice With carrots, mashed potatoes, pasta, slaw, some beef and green beans. I would say that it is likely the most complete meal we have had yet. Then, we said farewell to the nicely paved roads and began our bumpy trek to the Massi Mara. It was remarkable watching the people and landscape transform from cityscape, populated with gas stations and people fussing their way around, fading into a strip-mall type markets in villages where people are much more casually dressed, children roaming free, escorting the cows or sheep or goat. Finally, the towns became sprinkles of small villages until they were taken entirely by Africans in expected, traditional dress with jewelry and pretty scarves for the women. Mud huts that guarded and faced an amazing circular structure replaced the cement brick huts. Almost like a town hall or a biblical traveling temple, the center of the Massi village centered around these inner structures with upright sheers of tree. I want to find out the purpose of these buildings. They have no roof.
We finally bumped and jumped into our campsite and were quite pleasantly surprised by how nice the accommodations are! We have a nice tent with two beds, mosquito nets included. On the other side of the zipper tent wall is a linoleum tiled bathroom, complete with flushing toilet, running water faucet and shower. We dropped our stuff and took a quick rest, a cup of tea and then hopped in the van – roof no extended. After about a five-minute drive, we were ready for Massi Mara Day 1.
It was magnificent! We entered the park and were quickly greeted by a single, towering giraffe! (This of the Massi variety) It walked right up to our van and passed just in front! I have seen giraffes, but never like this: in the wild, just feet away! From there, we saw wildebeests, Thompson Gazelles, and Impala. In a group of Impala, the males have hors and the leader is the male with the especially large and ornate horns. We saw loads of Zebra (Max, you would have been amazed), mangoos, dikdik, and many more.
Then, as we were driving, one of the men in the group asked our driver, George, to stop for a picture. However, George did just the opposite. Something had come over the guide’s radio, and it put George on a mission! He charged off to another location. “What will we see now?” “I’m not telling; I want you to be surprised”. Believe it our not, our beginners luck was in FULL force! Excitedly, we cruised our way to a pack of fellow safari busses. When we were coming to a stop, we finally “spotted” the black painted end of a cheetah’s tail, sneakily waving with the tallest grass. As our driver artfully maneuvered for a better look the cheetah disappeared into the brush. He did hid himself right there in front of all the watchful eyes. We came back to a different vantage point and found the cheetah hanging out in the grass, within 30 yards. What a sight! I know that had Oscar been around, he would have shouted, "Eureka!". We learned from our fellow bus-mates that cheetahs are very rare to actually see, even on safari!
How do you beat a cheetah? We figured we should just call it a trip and go home; there was no way we could top a cheetah! On the contrary! It was not too long before George took off again. George on a mission! Soon we found an ENTIRE lion pride! Babies, indicated by their fading spots, lay together in a small hill. The mom was on the hill as well, and the dad was just beginning to find his own space. There were easily 10 lions, all within a 25-yard radius of us! We stayed there for a while and took pictures and simply beholding the glory of our tremendous luck! It was incredible!
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