The Masai Mara

Sat, February 18 to Sun February 19, 2006

Ahhh, at long last…safari time! Our safari to Kenya wouldn’t be complete without a safari to a game reserve. We left at 8:30 a.m. to begin the 5-hour trek to the Mara Simba Lodge in the Masai Mara National Reserve. This is on the northern tip of the Serengeti—African savanna country. Our lodge was great. Nice rooms that backed onto a small river full of snorting hippos and a crocodile or two (the crocodile was scary). There was a pool to cool off in, and the meals were fabulous. We stayed at this lodge for 2 nights and went on 3 game drives. What an experience! Sammy, our talented driver/guide, had the uncanny ability to find just what we wanted to see (“Let’s see, we haven’t seen male lions yet…omigosh, there they are!”). And that’s not very much of an exaggeration either! Here’s the list…we saw: zebras, giraffes, elephants, African buffaloes, baboons, a leopards, cheetahs, jackals, warthogs, lions, hyenas, Marabout stork, Tawny eagle, vultures, a buzzard, ostriches (these were playfully chasing each other at incredible speeds, then they’d stop by extending their feathers and spinning around), Topi, Thomson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, hartebeest, a Blue wildebeest, impala, and Kirk’s dik-diks. Gosh, did I miss any? There were mongooses (or is that mongeese?) and Vervet monkeys in abundance at the lodge. On Sunday night we enjoyed Masai dancers which features jumping. Also the staff gave Ev a cake for being such a regular customer (it was her third time there)!