Tuesday, September 25, 2007





After a relaxing day at the hotel in Mombasa we had to wake up bright and early to catch a charter flight to the Masai Mara.

We landed on a nice landing strip and then let some people off the plane, but it turns out we were headed to a different destination - an even more remote landing strip.




BUT




it had an arrival & departure lounge:



as well as a duty-free shop:



Some jeeps came to pick us up and we headed to the lodge. It turns out that this is one of the nicest places to stay there and after our village living we felt like royalty.

We were given juice while they gave an orientation and then we were shown to our "tent"





It was a little bit chilly there so every night our room attendant would turn down our beds and place a hot water bottle at the foot of the bed under the covers which made our beds so warm and cozy. Then every morning he would awake us with a friendly "Jambo" and bring a tray of warm tea or hot chocolate and cookies and set it on our nightstand. Then we would hear the sounds of the birds and the hippos from the river below us echoing up. The sound of hippos is kind of like a mixture of a chainsaw and a fog horn. It seems like it would be annoying, but it's kind of nice. These creatures also seem like they would be gentle giants but they are actually responsible for more human deaths there than any other animal. It's because they are so unpredictable and they are very defensive. I loved watching and listening to them. This guy was right outside our balcony:

We went on several game drives and were able to see a lot of animals in the wild. It was so so so amazing.





We were also able to visit a Masai Village. This is a tribe who respects the animals and because they haven't killed them all off there are many to enjoy on their lands. The men used to have to kill a lion in order to reach warrior status but they don't do that anymore. The lions stay away from their bright red clothing because they are known to be a danger to them. The men go out with the herds of cows everyday and walk for miles. The cows wear bells so they will know where they are at all times. The men are also known for their ability to jump extremely high - much higher than a white man can jump.



After they showed us their village and how they make fire from sticks, they showed us some jewelry and crafts they had for sell out on blankets. As I was walking around the blankets I heard one of the women turning off her cell phone. The service provider in their area is called Safaricom. no joke.


more animals:








We spotted that lion couple earlier in the day and on our way out we saw that the woman had brought home the bacon (wildebeast) and Mr. Lion was enjoying a feast:












THE END
(toilets are at the rear)
for all the pictures you can:



and here is some video:












Posted by Posted by Judy Neil at 8:31 PM
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5 comments:

Senja said...

amazing pictures, really amazing!

Katie Elaine said...

wow. it seems like a dream. i can't believe you were really there. so cool.

B. said...

I can't believe those animals are just walkin' around like that.

The Lounge and the Duty Free Shop are great. Caused to me to laugh outright.

aporitic said...

Your Africa pics are nice and all, but I've come to realize that the true reason I enjoy this blog is your delightful sense of humor.

Keep it up.

Wendy said...

Amazing pictures! Really, amazing.

 
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