Day 2 of Our Safari Adventure!

Day 2 of our adventure to the Mara started beautifully sunny, cool at first, then warmed up over the day. We met at the dining room for breakfast where we were treated to a variety of cereals, toast, eggs of our choice, pancakes, omelets, sausage, baked beans, muffins, and tea, coffee, and/or mango juice! :)

After a delicious breakfast we grabbed sunscreen, hats, cameras, and hiking shoes for a "walking safari" to be led by Maasai watchman Alex. (Still not entirely sure when the guy sleeps, as he is on watch duty at night and then can be found during the day as well!)

Alex met us at reception and proceeded to lead us on quite the hike, using no trails, over hills and streams, through forests and grasslands. We came up and over a large hill and found ourselves in a wide open grassy space, edged by trees and bushes, having a small lake on one side. He led us through a herd of cows, who eyed us suspiciously, and past a herd of zebras who were already congregated in the shade under a tree. Suddenly we saw a "periscope" pop up over a tree, and a beautiful, long lashed creature eyed us as we approached. Soon more heads came around trees and bushes as the giraffes watched us. Giraffes aren't really spooked easily and so when a giraffe moves away from you it's at a rather nonchalant speed. Even when they run it's more of a lope and they seem to move in slow motion.

We snapped pictures of munching giraffes and hiked on, soon finding ourselves on the very top of a small mountain. We stood on a long expanse of old, gray asphalt, wondering at its origin as it had no weeds growing through it, and no cracks breaking up the surface. Alex told us it was the runway that was built to bring in all the equipment and people for the filming of the movie Out of Africa.

We also hiked over to the old hotel that was built at the same time for those working on the film. They attempted to use the hotel as a vacation destination after the movie was finished, but a few years later a group of angry Maasai burnt it down. The ruins are still impressive and the view over the Mara is even more impressive. (We found out later that the point that the hotel ruins sit on is home to a leopard. Too bad we didn't get to see him!)

After we returned to our tents we discovered that more than one of us had soaked up a bit of sun. We had worn hats and sunglasses thankfully, but some us had shorter sleeves than others, I had a long sleeve shirt on but rolled the sleeves up to just below my elbows. I thought I had put sunscreen on my arms too, but if I had it was not enough! I had some strange lines going on! Even Josh got a little burnt, which is evidentially very impressive.

After lunch we headed out on the first of two trips into the Mara. Entrance to the national reserve is by 24-hour periods and cost $80US per person, so we obviously wanted to get our money's worth! We got to the park around 3:30pm and stayed until almost dark. (The park closes at dark.) Since we were in the far northwest portion of the park we didn't see too many other people, but those we did see were mostly like us: driving around in over-landers or other four-wheel drive vehicles looking for wildlife. You don't hike, or walk, over even get out of your vehicle in most places in this national park. - You don't know what might be about. They even have signs telling you to not "alight" from you car.

That first afternoon we saw giraffe, elephant, warthog (which I sang about incessantly and probably drove everyone nuts), zebras, gazelle, waterbuck, eland, topi, impala, a few sleepy, well submerged hippos, a myriad of birds, including ostriches, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, two beautiful jackals, and a pile of sleeping lions! And I do mean pile, and I do mean sleeping. It was very obviously kitty nap time and nothing could rouse them, even though we were only 30ft away and talking loudly, they couldn't be bothered. We finally gave up and went on.

One of the most amusing events of the afternoon was the baby elephant! We were driving down a side trail through the savannah when we came upon a large group of elephants. (We were blessed to be here during baby animal time and saw some terribly cute little ones, this baby elephant being one of them!) We stopped, and at 15-20ft away, this little elephant suddenly gets a wild hair, (as my dad would say). He fanned out his ears, and started trumpeting in his little squeaky voice and made a run at the land cruiser! All the while, his mother munched on undisturbed. Of course we just sat there so he gave up rather quickly and decided the better creature to practice his charging on would be the nearby impala, which did respond to his delight.

Check out the photos below. I can't claim them all. They were taken by a conglomeration of Jeremy, Aprille, and myself...

We're back from Safari! - Day 1 of Our Safari Adventure!

Well the last four days have been quite the adventure starting with the drive out to the Maasai Mara! Thursday, January 6th we left bright and early to meet the driver who would be taking us on the 7 hour drive out the Mara.

The first 2-3 hours were on highways and bi-ways through the country side, eventually descending into the Rift Valley, an amazing expanse of land surrounded by mountains/large hills. We passed baboons, who were waiting for something good to eat, we passed little shops, and shacks, and big houses, and towns. We saw countryside and savannah as we traveled towards the southwest corner of the country.

We stopped in the town of Narok for a bathroom break and lunch and after some discussion we decided to eat on the way and continue on. Had we known what was coming a short time later we might have spent a little while later in Narok!

A half hour or so down the road the driver made a left-hand turn and we found ourselves on a dirt road. As we bounced along, we asked how long we would be on this particular road and were told we would take this road all the way to Mara West. I.e. We'd be traveling this road for the next 4 hours!

Though the road is technically a governmentally funded and maintained road it was worse than any of the "jeeping" roads I had traveled when I was younger in Colorado! We went through knee-deep mud, tire-deep water, and over kilometers of road that was so rocky that I thought my head might just bounce off my neck!

All the while we traveled, we dodged flocks of sheep, goats, cows, zebras, donkeys, and small children waving and calling "Sweets!! Give me sweets!!" We passed few other vehicles, but many Maasai villages where women had spread their washing over bushes to dry, small children played in the dirt, and older children herded the family flocks.

After a couple hours we came over the hills into a large plain and grew increasingly excited to spot giraffes, zebras, gazelle, and even Crowned Crane!

We traveled across the plain and down towards the Mara River. The river was rushing just a couple feet below the bridge, which had little more than curbs on the edges to keep vehicles from slipping into the water! I closed my eyes as we went over the bridge and began to ascend the Oloololo Escarpment.

We saw a sign that read "Mara West 3.5km" and we got excited and tried the figure out 3.5km was in miles. Those last 3.5km were monstrously long though! Up and over rocks, washouts, ditches, ruts, and even boulders we went! And finally, after a few more ruts and puddles we pulled into the Mara West reception area!

They welcomed us with juice and carried our bags, as we felt rather jelly-kneed. They showed us to our tents and some tents they were! They were more like tent cabins on wooden platforms with beautiful attached bathrooms. Two queen-size beds resided in each tent, along with a table and camp chairs.

We stood on our porch and looked out over the Mara and decided this was a VERY good vacation spot! Never mind that the electricity wouldn't come on until 6:00pm, because it was run by solar, wind and generator, or that we had to wait until 5:00pm for the tent boilers to be started so that we had hot water! This was paradise!

We gathered in the dining room at 7:00pm for dinner and were amazed from that meal forward at the ingenuity of the chef and kitchen staff as they prepared delicious, three-course meals out in the bush! We then retired, exhausted from our trip, to our tent cabins where we happily slept in cozy beds, as it gets chilly there at more than 6,000ft.

Check out below for photos!

I Should Have Known Better... And Happy New Years!

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny, birds chirping and flowers blooming. There was also a lovely breeze making it a perfect summer day!

After a late breakfast, showers, and some puttering around, it was decided that a walk was in order to explore the property. At somewhere around 150 acres there's a lot to explore!

We figured we wouldn't be gone long and didn't pay attention to the time before we headed out. - That was our first mistake!

We walked through the field and through the neighborhoods and up through the university neighborhood and around the ECD offices. Then we headed down towards the gate and finally, after realizing that the sun was really intense that we had neglected our sunscreen, we took a shortcut across another field, and headed home.

An hour later... We were a bit warm and itchy, and when looked in the mirror we discovered we were all bit pink, in varying shades. Josh didn't seem to be affected, (for which we pronounced a curse on him), Jeremy on the other hand, as you can expect, was very red!

My neck, front and back, are still rather bright and uncomfortable. Aprille even got it on her arms, neck, and face. The thing that kinda saved us was the fact that the sun was almost directly above, saving us to some degree. - You can see where the shadow of my chin saved part of my neck and chest.

So, yes, we've learned our lesson! We won't be going anywhere without covered skin, whether by clothing or sunscreen!

Last evening was New Year's Eve here and the staff, faculty, and student missionaries got together for a New Years Eve BBQ at one of the staff homes.

There was much eating, laughing, telling of jokes, stories, and Christmas break experiences, roasting of marshmallows, and playing with sparklers. There was a nice breeze which prevented bothersome bugs and made us go for jackets as well. All, in all a lovely evening.

Here are some photos from the last couple days...