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!
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