6:00 we are given our am coffee at our ‘tent’ and off on a game drive by 6:20. After about 5 or 10 minutes Katie and I look at each other. Both of us were thinking the same thing. We had already seen Hyena, Zebra, Elephant, and more and its only been 5 minutes. We searched briefly for leopards but moved on to a large female Cheetah and her 3 cubs. We followed them as they searched for food. The mom leads by 20-30 yards and the cubs play in the back. They very slowly stalked some Thompson Gazelle. As the female walked she would come to large termite hills. She would climb to the top and stare out. The cubs would often catch up and then all four were sitting on the hill. The first chase failed. The cheetah was very close to the gazelle but a Topi antelope was in the path and it confused the cheetah. The cheetah now had to rest for 30 min because of the run so we set off. After driving a short way we found the ‘off beat’ lion pride.While watching the alpha male chase around a female, a second male came close and a brief but intense encounter happened. Roaring, growling, right hooks. The alpha won, otherwise it would would have been beta. We watched the lions for a little while longer then drove away. We came upon a large female Topi with her tail straight out. Our guides notice everything. They pulled up and within minutes, the Topi went into labor. 40 minutes of labor and the baby was delivered. Insane was that the newborn was walking in less than 10 minutes, after some hilarious initial attempts. We went back to the cheetahs and spent a long time as they stalked. The 4 of them ended up just in front of another Landcruiser, the kids in the shade underneath. The mother made another failed attack. This time she was within feet of the gazelle and then she stopped. Very unclear why. We stopped for lunch in a meadow with awesome views of the African hills. We sat under the trees eating curried chicken, vegetables, beer, and white wine. We watched the cheetahs some more than off to look for leopards. We found the 11 month old napping in some bushes but he sat up and moved a bit after his mom made a call for him. We scrambled across a creek to catch the mother as she moved up into the hills and bushes. William our driver is simply fantastic. He smooths the ride and he always positions the car for the best vantage point whether for view and pictures or for anticipated movement of the animals. He dresses superbly with jewelry at his neck and waist and is so polite. Between the 2 of them we see ridiculous stuff. Both of them have eyes like eagles.The days complete. The rain came and we motored back to camp. 12 hours on the morning safari! Joe and Masugo greeted us as we crossed the swinging bridge to the lodge. Joe presented Katie and I with sacred gifts as he delivered us to our ‘tent’. A woven bracelet for me and earrings for Katie from the Masai. We showered, had some wine on the porch, listened to the thunder and the hippo bellowing from the river in front of us. After a delicious dinner and conversation, we were off to bed. Another fantastic day in Kenya!
A 6 am start set us off in search of leopards. We wound our way in and out of bush areas. We saw a baby elephant. We found the Marsh pride of lions, watching as the two young ones played in the grass and tormented their aunt. We looked for the adult males but could not find them this day. We drove off along the river sighting a large troop of baboons who scattered from several trees as we approached. When quietly stopped, we were able to watch the young ones play on a tree, knocking each other off the tree. We did see 2 large ostrich eggs in a small ditch and the female nearby. The male Ostrich was not far away as well. We had breakfast overlooking the Mara River, where we watched a herd of Hippos in the water some engaging in the slowest fight ever seen. We were transferring slowly to a new cabin for the night, a special treat Fatima had arranged for us. On the way, more Baboons, an Angama Lizard, Lappet-faced Vultures, Giraffes (standing together eating from a tree they are a tower, on the move they are a journey, and just all together they are a herd), Yellow-bill Stork, a Wart Hog with 3 tiny babies, a Grey Heron, and a Fork-tail Dragoon bird that kept following our cruiser almost landing on the guides hand. We arrived at Chim-Chim, greeted by Charles and Alfred. They showed us two cabins from which we were to choose to stay in. Both were stunning with 245 degree views of the Mara River and a Spring. We stayed in the two story cabin as it had great views both upstairs and down. Cocktails on the veranda before lunch of 3 different cheeses, fish cakes, red cabbage salad, and zucchini. We watched the river while sitting on the veranda drinking scotch and G&T’s. We watched Giraffes on either side of the river contemplate crossing, some going a little ways in then turning back. Eventually one crossed but later that evening he crossed back! Took hours thinking about it but she did have to zig zag through a group of hippos in the water. We had appetizers around a firepit and met Fatima’s 14 month old son. A small bandaid on our missing our grandkids. We talked to John about the Masai tribe. Very different culture! His father is 97 years old and he has 8 wives now as 2 had passed. John is 29 and he has 62 siblings. The youngest is 8 months! Again his dad is 97!! Having so many kids makes him ‘rich’. John has one wife and 3 kids and may be planning a total of 2 wives and 10 children, but he jokes a lot so it is hard to know. His father chose for John to go to school though he would possibly be lost to the family as it is not the typical Masai path. He succeeded in school and now in work and his family has accepted him back. All 3 of John’s children go to school but he sees them every one or two months as he lives at the safari lodge for work. Masai have a coming of age ritual. At 10 John burned marks on his legs to show he is brave. They used to go out and kill a lion. Now that is outlawed. Note, William fought a lion when he was younger. The lion was getting into his cattle pen so he attacked it with a knife. The lion scarred him up a bit but William won. Masai also have an unusual diet of primarily beef (they raise cattle) and milk, sometimes had with blood. We had dinner with John and Fatima on the veranda. Fatima had arranged a traditional Kenyan dinner with bbq marinated beef and a Boerwurst(?) sausage. We had a very heavy maize dish called Ugale which you used in small rolled balls to pick up other ingredients like the beef, spinach, and cabbage. After dinner we played cards with John, Fatima, Alfred, and Charles. A great time had. We ended up teaching John and Fatima signs for ‘loser’ and ‘whatever’ as they chirped at each other all night about cheating.
I awoke at 6am in time to catch an Elephant crossing the river in front of our house. Charles told us our flight had been moved earlier so we had a quick breakfast, said our sad goodbyes to Fatima and staff and were driven to the airport. Of course our trip was a cornucopia of animals, some we had never seenbefore. John joked that all the animals were coming to the road to say goodbye. Katie and I were getting a little nervous about missing our flight as they stopped often. They drove off the road along a creek to a flat open field. What do you know. Three cheetahs in the grass. We sat and watched them for a while. John told us not to worry as we were on the landing strip. He is a joker. We were not, but we could see our plane come for a landing. Several cars were waiting for the plane AT the terminal. We waited in the field watching Cheetahs. That is how our guides rolled. The best!
