Safari to the Masai Mara

4/4/2012

Serena, on safari

Kiswahili word of the week: hakuna matata. Hakuna matata means no worries. As a birthday gift to myself, I spent the weekend on a safari in Masai Mara. Masai Mara is the land where the nomadic Masai live. Their land is an open savanna, filled with wildlife. Masai tribesmen hosted our camp, and it was common to hear them say, “hakuna matata” when we thanked them or asked for help.

I made three friends this weekend, Angela, Monica, and Julianne, all American women that either work or intern with CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Kisumu. Our driver, Lucas, was a bold man. We learned to trust his instincts, which was always ended up being right-on, throughout the trip. I am glad we chose to use a local driver for our adventure: Lucas had good judgment, was able to get us good deals, and had a lot of knowledge about the animals and landscape in the Mara. Together, we traveled across Kenya’s varied landscape, taking a beautiful 6 hour ride to our camp located on the north-end of the Masai Mara.

As I mentioned, our camp hosts were members of the local Masai tribe, who welcomed us to the camp and showed us to our tents. Because two of us are students on a budget, our group decided to get a “Motel 6” level of accommodations. The location was safe and beautiful, the tents were clean, the food was edible, and had 6 hours of electricity a day, flush toilets and hot showers, and most importantly we were a 10 minute drive from the Mara!

A hour after arriving at the camp, our awesome driver, Lucas, took us into the Masai Mara. The moment we passed the gate, we immediately saw wild game. The park was filled with zebras, wildebeest, and gazelle. Within 30 minutes, we came across a family of elephants and then a family of giraffes. After an hour into the park, we came across a family of wild lions, napping in the sun. It was amazing, we saw 3 of the “Big 5” our very first day in the Mara.

The “Big 5” is a safari term used to describe to top 5 animals people want to see when they go on safari: wildebeest, elephants, lions, leopards & rhinoceroses. All safaris in Kenya are “photo” safaris, where people go to view and take pictures of wild animals. Lucas explained to us that wild-game hunting is illegal in Kenya, with the exception of one tribe. (I was not able to find the name of the particular tribe.) This tribe believes that burned giraffe fur has medicinal qualities, and they are allowed to hunt giraffe every few years in order to gather their medicine.

The Mara is open every day from 6:00am-6:00pm, the gate we entered did not allow over-night camping. The cost of the ticket is pretty much the same price as a ticket to Disneyland, ranging from $40-$80, with discounts for student and locals. The animals in the Mara are protected, and have been conditioned to see vehicles filled with people driving around their habitat. Because of this, the animals, for the most-part, ignored us, and we were able to get relatively close and watch them in action. Lucas explained to us that if we were in another national park, he would not have parked as close to the animals to the animals as we did in the Mara, because they are more aggressive. Personally, I think the reason the animals ignored us is because our van was green, and they simply thought we were talking shrubs.

The next day, Sunday, we arrived at the park at 7:00am, and headed to the Mara Triangle. On the way to a Triangle, we found a cheetah that had caught a gazelle. She had finished more than half of the gazelle before we arrived and was so full that she could barely move and couldn’t keep her eyes open.

The Mara Triangle is located right on the border of Tanzania, and is where several animals and rivers converge. The Mara River, located in the Triangle, is the only place we were allowed outside of the vehicle. At the river, a park guide name Joe, with a loaded gun, took us on a guided walking tour to see wild hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

At the river, we saw over 300 hippopotamuses, the 2nd most deadly animal in Africa. (The mosquito is the mostly deadly animal in Africa.) Hippos spend their days sleeping and cooling off in water, and spend their nights foraging the savanna for grass. Newborn hippos weigh about 120 pounds and adult males weigh up to 3 tons. Hippos skin is very delicate and requires water to survive. The reason hippos are so dangerous is because of water: anything that stands between a hippo and water will be trampled. Also, anything that stands between a female hippo and her child will be trampled. When asked, Joe said that he has only had to use his gun against a hippo once, to fire a warning shot. The hippo returned to the water.

We left the park Sunday night at 6:00pm hungry, dirty, and ready for bed.

Monday morning we got up before sunrise, leaving at 6:00am, to try and catch the regular early-morning lion breakfast hunt. Most of the morning was spent on a wild-goose chase; we simply could not find the lions. Around 7:00am, our driver found a few deep in the bush, but unfortunately we did not get to see them catch any prey. We were able to watch a set of 3-4 year old male lions (teenagers) bicker over a gazelle horn, which was pretty funny. Our morning ended early, so we could head back to the real world and get on the road to Kisumu.

So, all-in-all, we saw 3 of the Big 5. Lucas explained to us that leopards are elusive, and very difficult to find. Rhinos have been poached, almost into extinction in the Mara, and so they are also very difficult to find. I hope to go on two more safari's with different people who will be visiting before I leave. Hopefully, we will have a chance to locate wild leopards and wild rhinos!

On the way back to Kisumu, we drove through the beautiful town of Kapkatet, where Kenyan tea is grown. The plantations sit on lush rolling hills covered in green tea leaves. It is obvious that the economy has been kind to this community: homes were in good repair, there was less garbage on the road and the people wore newer clothes. Angela, Monica, Julianne and I all stopped to buy local tea. I’ll be getting a masala mix later this week, to compare it with the other Kenya tea I’ve been making.

And with that, we concluded our safari adventure.

To see all of the pictures from the safari, click here.