Masai Mara

Yesterday I returned from a four-day safari trip to Masai Mara National Reserve and Lake Nakuru National Park. Masai Mara is probably Kenya's most well-known safari destination and what a girl on my trip referred to as "the Africa of our childhood programming", i.e. it's very Lion King-esque (though the Lion King is actually based off Kenya's Hell's Gate National Park, which I'll hopefully visit later in August). The Mara is connected to Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.

I couldn't believe how many animals were in the Masai Mara. On a two or three hour game drive on the first evening, we managed to spot lions, elephants, giraffes, zebra, and who knows how many wildebeest. Throughout the trip we also spotted cheetahs, jackals, hyenas, hippos, crocodiles and different types of antelopes.

I took A LOT of photos throughout the safari... Over 200. These are just a few of them!

These are the safari minivans we went around in! As you can see, they have a pop-up roof so you can stand up and stick your head out and catch the breeze and take better photos. I was surprised by the vehicle's ability to handle the bumpy roads (or lack thereof). The terrain can get pretty rough. I think most of the safari vehicles we saw were minivans like this, though occasionally you saw the Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4s that are more safari-esque. You really aren't supposed to go off-road because it ruins the terrain for the animals, but mostly everyone does ... in the words of our driver/guide, "the road is merely a suggestion".

The above sign was right next to the park gate! Clearly there is an attempt to appeal to Chinese tourists. The sign is definitely unnecessary considering that Chinese tourists (like all the other tourists) mostly come to safari in organized trips with tour guides who figure out the park fees for you. I guess this KCTT company does pretty well.

I ran into a group of Chinese tourists from Jiangsu at the Masai Village - they had a really bubbly translator and a lot of sun umbrellas and sun visors. So stereotypical-Chinese-tourist.

From the first evening game drive. This is the African buffalo - one of the "Big Five" game animals. I learn from Wikipedia that unlike some other buffalo types, the African buffalo has never been domesticated.

Ostrich!

We were fortunate to see so many lions throughout the trip. At one point we saw 6 at once, walking across the plain individually, spaced apart.

Here's another lion!

We hoped that it would go after one of the zebra! We waited and waited but it just sat there patiently.

Yawn, lion, yawn

I'm not sure what bird this is! I recall the guide saying it was a superb starling, but now that I google it, the colors are in the wrong places.

Wildebeest, Grant's Zebra, Masai Giraffe.  

Elephant (... I think) skull we picked up!

The vultures have come. They always come. They're everywhere.

CHEETAH! Much cuter than the Toronto Zoo's one-eyed cheetah. I would have loved to see it running... but that's a rarity.

July through October is the most popular time for Masai Mara because that's when the wildebeest migration takes place. Now the wildebeest are (supposedly) migrating from Tanzania's Serengeti up to the Mara. We (and all the other safari vehicles you can see here) were waiting for the wildebeest to cross the river, but they would just run up to the edge of the river, run back in the opposite direction, run up to the edge again, and back... I ran into some travelers who did manage to see it, but we waited for so long with no luck. You can see all the dust from the running in the photo below.

I must have seen THOUSANDS of wildebeest throughout the safari.

The male did not want to open its eyes.

The only time I was able to get out of the vehicle in the Mara was when we stopped for a picnic lunch on the second day, far away from all the animals.

In the back of the car, with an American expat living in Nairobi and her American friend visiting her. 

Everything was ridiculously beautiful during the sunrise drive on the last day. Totally worth getting up at 6AM!

I stayed two nights at a camp a few minutes from the park gate. "Camping safari" really means staying in a semi-permanent tent with beds and a bathroom with a hot shower. Not bad at all.

I shared the tent with Paula, a Chilean who was also traveling alone. She was so much fun! Our whole van became an amazing 8-person family for 48 hours.

Inside the tent.

Masai Mara took up the first three (well, two and a half) days of the safari. Lake Nakuru I went to on the fourth day. I'll put up pictures from Lake Nakuru soon!