October 26th, 2006 Masai Mara National Park, Kenya

October 26, 2006
Masai Mara National Park, Kenya

We woke up this morning at about 6:30. After a very nice breakfast, which consisted of pancakes and eggs, everyone prepared for an all day game drive. I made sure to pack sunscreen, water, camera, and hat. We left just before 8:00.

The morning was filled with tons of cool animals. I was amazed by the number of wildebeest in the park. There are literally thousands of them. Very early in the drive we came across a cheetah lounging in the shade. Next, we spotted two giraffes fighting over a female. This was very interesting because the giraffes swung their long necks and hit one another with their heads.


We also caught another glimpse of the leopard and saw lions mating before lunch. For our midday meal we had a picnic under a large tree inside the park. It was very nice to get out of the vehicles and walk around for a few minutes while eating.

Once we had finished we got back in the vans and made our way toward the hippopotamus pool. On the way we stopped at a very nice lodge. Upon entering the gift shop we were shocked to find that the prices were cheaper than those in the small markets. After making a few purchases we continued on our way.

The hippos were awesome. There were tons of them relaxing in and around the slow moving water. A military officer warned us not to go too near the water because the animals are very dangerous (he then tried to charge us each $20…). At this point everyone recited the well-known fact: hippos kill far more people each year than lions…

After spending some quality time with the hippos we headed back toward the park entrance. On our way we came across a pride of lions. It was exciting to see an entire family. There were at least 8 of them (3 cubs). We watched the large cats for more than half an hour.

On our way out we made another stop at the tree with the leopard (from yesterday) and saw a very cool elephant. We exited the Masai Mara reserve just after 5:00. It was easily the best safari day yet. Everyone seemed much more willing to spend quality time with each of the animals.

Following the park we made a stop at a Masai Village (an extra $20). It was very similar to the Samburu village but much less organized and the people were less friendly. They even tried to sell us lion’s teeth and told stories of how they kill lions. In fact, they are required to kill one before getting married. I gained a lot of respect for the others in the group when they were also upset by this practice.

At 18:30 we got back to camp and had some dinner. While eating we discussed the days details and came to the conclusion that the village is not receiving much of the money that is paid to enter. This suspicion was confirmed after someone at the camp (not in our group) told us that Lonely Planet warns tourists of this scam.

We continued our conversation until 22:00 and then headed to bed.

NOTE: Everyone here is quite funny. The Austrians speak very good english but at times say things that are hilarious. They talk like a nongay Bruno (from the Ali-G show). It is fun to just listen to them speak english and translate silly things. For example, the direct translation of rhinocerous in german is "nose horns"