Maasai Mara Day Two

 A vervet monkey.

 A huge hippo.

 Baboons.

 An elephant scenting us.

 Three hyena cooling off in a pool.

 The awkward stance of a drinking giraffe.

Our group with the village Massai.

 Check out the earlobes.

 The lioness.

The end to a great visit to the Mara.

Tuesday, October 2^nd.

It was great sleeping in the tent and listening to the sounds of the African night, the bugs chirping, the hippos splashing in the river and other unidentifiable sounds. After breakfast I walked around the camp a bit and saw a large crocodile in the river in front of my tent, and a couple of vervet monkeys. While I was watching and listening to the hippos and their breathing as they came up for air, I heard another sound that sounded very similar but kept getting louder with each 'breath'. I looked up and a hot air balloon floated over my head from behind me, about fifty feet off the ground. Chris was the only member of our group that opted for the $500 US ride (I decided against it because I had done it twice, I'd rather be in a jeep looking at the animals from the ground and it was $500). I stood and watched as three balloons drifted over my head and two hippos came off the opposite riverbank and into the water to get away from the balloons. (I gave Chris my second camera for the trip as he only had a phone. He loved the trip).

Then we off by 7:30 for our morning game drive. There were animals everywhere. We saw, Thompson gazelle's, giraffe, impala, zebra, wildebeest, warthogs, ostrich, and a yellow billed stork. Morris took us to a river bank and we all got out of the vehicle and looked over the edge to see a large pod of hippos in the water. We watched them for a bit and then moved on.

Shortly after we came across a troop of baboons. Some were on the ground and other were climbing down out of a big tree. They are always amusing to watch, especially the young ones. After that we saw cape buffalo and a couple of young male elephants and finally a lioness laying in the shade of some bushes. We continued on and saw eland (the largest of the antelope), topi and a three hyena cooling off in a water pool! This was the one animal that I have never had a chance to see and was very happy to see them. We sat and watched them as they watched us.

When we left there we crested a rise and saw a long line of wildebeest heading south to the Serengeti. This is the famed migration where the herds migrate between Kenya's Maasai Mara and Tanzania's Serengeti in search of greener pastures. They were in the distance and we didn't get close to them, but to see them all walking, purposely, more or less single file, and see all the dust that there hooves kick up was awesome. We sat and watched that for a long time. We came across more of the line a couple more times in the morning.

On the way back to camp we came across a flock of vultures feeding on a carcass. There were griffon and lapid faced vultures and one maribu stork who sat off to the side waiting for his turn. We came across a solo giraffe and watched her as she looked around for a while before taking a drink from the pond. If you have ever seen this you know how awkward it is and how much it puts them in jeopardy with their head down. It was great to watch. Then we went back to camp for lunch and a pee break. After lunch I watched a few of the weaver birds.

Then loaded up in the truck and drove to the local Maasai village for a cultural tour. We were met by the men who performed the jumping welcome dance for us and then the women who sang a song to us. The chief's son led up into one of the houses, which was quite dark inside and told us about his culture and answer our questions about schooling, diet, leaders, cattle, wild animals, manhood rituals and dress. I had heard it all before but still find it very interesting and foreign. Our guide Joseph explained that Gadventures is sponsoring an initiative for cleaner burning vented stoves for the Maasai because they do all their cooking indoors and the place is always full of smoke and animal smells. As a result many Maasai die of lung cancer and the smoke causes the eyes of childen to fill with mucus which attracts flies.

At the end we went to the obligatory souvenir shop and we all bought some things that help support their community school. I bought, yup you guessed it, a necklace and a bracelet – the collection continues.

From there we went on our afternoon game drive. Along with the usual we saw more of the migrating wildebeest and another hyena hiding in the shade of a bush. We saw a couple of large female crocodiles guarding nests and then two large male lions resting in royal fashion on the river bank on their backs digesting whatever the full bellies contained. Shortly after that we came across another lone lion rest on a rock outcrop. As we drove back we watched a beautiful sunset.

As we went down a steep bank to cross the river we came across a large herd of Maasai cattle. Joseph had to get out and help get them out of our way. The Maasai are not allowed in the game reserve with their cattle during the day. The boys take them into the park at dusk after the tourists leave and spend the whole night there. Can you imagine? A few young men with dozen of cattle and goats in the dark with lions, leopard, and hyena. Not for the faint of heart, I would think.

We had another delicious buffet dinner served by our waiter and drink waiter. We have had the same two for all meals and they are really helpful, friendly and fun. At dinner I met up with Bryan and Kristin again, the couple from Chicago that I met in Nairobi. They are on a different tour with National Geographic. After dinner everyone retired and I headed to the lobby to update this. Another excellent day. Tomorrow we are leaving the Mara and are off to a different national park.