Maasai Mara Safari

One weekend we did a three day trip to Maasai Mara, a game reserve in Southern Kenya. We went with a group of other volunteers in two 10 seater vans. We stayed at a campsite just outside of the game reserve where we had tents equipped with running water and toilets! There were also monkeys hanging out around the campsite munching on left over food.

We left Nairobi on a Friday morning and it took us about 5 hours to drive to our campsite. The road was unbelievably bumpy. At one point Nikki got so sick that we had to pull the car over. Fortunately we pulled over right next to a group of Maasai children who watched her intently as she emptied her stomach. One of the other volunteers from New Zealand congratulated her on giving something back to the continent. After that episode the group moved Nikki up to the front seat, thus preventing any further incidents.

In the park we saw most of the major Kenyan animals including: zebras, gazelles, giraffes, elephants, cape buffalo, hyenas, lions, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, impalas, topis, and warthogs. The only big 5 animal that we missed was the rhino. The animals are so used to the vehicles that they barely pay any attention to them. At one point we were so close to a lioness that you could nearly reach out the window and touch her. One day we stopped in the park to have a picnic and got out of the vehicles less than a mile away from where we saw cheetahs. Luckily we managed to avoid getting mauled by any wild beasts.




Ostrich


Africa at sunrise

Lioness with young males


lioness

Giraffe
Hippos
Cheetahs


Here is where we stopped to picnic for lunch.

Our roommate M and us at a stop.

Hyena
Here you can see the type of vehicle we used in the park. It was a 10 seater van with an extendable top for game viewing.

Gazelle
Zebra
This is a tree in the game reserve right before sundown.

Here is the Great Rift Valley that we passed through on our way to Maasai Mara.