Located approximately 4 hours away from Nairobi, the Mara is a large game reserve, occupying some 200 square miles of land. The Maasai, a Kenyan tribe are indigenous to the lands and co-exist with the wild animals, unlike the stories one may assume depicted from movies such as “The ghost and the darkness”. The Mara, almost home to Survivor Africa a few days, managed to remain untarnished, turning the crew towards the parks elsewhere in Africa.

It started out as one of the coldest mornings I had experienced in a while, not forgetting the sleepless Friday night we had all had. We were scheduled to leave for Masai Mara at seven o’clock that morning. It was six forty five and the mini van we had hired was already in the driveway waiting for us to board. Once the last of the staggering member of our group boarded we were ready to leave.
It was my first visit to the Mara; it has always been there, since I was born anyway and I had heard great stories as I was growing up, but never thought to visit myself. I guess it is easy to take for granted something that is always there, well until I went to university and had people ask me about all the wildlife, to which I responded. “I’m not much of a fan, we don’t care that much.” Secretly, I did start to care and planned that the summer I got back to Kenya, we would plan a trip to the Mara and so here, we were.

The drive out of town seemed okay; we stopped for petrol and to stock up on travel junk food. We spent an hour after that napping; it is not like there was much to see that early in the trip. A while later we got to the Viewpoint, which faces over the Rift Valley, and what a sight to see; very beautiful and scenic. After the morning nap, a cup of tea was in order, which we sipped taking in the view in front, which was magnificent; the sun shining over the crater with Mt. Longonot in the distance; before we realised, it was time to get going as the gates to the park close at a certain time. What a bumpy ride it was to the Mara and I thought to myself, “This better be worth it!”

At the gates, there were Masai dressed in their traditional clothing, darned in more colourful ornaments than the bride at an Indian wedding. Once in the park, we proceeded towards to the lodge, Keekorok where we were booked to stay. It was coming to about four o’clock in the afternoon now, which the driver told us was the time for the afternoon game drive. There were mini vans all over the park now. Our first game drive was scheduled for the next morning so we proceeded to the lodge. On the way, there however we got to see some game, not lions or cheetahs but a huge number of wildebeest. It was migration season, which ideally is the best time to see many lions as they are after prey. It was scary to see so many animals going about normally with not a flinch to see man made creations such our mini van trying to scoot through the herds of animals on a very rough road.

The lodge was very simple, fitting for the place we were in. They welcomed us with glasses of orange juice then led us to our rooms. At the time, I thought mine was situated in the least action packed corner. After freshening up, we decided to have a sundowner in one of the rooms. It was almost nightfall and the sounds of roaring lions in the distance was clear, it felt like they were almost near us somewhere, except nothing was visible from the balcony. It was a mix of fear and excitement being so close yet unaware of what wild creatures might be surrounding us.

The next morning we left bright and early for the first game drive. The wildebeest once again outnumbered the other animals we were hoping to see such as lions, rhinos, leopards and elephants. The driver started to say “Kata bogi! Kata bogi!” which I still do not have a definition for; he would say that every time he thought we were close to some action. A matter of time and we were all chanting “kata bogi” when we saw a crowd of mini vans in one spot.
The afternoon game drive was action packed. We witnessed a prey; the lioness is the hunter, she times the prey and attacks then calls on the lion to feast. Once the lion has feasted a loud roar and the lioness and cubs follow to finish off what he has left behind. The whole while there were vultures hovering over the carcass waiting for their turn. In a matter of minutes what was once an animal is now reduced to bones. The mini vans all parked strategically you can actually smell it, which is less pleasant than the sight.

During our drive, the driver explained to us that it was also mating season for the lions but the lion had to try to impress the lioness for about thirty minutes for thirty seconds of copulation. We did not want to miss that so we waited about thirty minutes to see that happen. What a tiresome half hour and here we were thinking that human females played hard to get, the lioness deserves a category of attitude for her own. Then came the moment and in a blink of an eye they were done with the act and a loud roar ended that piece of activity.

While driving back to the lodge we witnessed another lion and lioness going over the same ritual; chase, impress, blink and roar, as I prefer to call it. The drive back was magnificent, as we got to see elephants; what a scary thought it was if one of the elephants decided to get all wild on the van, I am sure that they weigh more than the van with all of us in it. Too many Hollywood movies I would say can let the imagination run wild. Another “kata bogi!” and then our van changed direction and we were at a spot where we could see a black rhino. This was the only animal we had to view from a distance, as it is dangerous to get too close.
That evening was our last in the park. We had a buffet dinner then found some seats by the outdoor fireplace waiting for the evening’s entertainment to begin. Brightly dressed Masai came jumping in higher than I had ever seen with my eyes. They sang and did a dance all the while jumping so high, it would be torture to confine them to low roofed houses I thought. Later on, we moved inside to the lounge area where a man entertained the remaining guests with a live guitar piece. That lasted a few hours until we decided to take a tour of the grounds.

A while later after a very dark walk, we ended up in a Banda facing a water pool full of hippos. During the day, it is a quiet spot to take pictures, bird watch and try to see animals from far. We turned it into an after hours venue, lit by battery operated torches. We got to see some hippos, not as clear as you could during the day, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Few hours later, it was time to find our way to the rooms. As if crossing the wobbly bridge wasn’t scary enough, we got to see and hear an elephant causing some damage on the perimeter of the lodge. Scared as hell, I decided to walk faster to my room, which perhaps was not the best idea at the time, as right outside my room stood a tall giraffe gnawing at leaves of this tall tree. I stood still for a while not knowing whether it was safe to move. I had seen giraffes before but not this close blocking my path in the wild! A few seconds seemed like an eternity when luckily one of the “askaris” (guards) came and rescued me from there. I still had to wait for the tall animal to move so I could get into my room.
Finally, at around five in the morning I was in my room, alone, but not feeling safe one bit. Once again, the fear and excitement kicked in all at once and all the Hollywood movie scenes came rushing through my mind. I could not wait for daylight. I was convinced I would not be able to sleep at all and I was right. At the crack of dawn I was packed and peeping out the window to see if I had animals waiting for me to make my exit, but it was peaceful again, kind of like the first afternoon there when I was disappointed to be in a place that missed all the excitement.

The drive back to Nairobi was bumpy and I caught up on sleep. Not being able to resist the Masai colours, I picked up a bright orange and red blanket as a souvenir on the way back.
Masai Mara, what an experience.