Over the weekend I did a three-day safari in Masai Mara, Kenya. It was incredible. We left Nairobi on Saturday morning and drove out to the Mara. I must say, these Kenyans certainly have the tourism thing figured out: lunch at an all you can eat buffet; budget camping with beds, blankets, electricity, and toilets; and plush seats in the safari van. I feel like I'm cheating.Our game drives were fantastic. We got to see just about everything we wanted to- lions, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, buffalo, wildebeest... It was pretty neat. And we got up nice and close to almost all of them. The first evening out we came across a small family of lions munching down on a zebra. We watched them from literally ten feet away. So big and powerful. And the cubs were off playing on the side. The next day we came across a group who was just about finished eating- already the jakals and vultures were beginning to move in. As the pride left, the three females, one male, and six cubs walked right in front of the van. I could have reached out and petted them. Or not. We also managed to get a great sighting of a mother cheetah and her little cubs. Unfortunately she didn't run for us. I think my favorite, though, were the giraffes we saw silhouetted at the top of a hill against the twilight sky. So cool.
Yes, there were tons of vans, all with drivers trying to get their clients in for the best photo op. And I did feel a bit ridiculous knowing that my camera was just as eager as everyone else's. And it's unfortunate that the animals are all so used to humans that they barely even flinch when the vans drive up. But it's way better than a zoo, and so, so cool to see them all in their natural environments.Next stop: rafting the Nile in Uganda!
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