Best for Last?

If you aren't tired of the bush by now, I am, so this is the last one and then it's back to the Arabian peninsula where the weather is finally gorgeous and I am scheduled to learn to drive my Jeep in the desert. After seeing the Big 5 within 24 hours, I thought that the balance of the drives would be repetitious. The wonders of nature did not disappoint as the latter drives with Fred were very exciting .

The morning drive included watching a long procession of hundreds of buffalo making their way across the savannah. The oldest member of the herd is customarily at the front and each herd knows exactly who occupies that slot.

Note the bird. It's not a freeloader. It is picking at all the blood-sucking ticks and keeping the buffalo healthy.

After the long rains from March-June, the Mara has meter-high grass that compels millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle to return from the Serengetti, where they migrated from the Mara in October of the previous year. The last of that annual return to the Serengetti was in effect during my stay, which includes crossing the Mara River, with crocodiles in wait.

We drove to point on the river where hundreds of zebra had been huddled for days and saw a crocodile waiting for the first opportunity to make a move. It seemed very fatalistic to be watching the zebra deliberate en masse as to the appropriate moment to cross, knowing that there may be a sacrificial price to pay for the greater good.

We witnessed ostrich mate. As in most feathered creatures, the male is the brightly-colored one that has to woo the female into the act of procreation. This male started flapping his wings (the ones that don't permit flight - the only bird with wings that can't fly) and doing a bit of a dance to signify that he was ready. The female ran off to force a chase and flapped her wings as well to indicate eventual willingness. It was not long before the male caught up and the deed was done. This particular female will now lay 15-40 eggs. The male will search for another female and when they've finished their business, the female will lay her eggs in the very same nest. This goes on with a few females and they will eventually all take turns (male inclusive) protecting the nest - especially from the lion that love to find a full nest and gorge on an impromptu raw brunch.

And on the drive back to camp as dusk was approaching, we watched a family of elephant move along the savannah and caught a lone hippo munching out of the water.

One of the last tales we heard was about the runway for the landing strip. The gravel was dug from a patch of land that collects water and the grass therefore stays greener; it looks a bit like a golf course feature. Elephant grazed on it at dusk. The windsock in the background demarcates the air strip, from where I departed for Nairobi the next day.

Up in the Air

5:15. Tea and Kenyan mango delivered. Kerosene lamps lit by the camp porter assigned to my tent. How cold will it be at 2000 feet at dawn? How many layers do I wear and do I need sunscreen at 7am in the bush? It doesn't even occur to me that the balloon might malfunction and crash into a pride of lion or the banks of the crocodile-inhabited Mara River.


Escorted by the rifle-toting guard to the launch site where the balloon is being inflated with fans and the pilot provides instructions and checks the equipment.

45-minute balloon safari availing an aerial perspective of dawn in the Mara (the first image is a stock photo from the balloon safari operation I had to include):

That's hippo in the water:

We're moving too fast and there's not enough light for my simple point-and-shoot Lumix to get a decent shot of the rhino we spot as well as other creatures already snapped from the comfort of the game drive truck. This is a view of the side of the basket looking straight down:

And in a moment, we land sideways and a glorious feast is served in the savannah, beginning with a customary champagne toast celebrating a successful voyage....it's 7am and there's no time like the present to raise a glass.

No breakfast in the bush is complete without lemon-scented crepes:

And while we gorge on fruit, eggs, sausage, pancakes, stewed tomatoes and mushrooms, croissants, hash browns, coffee, tea, bubbly, juice and the afore-mentioned crepes, the balloon is packed and returned to the camp by tractor:

After all the morning's adventure and feasting, we go on a game drive and witness more wildlife (vultures, wildebeest, cheetah - that followed us with bush paparazzi stalking them, elephant, topi, giraffe, zebra...) and take in more landscape:

And back near camp, a few more elephant in the bush to close out the morning adventures:

More Mara

It is possible to work and play too hard and on Day 1 of my excursion into the Mara, I slept through the 6:30am and the 10:30am drives to try to restore my zapped energy and sense of well being. The Camp Director wanted to call a doctor but I persuaded him that I wasn't a public health threat to his other guests and staff if I could just sleep....most expensive naps of my life, for sure.

When I emerged close to noon, I discovered that the camp was set adjacent to a marsh which, of course, serves as a watering hole to the wildlife. Breakfast is served in between the morning drives at 9:00am next to the marsh with a sublime wildlife theater as ambience. This was the view from my tent when I emerged on Day 1:

Yep. Elephant, zebra, giraffe across the marsh and warthogs scampering in front of my tent on the way to lunch. The camp is not protected by any fences. Each of the 17 tents has a porter that brings tea or coffee in the morning at the hour requested the previous night and lights the two kerosene lamps in the tent as it is still dark when one has to get up to make the 6:30 game drive. At any time that it's dark, one has to point a flashlight outward from the tent to summon a security guard to be escorted to the main office or the bar or dining tents. Amazingly, I had BlackBerry service in my tent but no electricity! There are other Governor camps in the Mara with bathtubs (I had a large shower with a waterfall nozzle) and electricity but none have the adjacency to the marsh and the spontaneous wildlife spectacle.


So I had a porter, a rifle-toting security guard, and a waiter assigned to me throughout my stay. I also had a game driver, Fred, a former school teacher that shared a profound knowledge and passion for the Masai Mara and its indigenous wildlife with those lucky enough to be in his care. These are some snaps from my first drive with Fred which include more zebra (the one on the right is pregnant), topi, a leopard (in the tree), cheetahs on a termite mound, napping lions, and a Chardonnay "sundowner" with some other guests.

Dusk back at the camp over the marsh at the end of Day 1 (as I was escorted to my tent to change for drinks before dinner). Had to get to sleep early as I booked a balloon safari departing at 5:45am the next morning.