We left at 8:00 am for a full day safari. Our first sighting was a hyena slinking around. We saw hartebeest for the first time. An elephant in the brush. Vultures feasting away. Several dead wildebeest, with or without vultures. One of the highlights of the day was the 3 separate herds of elephants. The first herd had 7 adults, 1 baby, and one male. We were the only safari vehicle at this herd, which was rare. We could hear them eating and breaking through the brush. The second herd had 12 elephants, 2 males, and 4 babies (SOOO cute!). The rather large matriarch was demonstrating some rather frightening stances as she was annoyed with all the vehicles. Lots of them.
A lot of vehicles around the male lion as well. He just sat there and looked at all of us and yawned. One of the more interesting things was seeing the wildebeest migration. A single file line as far as the eye could see in both directions. It's also interesting to drive through a wildebeest herd (they live in and amongst the zebra). They will all be laying resting, then we come and we feel like we're parting the waters. They all get up and move to both sides, then stand there craning their necks staring at us as we crane our necks to stare at them. They're easily spooked to run, and once one of them runs the rest follows. But they don't go very far.
We stopped at the Mara River where we could get out of the vehicle, and we were handed over to wildlife ranger Daniel. He took us on a walk along the bank to get a really good view of a large group of hippos, in and out of the water. They are so huge, they weigh more than 5 metric tons. Yikes. Then Daniel took us on a walk along the other side of the river to see some crocodiles. And a potty break. We were afraid we would have to use the "natural" washroom as Chris calls it. Then all the other safari vehicles would rush over to see what interesting sight had stopped our vehicle.
We stopped for a box lunch under the shade of a tree, with little lizards and weaver birds hopping around us. All the other safari vehicles were stopped here as well, but Chris found us a nice private spot. Then on to the signpost that indicated the end of Kenyan land and the beginning of no-man's land. The Tanzanian signpost is 1 km away. Don't know why they need a no-man's land.
Some ostrich, some eland, zebras, gazelles, etc, and our safari was over. Chris found a local masai and picked him up, and he took us to his village. A whole bunch of masai warriors put on quite the show for us. They did 3 dances for us. The jumping dance is a competition. Whoever can jump the highest gets to go to the next village where maybe he can find a wife. There was a welcome dance where they danced around us and put a lion skin on Frankie (head and neck of a lion). And there was a lion celebration dance. Chris says that they are not supposed to kill lions, but they do it anyways, especially if the lion has eaten one of their cows or goats. During some of the dances, they surrounded us and grabbed our cameras and took pictures of us.
After the dances, we were taken inside the village. The whole village is surrounded by brush so that you wouldn't even know it was there. We were taken around mostly by a young man of 21 named Depe. He took us into his mother's house and sat us down on the cowskin bed and told us about the Masai culture. They eat meat, milk, and blood. There was a separate small room for the sheep and goats. And a fire in the middle which he called the kitchen. It was completely dark in there. We sat in the dark and asked questions.
Then back outside where they showed us how they can start a fire in 2 minutes with 2 sticks of wood. The village was circular, had 46 residents, and you had to watch where you walked because they keep the cows in the center at nightime. Then through a gate where they had a circular market set up. We bought a dancing stick, a carved giraffe, and a Masai necklace. One Masai wanted to buy Anton's bracelet that Elisha had made for him. The souvenirs cost $30 and the entry fee was $20 each. At this price you were allowed to take as many pictures as you wanted. A little expensive, but an interesting experience, and we hope the money helps them. Maybe they won't need to kill so many lions?!?! Depe and the others walked us back to the van, where he wrote down his name, the name of his village, and his mobile #, just in case we ever want to message him, he said.
Sat on our own private balcony to our tent, in a nice breeze as the sun went down.
We chatted with Masai Sammy from the gift shop and exchanged contact information. After dinner we sat in the reception area (Sammy put us in the best seats) and there was a demonstration of some more Masai dances by the staff.
Today was referandom day. Poly on the phone told us that everything has been peaceful so far. Sammy showed us how they painted his fingernail with a marker to show that he had voted and to make sure people don't vote more than once.
Sent from my BlackBerry device.
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