Kenyan Adventure

About a week ago I went on safari in the Masai Mara National Reserve in southern Kenya. The Masai Mara borders Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to the south. A friend of mine, who also works in Sudan, went with me. We chose to go with a safari outfit that drove us down the A104 Highway, famous for its views over the rift valley escarpment. The alternative option is to fly down from Nairobi, saving some six hours in travel time, but taking a nice chunk out of your pocket. So for the views and the thrift, we drove the escarpment. As it turns out, this view of the escarpment from A104 is somewhat famous. It's the panorama after which a scene in the Lion King film is reportedly modeled. If you can remember, when Mufasa takes Simba to a peak and they look out on a beautiful landscape, he tells Simba that all this land is under their family's rule and that it will all be his one day. Well, the makers of the movie supposedly took the basic look of that scene from this view over the escarpment. I thought that was pretty cool. As a matter of fact, the national language of Kenya, and other East African countries, is Swahili. Their language also made it in to the movie. Of course, hakuna matata means "no worries", but several of the names of the characters, i'm told, are common Swahili words. True stuff, check it out.

The time of the year we went, early September, happens to be near the end of what is known in East Africa as the Great Migration. The term refers to massive herds of wildebeest, beyond a million strong, crossing the border between the Serengeti and the Mara. This is the single largest herd of animals in the entire world. I mean, these things blacken a landscape with their sheer magnitude. It's a funny looking animal, and zebras mingle among the herd's ranks, lending an element of oddity to the spectacle of so many animals in one place. They move from the Serengeti to the Mara for the food source, the grasses watered by seasonal rains. And in doing so, present themselves as a food source for the predators who live there. Our only experience with "big cats" was with lions, but man were they memorable experiences. These next few photos are of a bachelor pride of three males around 3 yrs. old who had just taken down a wildebeest and were nearing the end of their meal when we arrived. You'll notice they don't have the characteristic manes of adult male lions.
That comes some time after their fourth year. Our guide told us they're most likely brothers. (WARNING: The following description is not intended for the squeamish...but hey, circle of life and all, you know)
You can see the wildebeest's head, with its still-in-tact horns near the lion on the left. The stomach and liver lay disemboweled on the ground in front of the big guy. Such a good sport. :) They never did eat those. Guess that's more the vultures' speed.
We watched as this brother walked away from the table. It's about time, I'd say. Look at that belly! But wow he's gorgeous!



Apparently manners have not made their way to Kenya quite yet. This guy's got his food all over his face. You'd think these fellas were raised in the wild!


So on the same morning we saw the three brothers polish off the migratory guest above, we saw these jokers with their ma. I hear it's extremely rare to see male lions eating like we did, or to see a mother nursing her cubs. So right there it's official, "This Trip is A Success!" A couple more:

Does she look nervous? That look makes me nervous.









Look at that punum.











Look at that punum.












We were fortunate enough to ride up on this lioness scoping out a herd of wildebeest herself. It would have been cool to see her take one down but our guide told us with the grass so low, and her by herself, the chances of her catching one were low.
So we moved on. We saw the standard spectacles...
Elephants












Giraffes













Hippos












Zebras












Yeah, I'd say a couple things caught my attention. :)








While we were in the park we met some Masai warriors who danced for us. Part of the dance is to jump as high as possible. The one to do so the highest gets the most wives...or something like that. :) We learned that they wear red all the time because of the wild animals they live in close proximity to. While out grazing their cattle, sheep or goats the Masai want any predators who might think about an attack to be warded off by associating their red clothes with danger. I guess through centuries of fearless, warrior protection over their herds these guys and their reds have developed quite a reputation with the local wildlife.

Well, the trip was nice and restfull,

but eventually the sun set on this adventure like all the rest.
I had a good time but I was ready to get back home to south Sudan by the time it was over.