MARA EXPLORER CAMP - MAASAI MARA KENYA SEP 29, 2012

MARA EXPLORER  - SAT SEP 29, 2012  HOT AIR BALLOON SAFARI

Transfer from Porini Mara Camp to Mara Explorer

HEATING THE BALLOON READY FOR LIFT OFF

This was a very early start since we had booked a hot air balloon ride over the Mara with Balloon Safaris.  We were awake at 3:30, and enjoyed the hot chocolate before a prompt departure from Mara Porini at 4:30pm It was a 1 1/2 hour drive to the Balloon Safaris office at the ? gate and then another 30 to 45 minutes from there.  We had a Gamewatchers' mechanic and David, the Camp Manager with us as we left - David's younger sister had died very unexpectedly the day before and so he and the mechanic exited our Land Cruiser as we hit the main, very bumpy, dirt road at the first matatu (mini van travelling all over Kenya as private transportation, there are thousands of them) that came along to get a ride back to Nairobi.

We arrived at the lift off spot around 6:30am - the balloons were all being filled with hot air and we could see the sky colours changing through purples, blues and reds on the horizon as the sun started to come up.  The balloons were held down with ropes tied to a tractor - a very smart idea - much better than the crew all frantically holding on to the ropes like we have experienced in other years.  We all climbed into the basket ( 1 large rectangular basket divided into 4 sections with room for 4 passengers in each section an a centre section for our pilot, Mike (originally from Alaska) his  propane tanks and his controls.

16 PASSENGERS PLUS PILOT IN THE BASKET

The lift off was perfect - as gentle as a feather!  It was a simply beautiful morning - no clouds, clear skies, and a full moon!  There were about 14 hot air balloons in the air from several different companies, 3 from Balloon Safaris.  Just imagine the colorful balloons silhouetted against the magical light of the sun rise, or brightly lit colouring as the heat was applied to the air inside the balloon to make it go higher or lower or change direction in conjunction with the wind. Inside the balloon basket we were all pretty quiet - but with huge grins - as we gazed in awe around and across the 350 sq miles of Kenya's Maasai Mara (the Mara Triangle) - all the way down South to the Serengeti just 30km away, East to the Ngama Hills, and West to the Olololu range of hills. It was warm enough (we were wearing our jackets and fleece) but the grasses were very damp and every time we came down to "the deck" it was damp - for some time we floated just inches above the top of the grass!

We saw  very few animals while in the balloon, mostly due to the fact that this year the Great Migration started late and finished early - a huge surprise to everyone.  Speculation is that this is due to the controlled burning that Tanzania did in Serengeti.  Typically, the wildebeest, zebras and gazelles migrate north to Kenya's Maasai Mara when they have eaten all the grass down to the roots on the Tanzania's Serengeti, and then return to Serengeti 3 to 4 months later when they have eaten the grass down in Kenya, and Serengeti's grass has grown again.  Tanzania's forced burn followed by rains in Serengeti this last few months may have caused the wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles to stay longer since the grass grew again after the burn!

 The 60 minute balloon ride came to an end much too fast!  The landing was as gentle as the lift - we landed standing up in the basket!  The chase crew were in place ready to help us out of the basket and we had a short 100 foot ride to the breakfast - already set out.  The never ending champagne was poured as we arrived - and refilled at the table every time the level went down.  There was lots of breakfast: quiche, sausage, bacon, pastries & croissants, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, tea and hot chocolate.  While we ate breakfast Mike madeCD's for sale - $30USD each - containing several photos of us that he had taken in the basket during the ride, as well as some stock photos of wild life in the Mara.

We had a few laughs with Mike before joining our driver, James,  who still had all our luggage in his Land cruiser.  You can take game drive back to your Camp after the balloon ride but we decided to have James just drive us straight to Explorer so we could check in and unload baggage.  needless to say being 1 hour early we were unexpected, but we were soon checked in to tents 1 and 10 (there are only 10 tents - adults only).

We met our new Guide, Saruni - his names "someone who helps others" and he took us over to the Intrepids Camp (basically next door) to take a look at the store!  We also managed a glass of wine while we enjoyed Intrepid's Bar overlooking the T? River.  Saruni turned out to be an amazing Guide - currently bronze level with KWS and soon to be Silver (Gold is highest category and there are very few in Kenya at Gold level).  Saruni is Maasai and married to Naserian (peaceful) with 2 young boys: Leshan 7 years old  (born during rainy season) and Ledama 3 years old (born during the day) who live about 100km from Narok.  Saruni hasn't been home for over 1 1/2 months - it is typical for the Guides to work non stop during the busy season.

We asked Saruni about the marriage process - Maasai warriors are allowed multiple wives but I think without fail all the Maasai we have spoken to have only 1 wife and plan to keep it that way.  The dowry to be accepted as a future husband and provider is substantial - Saruni had to "pay" for Naserian's dowry: 2 donkeys, 10 cattle @ 20,000 Ksh each, 15 goats (each worth 3,000Ksh), along with honey for the Elders (to make a local brew), and  shucra's (the red checkered blankets that all Maasai wear) for the women.  The total dowry would have cost more than 60,000Ksh (approximately $720 USD). 

OLIVE THE LEOPARD

We were picked up at 3:15pm for our game drive - and what am awesome game drive it was.  Giraffe - 2 males "necking" which is how they fight, swinging their long powerful necks against each other, the white waste paper flowers everywhere (they look like scraps of paper littered across the savannah), wildebeest, impala, baboons, cape buffalo, topi antelope, Burchells zebra with a young baby, Rupell's vulture which soar to 37,000 feet above the ground and follow the wildebeest as they migrate back to Tanzania.  We saw elephants with their young - until they are 1 year old they can walk under their Mom's tummy, by the time they are 3 years old they are starting to grow their tusks.  We were thrilled to see olive, the resident leopard who is just a beauty - wandering through the brush and then out through the savannah as she eyed up the gazelles, thinking of her supper no doubt.

Mara means "dotted" which is exactly the appearance you see with the wildebeest dotted everywhere, as well as the lone  desert date trees (balanites) all over the Mara but miles apart.  Maasai means  (community", and Serengeti is a Maasai word for "open plains" which is exactly what the Serengeti is - 10 times as large a the Maasai Mara which is 1510 sq km (700sq miles).  The Maasai don't eat fish (they consider them to be snakes, and they don't eat birds eating turkey - this came up when discussing Canadain Thanksgiving and how we eat turkey!

The game drive had been awesome but it was not over yet - imagine how excited we were when we came cross the cheetah named Malaika - she is known for jumping on top of safari vehicles and using the perch to give her an advantage to find out where her next dinner is coming from.  We sat for a long time watching her in the long grass, it was awhile before we realized that she also had her 7 month old cub with her!  She did have two cubs but one was killed a few months ago by a lion and Saruni told us she was very distraught walking up and down looking for her lost cub.

For birds we saw Lappett faced vultures (the largest vulture there is), black bellied bustard and many others.  We had a rain storm not long after heading out on the game drive -and that evening we had a BBQ (Nyama Choma ) back at camp.  It was supposed to have been a Bush Dinner in the wild (what can be more wild than being in a camp with no fences?) but due to the rain it was held back at Explorer Camp.  We also ran into Vincent at dinner - the very tall Maasai (maybe 7 feet?) Guide that we had in 2010 after we had climbed Mt Kilimanjaro - it was great to catch up again with each other.  Before dinner we sat around the log fire in the fire pit on the deck overlooking the Talek River, discussing our amazing day while sipping on our glass of wine!  By the time we fell into our beds (complete with hot water bottle) we had enjoyed an amazing day and were ready to crash!

 MARA EXPLORER - SUNDAY SEP 30, 2012 - THE GREAT MIGRATION, MARA RIVER CROSSING

........ our last day - we are so bummed out about leaving tomorrow - we could stay for ever.there is so much to see and do.  It was a wonderful last day we saw so much.  The day started with a luke warm shower and as Terry said - towels like sandpaper (he exaggerates) when I explained that the tools were a little hard because of being dried in the sun and not a clothes dryer, he said "that's right" he threw the towel on the floor in a bundle and said "see - no Bounce!" We did laugh! 

HONEYMOONING LIONS

After our very hot hot chocolate delivered to the tent by Samuel, we walked to the pickup area for the game drive. and Daniel the Night Security Guard was telling of the night's activities with both and elephant and a lion walking through the camp!  Explorer Camp has no fences so it is open to all animals wandering trough - this could explain the spears in the sand at the entrance!   Neil and Jackie were busy taking photos from their deck at tent #1 of hippos in the Telak River and on the banks.  We got away shortly after 630am after taking photos of our guide Saruni, and also Vincent, who was our guide in 2010.

It was the most amazing game drive - we had requested  a long game drive taking breakfast with us so that we could go to the Mara River and hope to catch a crossing of the Great Migration - one if the 7 wonders of the world. Our drive started with a spotted hyena crunching bones, and then a second hyena walking away with her own skull to feed on - these were both large females who are 25% larger than the males.  Great early morning views with the sun shining on them - nothing but clear blue skies up ahead.  There was word from the Mara river that there might be a possible crossing  of the river so Saruni said let's head straight there - which we did although stopping long enough to take photos of a black rhino who was browsing on some shrubs.  The black rhino feeds on shrubs and the white rhino feds on grass.  The black rhino horn grows much longer than that of the white rhino. There used to be up to 2000 rhinos in the Mara and now there are only 40 left due to poaching - how sad.  Today Kenya Wildlife Service spends lots of time and money to protect the few rhinos that are left.

MARA RIVER CROSSING DURING THE GREAT MIGRATION

Before we reached the Mara River we had more amazing sightings - the Paradise Pride of lions!  First Saruni found one large male with a wonderful large mane fast asleep under a rock.  He roused long enough to give us some wonderful shots, then we saw the lioness just 30 feet away - also sleeping.  They have been mating for the last 4 or 5 weeks so have stayed in this area while they mate to 200 to 300 times during that time frame.  We then drove a few hundred yards away to a male and lioness lying together like a perfect honeymoon couple.  We watched quietly for over an hour and were rewarded when they mated which lasts just seconds!  Another couple of hundred yards and we found the lioness with her two small 3 month old cubs hiding behind her under a bush - sleepy and relaxing in the cool of the morning which was heating up very quickly.  Many land cruisers had come and gone while we were watching but few had the patience we did and we were rewarded over and over again.  At one point the first male lion stood up and started to track a large female buffalo and calf as it wandered by - the mother turned around and glared at the lion (who immediately sat down) as if to say "come and get me or my baby if you dare!"

LEOPARD KILLING A WILDEBEEST

Then we wandered slowly over to the Mara River and saw lots of hippos and a small herd of elephants with a baby drinking from the Mara River after climbing down the bank.  We sat and ate our large boxed lunch: juice, water, apple, banana, passion fruit yoghurt, bread, pastries, hard boiled egg, sausage, bacon, and chips under the shade of a tree and sat and watched and waited.  The large herd of wildebeest and zebra, around 2,000, didn't seem to be moving so we took a drive along the Mara river.  

There were a tremendous number of hippos, each surfacing and breathing at alternate times - they can stay underwater for 5 to 6 minutes before they surface for air.  The babies can stay under for only 2 to 3 minutes so we were fortunate enough to see a tiny baby and its' Mom lying on the bank and sunning before walking into the water.  We also saw  a very badly scarred hippo - obviously a loser in whichever battles he had been fighting. There were lots of Nile crocodiles from small to massive - they have been feeding for the last couple of months on the wildebeest as they cross the Mara River to access the grass on the other side, and some are so fat you could hardly believe they are still capable of moving!  Most are basking in the sun on the banks.

We moved back away from the Mara River to behind the large herd of wildebeest and zebras to park and wait and see if the herd would move - Saruni felt that they were looking a little more active. We sat back and baked in the sun along with another 10 or so Land Cruisers from the local camps - everyone being patient and respectful, not racing down to the Mara River until, hopefully, the wildebeest andZebra had the space and time to go down at their own pace.  We fixed up the shucra (red tartan blankets ) over the open roof so that we got some shade.

Eventually the wildebeest started to move - very slowly.  We could only tell that they were moving as we took a fixed point ( a tree) and could see the wildebeest front line getting closer, then reaching, and finally passing the tress.  There are several crossing points that the wildebeest use each year on the Mara River - but two main crossings, and it appeared that the wildebeest were about to use the second main crossing.  When the last of the thousands of wildebeest disappeared around the corner, another land cruiser drove up to Saruni and said "what do you think?".... Saruni said "let's go for it" and we were off!  Saruni started the Land Rover and the race was on - all 10 of us charged off to try to get to the river hoping that the wildebeest would cross.

We rounded the bush where we had seen the last wildebeest disappear, and low and behold - there was a kill in progress - a leopard with his teeth anchored on to the underneath neck of a wildebeest, and the wildebeest trying, unsuccessfully, to get away! with lots of his wildebeest family looking on, so distraught.  Within only 2 or 3 minutes the leopard pulled the wildebeest into the bush and disappeared!  We drove the last few feet to the Mara River and parked overlooking the wide dusty area that the wildebeest would surely use. 

WATER BUCK

Within minutes the wildebeest came to the opening and they trotted to the water's edge of the Mara River frantically mooing - they wanted to cross but would they?  We have been at this point before where their front paws are in the river, then they turn around and move back to the plains and wait until another day to cross!  We were in luck - within 15 minutes the wildebeest were ready - the first wildebeest jumped into the river and started across and the rest of the gang followed.  It is too hard to explain all the emotions that you go through -excitement actually seeing part of the 7 Wonders of the World, fear and trepidation as you watch the many crocodiles, some of them so massive, lining up for dinner as the zebra and wildebeest start to cross, the mooing and distress calls of all the animals, especially the young 7 month old wildebeest and giraffe, the steep banks of the river at this point and the horror as the animals try to climb over each other to climb over the almost impossibly steep bans, the exhilaration when one tired, exhausted, lonely wildebeest finally manages to climb on to the top of the bank!  The tears from us all at both the successes and failures of the individual animals - it is amazing and dreadful and awful all at the same time.  We saw thousands cross successfully, we saw several dead bodies flow down the swift current of the Mara river,  we saw the crocs take at least 4 animals, we saw  a group of confused young wildebeest come back to the bank time and again after they had successfully crossed trying to decide whether they should cross back to where they had come from.  We watched for a very long time and as difficult as it was it was an amazing spectacle, repeated every year as Mother Nature tells these animals what they must do.

We had headed out at 6:30 expecting to be back at Explorer at 11:30 - we finally arrived back at 3:00pm for lunch.

Godfrey, our waiter, was so happy for us that we had seen an amazing crossing.  He offered us a huge menu - 2 or 3 selections of salad and appetizer, along with 4 main entrees and 3 desserts - wonderful!  While eating we were doing a quick charge on the batteries for camera and IPad, and then afterwards  at 3:30 we were back to our game drive again!    Saruni took us on a peaceful drive along the Talek River - we saw lots of birds and enjoyed the tranquility: crowned plover, lilac breasted roller, white throated bee eater, long crested snake eagle, white browed cuckoo, Rupell's long tailed starling, hoopoe, speckled mouse bird, hooded vulture, white backed vulture, foxtailed drongo,.  We even came across a pack of banded mongoose - they move so fast, and imagine when we saw them take on a rat and devour it and shred it as they rolled and fought in a ball in the dust - the rat was dissected and gone in minutes!  

To complete the afternoon Saruni took us to a hill top to watch the sunset on a glorious afternoon - no rain and just a little cloud to get great sunset colours - but as if that wasn't enough - there was Notch - the 15 year King of the Mara with a glorious mane basking in the rays of the setting sun, just golden as they shone through his mane.  Notch would roll over on his back and stretch and rub his tummy - just priceless!

Back at the EXPLORER, we didn't have long before dinner - Saruni managed to stretch every one of our game drives, but I was determined to enjoy  a hot bath in the bath tub on the deck of our tent overlooking the Talek River and the hippos!  I lit the candle, sank into the bubbles and loved every moment.  After cocktails around the log fire on the deck, we had Greek Salad and PIRI PIRI prawns (very spicy!).  By 10pm it was lights out for all of us!

MONDAY OCTOBER 1, 2012 - HYENAS, LIONS AND CHEETAHS.

Not the best sleep last night but it was fascinating listening to all the noises in the night while I was awake!  Daniel told us later no lions last night but we did have a buffalo in the camp!  I certainly lay awake listening to the huge hippos (as adults they way up to 3000 pounds!) come back to their daily habitat - the Talek river outside our tents - after feeding on the grasses traveling up to 10k each night, they return at sunrise and are very noisy about letting everyone know that they are back!

Duncan delivered our hot chocolate at 5:45 and by 6:30am we were in the Land Rover and off for our last game drive of our trip! After watching the Dik Dik's walk past us (the smallest antelope).  Saruni made it very special  our first stop was in the savannah next to the airstrip where a small family of elephants was busy munching on their leaves.  Next was two hyenas, the first carrying the head of a wildebeest that she ran into the bush to feed on - just listen to those crunching bones, while the other hyena obviously had her breakfast as well since she had her head down crunching a short distance away!  Continuing on Saruni made a turn into a very bushy area - it was a narrow track and the branches were hitting the sides of the Land Rover and depositing leaves.  Saruni drove into a tiny dead end and there were 4 lionesses and a cub - part of the Ridge Pride of Lions (consists of 3 adult females, 3 sub adult females, 2 small cubs, 3 older cubs, and 1 juvenile male - 12 in all)!  They were all very sleepy, comfortable for the day in the shade and ready for a very slow relaxing day.

We had lots of bird life this morning: yellow billed stork, helmeted guinea fowl, black headed oriole, pied kingfisher, bee eater, hadada Ibis, white browed cuckoo - all along theTalek River bank with several old large Sycamore fig trees.  Then imagine - one last surprise for the morning on our last game drive: 2 cheetah brothers, about 4 years old.  They were sitting on the plains in the shade of a tree - when they were lying down we would have driven right past them if Saruni hadn't taken us right to them!  They were resting for the day!

It was time to head back for breakfast and to pick up our bags and to the Ol Kiombo airstrip for our flight back to Nairobi - but not without one last stop!  The vultures were all circling and on the plain by the Explorer Camp -so Saruni took us over and it was a frantic sparring fight by all the vultures over the remains of  a wildebeest kill: hooded vultures, white backed vultures, Ruppells vultures, and the largest of all -  the Lappett faced vultures (all these vultures together is called a benu of vultures).  There were more arriving all the time.

After a very fast breakfast of fesh Kenyan plunger cffee, fresh fruits, eggs benedict on smoked salmon sitting on a pancake (no ordinary English Muffin here!) Saruni came and picked us up - we had last photos with Daniel our Security man and Saruni then off to the OL KIOMBO air strip.  As we arrived we received a text from Stephen (African Horizons, our old friend from 2007 when we first went to Ndandini Village).  Stephen had driven over from Ashnil Mara Camp about 45 minutes away and texted us that he was waiting for a quick visit at the air strip!  We all had so much to say and about 10 minutes to say it in, so we all spoke very fast to cover as much as we could - we sent along our best wishes for Penina (wife),and son Mark and daughter Ruth the youngest, then we had to wave our Goodbye's to Edwin, Saruni and Stephen and climb aboard our last Safarilink flight which had arrived and dropped off passengers while we were chatting.

LION CUB

We were soon on board, no boarding pass, just Saruni checking that our names were on the passenger list - all very informal but still under control.  Ezekiel was the flight attendant - the same friendly chap who also acts as ground crew and gives us a warm welcome every year.  At 11:10am after 10 minutes we landed at Mara North (60 miles South of the Equator) to drop off and pick up passengers ( a large group from APT).  By 11:17 we were taxiing again - no long stops on these Safarilink flights!  This was the largest plane we have flown on for a safari -a Canadian built Dash 8 (36 passenger - there are even overhead luggage bins!)  It was very sad to be leaving our friends in the Maasai Mara and about to leave Kenya - this has been such a wonderful trip and we always hate when our safari and game drives come to an end.  There is no way to explain how quickly you become so close and attached to the wonderful friendly Kenyans that we meet on safari. 

We landed at 12 noon, just a 60 minute flight including the touch down at Mara North airstrip - the Dash8 flies faster than the smaller Safarilink planes - Ray from Gamewatchers was there to meet us and we were soon back at the TRIBE hotel where we had day rooms - wonderful for showering and repacking and getting ready for our long flights home.  The afternoon flew by - Jackie and Neil left at 2:45pm with Ray (Gamewatchers) for their flights via Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Rome  and Toronto.  We went to the Village Market next door and picked up tea and Kazuri beads for friends at home, then checked with Safaricom for a "hot spot" device to take back for Mark to use in his Safari trip to Kenya coming very shortly.  Safaricom didn't have a hot spot in the store but we did get one that evening at JKI airport before we left Nairobi.  In addition we registered our mobile phone numbers with Safaricom - this is a procedure Safaricom is following to keep your phone active even if you haven't used it for more than 6 months - Kenya, like everywhere in the world, has problems with drugs and drug dealers and this registration process also helps with the issue of drug dealers forever buying new sim cards (and phone numbers) and throwing away the old phone numbers never to be used again.

(There are Maasai Market every day in Nairobi which we didn't get to this time: Monday - Karen  Nakumatt Junction, Tuesday - downtown, Wednesday - Muthaiga, Thursday - Capitol Centre (Mombasa Rd from airport), Friday - Village Market, Saturday & Sunday - downtown). Vehicle License Plates: Red - Diplomatic, Blue - Government Parastatal, White on front and yellow on back - everyone else (special number sequence for other Government departments).

At Joseph Kenyatta International Ray dropped us off at 7:30pm after our 60 minute ride from the TRIBE hotel  on the new bypass (a longer route but less traffic) and we were quickly through customs and spent a couple of sweaty hours waiting for our flight with KLM to Amsterdam (the checkin process is always slow and somewhat uncontrolled for some reason!).  We took off a little late at 11pm - very tired and sorry to be leaving Kenya, but we managed to get a couple of hours sleep.  It's always emotional to leave and we always promise ourselves to go back to make the farewell a little easier to handle.  

It had been an exceptionally tough day for us - I had started the day with "wobbly vision" the sign of a migraine so had been taking pills all day, then to cap it all off in the worst way possible, when we were back at the TRIBE hotel at 2pm I realised I had left my LUMIX camera on the Safarilink flight from Maasai Mara to Nairobi - I made many phone calls and Steve at Safarilink tried his best, but the two plane cleaners in Nairobi said they found nothing on the plane before it was cleaned and he even tracked the plane to Diani in Mombasa, and Ezekiel the flight steward confirmed it was not on the plane.  Gamewatchers also followed up with phone calls but no luck.

We were devastated and for the last 3 days we had not down loaded the photos to our computer - the one thing we promised ourselves several years ago that we would always do since we had lost a camera once before at the end of a trip and so had lost all our photos. The last 3 days had been amazing at Mara Explorer - we had seen lions, cheetahs, leopards, and a crossing of the Mara River during the Great Migration - one of the Seven Wonders of the World - I had taken thousands of photos and movies - this was going to take a long time to get over.  The worst part yet?  All I needed was the card with the photos on - I don't care who took the camera - they are welcome to it!  The camera has been to Africa many times and suffered the dust of so many rough rides and game drives - the last couple of days the zoom and other switches had been very sticky, stiff and awkward so we had already decided to buy another camera when we got home, oh but what we would give to have the SD card back!

Arriving at Amsterdam Schipol airport at 6am we trundled off to the YOTEL (you can rent a cubicle with bed, TV, shower, and WIFI for a minimum of 4 hours.  It is inside the terminal inside security so you don't have to go through passport control or security at all.  5 hours later we were mostly up todate with all our emails and felt better for a shower, even though this time we didn't get any sleep at all (although we usually do!).  We were boarded and ready to depart at 1pm as scheduled - the last leg back to Vancouver - about 9 1/2 hours.  We were flying a Boeing 777-200, seating configuration 3-3-3.  

We arrived on time in Vancouver in glorious sunshine - and we even flew over our own house and could see the Skookumchuck rapids and the Trail Bay Islands below us.  It was the end of another amazing safari to MAGICAL KENYA -- and now we're starting to think about next year!