Masai Mara-1

Jamboooooo,

Blogging is very hard with the Internet speed in Kenya, and especially in Machakos. It can take hours to post a blog. Another handicap for my blogging was the lack of a proper data cable for my other camera, which is a SLR. I tought that there is one universal data cable which can work with all cameras, so I just brought the cable for my compact camera. But, apparenty I was wrong. I tried to find a solution, could not succeed. And gave up. And without my safari pictures, my blog would be nothingL Thanks to Henriette that she offerred me to try hers and it did work indeed. Now I am ready to share my Masai Mara experience. But first, I have to catch up with other necessary things like Machakos where we are based now. Machakos is a really small town which one can walk around in 15 minutes. Here is a snap from the centre. 



  



 Africans are very colorful people in terms of decoration. All the shops, houses, matatus (local buses), motorbikes and lorries have colorful paintings and other interesting decorations. As you can see in the other snaps, these are typical African shops. Below is a typical African lorry. I think African lorry drivers are as creative as their Turkish colleagues. What do you think? 

So, this is all about MachakosJ Now I am jumping to Masai Mara as I am very impatient about it. Anyone going to Masai Mara wants to see the Big Five. That is for sure. And I did 4,5 out of 5. The missing half is LeopardL Actually, we saw the tail of one leopard, so I guess it can count as halfJ She hided in the tree so well that it was almost impossible to notice her. Anyway, the other big Four are quite exciting as well. 

On the way from Nairobi to Masai Mara, you pass through the Rift Valley. This magnificent valley is 6000 Km long and starts from Syria and goes down to Mozambique. The view is literally hillarious.

And ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Masai Mara. 

Masai Mara is an amazing place. When you see the vast plain savana with almost nothing on, you are amazed. And in the middle of this nothingness, sometimes there is this single acacia tree standing still all alone. Probably, this is the most classical image of Africa in people’s mind. And it is there indeed.

And suddenly, you find yourself among a herd of zebras. They so are beautiful. Here are some cute Zebras for you.

 Zebras are usually accompanied by Gazels which are as cute as zebras. They are pretty, fragile creatures with very gentle moves. When they walk, they move their tales in such a way that, especially if they are in herds, they look like they are going with butterflies behind them. 

So we continue our drive game to meet with the Big Five. And here comes the first one: the Elephant. Ohh man, they are so big and this shakes your perception of earth’s magnitude and relativity for a few minutes. The elephant shot with the safari vans below though I am aware it is not natural due to cars and usJ, I put it for you too appreciate their hugeness.

 

While we were watching the elephants feeding on the trees vigorously, all of a sudden Mr. Jumbo appeared out of the bushes. Jumbo was more than big, he was "huge". Moreover, he was very excited which is something you cannot miss in the below picture:) And apparantly, he had a crash in one of the young ladies in the group who was much smaller than him. Mr Jumbo was stalking her to seduce for a morning session perhaps. But, the young female elephant was reluctant without no surprise. So everytime Mr. Jumbo tried to get close to her, she ran away. All these chase was very funny to watch. 


Mr Jumbo

  After watching the elephants who were satisfying their basic needs like feeding and in case of Mr. Jumbo, trying to satisfyJ, we moved on to other parts of Masai Mara to searh for other Four of the Big Five. And not more than half an hour, we were face to face with the Lion King.

The weird thing is that thay are very used to people. Of course “people in safari vans”J. I am not sure if they would be as friendly as they are if we get out of the van. So to say, we do not disturb them with our existence. So, you are in front of a group of lions and you just stare at each other quietly. And there is no TV screen and Discovery Channel logo between you. This is real and unbelievable.

Lion King's Harem

The morning session of our safari tour was already very succesfull with Two of the Big Five. After a picnic lunch on famous Masai blankets on a spot far away from the Lion King and his family, we headed towards other spots where we could capture more animals. So that was how we met dear Giraffes on the way.

And for the beauty that lies just below, I cannot find any words that are good enough to introduce the Cheetah. Gorgeous!!!!

After a 10-hour game drive, we were exhausted but very happy with what we had seen so far. On our way to our camp site, the sunset over Masai Mara was awesome.

OK, let me tell you something especially to those who are not used to camping. One thing that is highly necessary in a campsite is a torch or a flash light. It was damn dark in Masai Mara. Without a light, you can do nothing. Thanks to those who were smart enough to consider this fact, we could walked to restrooms in groups. We had a very nice dinner in the evening. Actually it can be considered even luxuriuos for a camp dinner, but this is Masai Mara. If you have money, you can eat lobster in the romatic candle light. After dinner, we sat by the camp fire and consumed dozens of Tuskers before going to our dark tents for a sleep  that was frequently interrupted at night by strange sounds of various animals and birds.  

And that is it for today. But Masai Mara game drive has not finished yet. The other Big 1 and a Half will be coming tomorrow: the Rhino and Tail of the Leopard. And other bigs like Buffalo. A couple of baboons. And many more.....