My flight went off without a hitch. On the way to the airstrip I had two new experiences. I saw two zebras mate. And I got stuck in a Kenyan bathroom! We stopped at the gate to the game reserve so I could use the restroom. I didn’t realize there was no handle on the inside and it was the type of door with no gap above and below. I couldn’t get out! I could hear a guy next door cleaning and I kept yelling. I know how to say “excuse me “ in Swahili so I kept saying that. I need to learn how to say help. He didn’t come. Then I kept yelling everything I could think of and finally Jelly came. He let me out. He told me the guy had told him I was talking on the phone. Then he saw my phone in the car and knew that wasn’t the case. So I would say this qualifies as a new experience!
Jelly has become a friend. We really had fun together. I was sad to leave. He waved as my plane took off!
When I landed, I was met by Wilson my guide and ______ my spotter who drove me to camp. It is so different here. Different even from other places I’ve been in the Mara. It’s beautiful. Flat and open. You can see for miles. The animals have so much room to run. In fact we saw two Thompson gazelles running and playing.
I am a city girl. I don’t camp. And we are really out in the middle of the bush, completely cutoff from anyone and anything. The world could fall apart and we wouldn’t know it. I am completely out of my comfort zone. I guess this counts as a big adventure!
Here is my tent;
Here is the view from my tent
I still have to put mat and chair against tent zipper but thankfully no carbinger clip. I guess monkeys here have not figured out how to move the chair!
When I left my tent to go to lunch there were two bushbucks right outside my tent! A doe and her mate!
The afternoon game drive was great! The first thing I saw was a cheetah!
She is pregnant but her belly is so much smaller than the belly of the cheetah that at the gazelle! I’ve been thinking it is strange I’ve seen so much mating behavior and so many cubs. Then I realized that it’s spring, nearly summer, here since we are below th equator!
We were driving around looking at giraffes and various antelope when my guide learned a wild dog had been spotted so we rushed to see her. It is quite unusual she is not in a pack. They say she’s lived here several years. She’s not in good shape. I am glad I got to see a wild dog this trip.
I had another first. I saw a few day old monkey baby. It did not even have fur yet. Also found an elephant family.
We found three 2-year old lions. First we found the two brothers who were just lying casually out in the open. In a bit their sister came from pretty far away to join them. There was a lot of head rubbing greeting when they got together.
We came back to camp after dark and we had a very exciting find on the way. We saw a tiny African wild cat kitten! The guide had never even seen an African wild cat! It looked exactly like a tabby kitten we might have in our home. So cute!
It turned out to be a good day!
Current count:
- Lions: 14
- Leopards: 6
- Cheetahs: 13
Looking Out Seeing Within 