Lions and cheetahs and wildebeests (oh my!)

So last weekend I went on my second (and final) camping safari. My housemates and I went to Masai Mara National Park -- probably the most famous park in Kenya, for good reason -- and we saw so much wildlife, including the annual wildebeest migration, when over a million wildebeests migrate from Serengeti in Tanzania to Masai Mara in Kenya after they’ve eaten all the grass in Tanzania. We didn’t get to witness them crossing the Mara River, but we saw probably hundreds of thousands of them roaming in big groups and some of them traveling single-file in huge lines.

The road to Masai Mara is, I think, the worst I’ve been on since I’ve been here (I feel like I say that every time I go on a new road). Seriously, this one was so bad, that when he could, our driver drove on the dirt next to the road, rather than on the road itself because of all of the potholes.

Once we got there, we stayed in a campsite for two nights that was much fancier than the one in Amboseli -- it had permanent tents with little beds in them. This turned out to be a good thing because it pored down rain both nights, but we stayed totally dry (and I doubt we would have in a little pup tent on the ground).

The campsite was operated my Maasai, and if you had to get up and use the bathroom in the middle of the night, a Maasai appeared next to you, seemingly out of nowhere, to take you to the latrines. I don’t know if this was just to keep people from getting lost and wandering off (the campsite was really dark), or to protect you in case animals came into the camp (people said they heard hyenas really close to the camp on the first night).

OK, I could go on, but I think I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves …

We saw three lions! This one was sitting on what looked like an abandoned road or bridge or something. (Don't worry -- that's a yawn, not a growl.)

We got a little closer to the cheetahs here than we did in Amboseli (and I figured out how to use the digital zoom on my camera).

Three cheetahs were sitting in the shade under this tree, which was really close to the road, so we sat in the minibus for a really long time watching them poke their heads up out of the grass, roll around, and sit up every once in a while. The cheetahs were adorable, but after a while I noticed just how beautiful the tree was, too!

Wildebeests!


This is us on the border between Kenya (Masai Mara) and Tanzania (Serengeti).

Hippos on the Mara River. At this point, we got out of the minibus and an armed Kenya Wildlife Serice guide took us down to the river (hippos are very aggressive and territorial). I didn't ask if his gun had tranquilizers or bullets in it, and luckily, we didn't find out.

Zebras -- I love the way they stand like this, it kind of seems like they’re hugging each other!

As we left the park on our last day, the light was just amazing.

That’s it for now! After two great weekends of traveling, I’ll be sticking around Nairobi this weekend and unfortunately spending a good chunk of it on my bluebooking assignment for journal (quite a bit less exciting than going on a safari, but I’m really not in a position to complain). Type to you all later!