Safari!

Since I had a week before I started work I decided to go on a safari. The office suggested a travel agent who suggested I start at Masai Mara, which is right on the border of Tanzania's Serengeti. It's drivable, and I hear it's a beautiful drive that I'll have to do someday but maybe when I get my own car. For now, traveling alone they said it's cheaper to fly. I think it's the first flight I've ever been on that has stops. Mine was the second. On the first stop we landed amidst the annual great migration of the wildebeest. Hundreds were running by just along the runway - complete with integrated zebras. And all the runways were dirt:)

I stayed at Mara Savora Camp which was beautiful. Very nice "tents" and mine overlooked the salt lick where there were growling and playing big cats at night (I thought lions by the sound but someone else guessed leopards). Just on the drive to the camp we saw zebra, lions (hard to see sleeping in a bush), giraffe, elephants, etc. And I hadn't even gone on a game drive yet!

Those were unbelievable. I can't believe how close you get to the animals - in a open jeep! It seems almost sad that there are jeeps chasing the animals all over and they don't seem to mind. They seem clear that we aren't threats (while keeping their eyes out for real threats). It's also so nice to see thriving wildlife. After four drives I saw tons of lions- one with three cubs, one small pride eating a wildebeest- several cheetahs - again one with cubs and one eating a thompson gazelle- wart hogs, giraffes, lots of elephants (one with a tiny baby), a gazelle that was just hours old, buffalo, hippos, one black rhino, zebra and other gazelle/antelope things.

The people of the area (who are no longer allowed to live in the park) are the Masai. They are hired to work at the camps and I met a lovely man, Joseph, who helped me learn Swahili. I was reading in my tent one evening only to be startled to hear african drums and chanting. It struck me as so much more familiar and comforting than traditional indian music ever did. Overall I stayed two nights and did four game drives.

The flight back was in a tiny cesna, so full that one passenger had to sit up in the co-pilot seat (sorta wish that had been me). The woman ahead of me was scared of flying and cried the entire time. We made three stops on the way back. One flight was literally 2 minutes - can't figure out why people couldn't just drive that far.