"Maasai Mara Safari"

After a somewhat rough week in the hospital I enjoyed a much-awaited experience of a lifetime last weekend—Safari!!! I had been looking forward to this for many years ever since I decided I wanted to come to Africa for medical missions. It was truly an incredible experience in many ways and I constantly had to pinch myself to believe that the experience was real! Totally newly inspired to watch the Lion King!

We wet to the Maasai Mara reserve, one of the largest in Africa and one of the prominent Safari locals in Kenya. It is in a region occupied by the Massai tribe, a well-known warrior tribe and probably one of the tribes that still strongly identifies with its culture and has been least westernized.

I went the trip with two other short-term medical missionary couples, one of which had a 1-year-old son. Great to enjoy the experience together. I was on call the night before and slept only an hour or so but had plenty of caffeine and adrenaline to keep me alert. We took a van the 50 km or so from Tenwek to the Maasai Mara reserve. It was a long and bumpy road, very rocky and unpaved, but thankfully quite dry despite the substantial rain over the past couple weeks. The drive was so much fun. We passed through rural villages that were so quaint and picturesque. Lining the road were small farms, with tall cacti serving as fence posts around the parameter. On each farm were mud huts with thatched roofs or wooden homes with tin roofs. Throngs of goats ad cattle walking along the road were a frequent siting. Every time we passed children they smiled gleefully and waved as if we were celebrities! Many groups of children ran alongside the vehicle shouting “Jambo, Jambo!” (Hello in Swahili). They were quite enthralled by the little one-year-old White (Mzunga) baby in the van.  The landscape gradually changed and became more widespread grassland and soon we began to spot the trademark Balanitie trees aka "Desert Dates" (small lone trees seen in classic depictions of safari's, see many below). When we soon spotted a throng of baboons and then a herd of zebras from far away. I couldn’t believe we were actually seeing wild zebras!! Soon I realized they were just as numerous as cattle in that area, but the first siting was just too unreal!

As we pulled into the Fairmont Lodge after a 4 .5 hour trip to go 50 km we entered a beautiful, luxury 4 star tropical lodge and were greeted with such hospitality. The cool refreshing towels soaked in lemon juice were just perfect after the long, hot, dusty trip.  The various flavor infused water (tree-tomato/mango, cucumber-mint, ad lemon-lemongrass) were wonderfully refreshing. The lodge inside was just breathtaking, warm earthy tones, leather couches, dark wooden beams, and impressive artwork and décor honoring the local Massai tribe. A sharp contrast to the hospital and rural village of Tenwek.

The lodge is settled along a tributary of the Maasai River and is comprised of about 50 luxury “tents”. The tents resemble typical large canvas tents from the outside, but inside are beautiful hotel rooms with beautiful beds, tile floors, and local artisan décor. They are complete with shower, bathrobes, coffee bar, etc. and at night the room attendant puts a hot water bottle in the bed to keep it warm! There was a nice porch overlooking the river, which is inhabited by hippos. At night and early morning the grunts and splashes of the hippos can be heard from inside the tent!

My luxury tent! 

We were then greeted by a delicious 5-course meal, which was characteristic of every meal while we were there.

That afternoon we went on the first of 4 game drives. The drives took place in awesome Safari vehicles with a pop off top. Our driver, Ashford, was with us for all 4 drives and he was a true encyclopedia of knowledge about he landscape and wildlife. He actually trained for 4 years to be a Safari guide! He also saved us many times from sticky situations in the mud where I though we’d surely get stuck.

Soon after we set out we came upon a large group of giraffes. They are so majestic and graceful and so beautiful in person. They, likely most of the animals, seemed completely un-phased by our presence and would walk feet from the vehicle seemingly unaware by our presence. We saw many vibrantly colored zebra, which were one of my favorites. No matter how many of them I saw Is still have a hard time believing that their stripes were not painted on! There were many wildebeests (which I was at first afraid of due to the visions of the stampede from the Lion King! Haha). On that drive we saw many gazelles, antelope, warthogs (actually nicknamed “Pumbas” here!), ostriches and jackals (like foxes). We were lucky enough to come across a group of elephants in the bushes. They are so massive were busy tearing up the trees with their trunks.  The best siting however were the lions!! We heard a throat roar from the bushes and soon found a lioness resting in the shade. After a while she came out and walked around a bit and then the male whom she was calling to came walking over! I couldn’t believe what we were witnessing. Apparently quite rare to actually hear/see the roar. The male walked around our vehicle, just feet away from us. Also seemed to be completely unaware we were there. We saw another male lion a bit late after that as well. At this time of day when they are simply resting and trying to stay cool from the shade they seemed so gentle and docile, like big house cats that I wanted to pet! Hard to believe they are vicious hunters at night. Interestingly, the females are the primary hunters/breadwinners, although it’s the males who get first privileges at eating the kill! Also, FYI, Simba is the Swahili word for lion.

Graceful Giraffe. 

One of my favorite aspects of that drive, and all of the game drives, was experiencing landscape of the Sahara with the setting and rising of the sun. The contrast of the pinks and oranges of the sky with the blue hazy mountain peaks and the greens and golds of the savannah grasses cannot be captured by words. The acacia trees spotting the landscape and wildlife in the foreground was just spectacular and I truly felt like I was in a film or painting.

That night there was a Maasai dance before dinner, in which we watched local Massai dress in the traditional red plaid gowns and elaborate beaded jewelry and dance a very energetic routine for about 30 minutes! They sang a low-pitched chant during the song, led by higher pitched singing and chanting by the lead warrior.  Part of their dance involves jumping as high as they can in the center of a circle, and their “verticles” are quite impressive! Tall very slender men clearing 3 feet or more! Apparently jumping is a long held tradition competition at dances and ceremonies among the tribe. I’m thinking many of our NBA players have roots in the Massai tribe… At the end they invited us all to join in the lively dance with them, which was tons of fun but quite exhausting!

After a wonderful night’s sleep in the comfy bed (and much needed) we set out on the early morning game drive just as the sun was coming up. Can’t forget to mention that our wake-up call included coffee and cookies. Can I have this kind of wake up call everyday at home?

Again, one of the most memorable and breathtaking aspects of the Safari was watching the evolution of the colors and textures of the landscape with the rising sun. The fog that settled over the land from the rain the night before evoked an even more magical aura. That morning we saw many of the same animals, including a pair of lionesses that I spotted in the bushes, gracefully licking their paws like housecats. Hard for the cat-lover that I am to resist!

Storm clouds rolling in late evening

Wildebeest

Family of Pumbas! (Warthogs)

Sunset on the Sahara

After the drive we enjoyed a “Bush Breakfast” by the river. When we arrived tot he site we were greeted by the cooks who had already prepared a gourmet buffet breakfast for us! There was even an omelet station for made to order omelets! We sat at table overlooking the bank of the river while enjoying our breakfast. What a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Afterwards we gazed at the hippos submerged in the river and a couple lazy crocodiles. We mostly saw only the hears, nostrils, and eyes of the hippos but occasionally got a glimpse of their large jaws and teeth. We learned quite a lot about hippos during the Safari actually. They are in fact considered to the Africa’s most dangerous mammal, even more so than lions, do to the fact that they are quite aggressive if threatened and have crushing jaws and sharp teeth. They spend all day in the water to keep cool and can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes! At night they come out in large groups to feed traveling up to several kilometers along muddy trails to reach grazing areas. At about 6 am they head back to the rivers.

That afternoon was spent enjoying the sun and relaxing at the lodge, a delicious buffet lunch, and then another fun safari drive in the evening. This time we were taken to see the rhinos, a high endangered and now very highly guarded species. On the reserve there are only two White Rhinos, which are guarded 24/7 by game rangers. Actually named for their "Wide"

Bush Breakfast! 

White Rhino

mouths used for grazing ("White" easier to say?)There are only handful of them remaining in the world today due to decades of poaching. They were huge, very pre-historic looking animals. Sad to think they were killed just for the price of their ivory horns. I imagine that the game rangers who guard them are extremely protective and feel a strong bond (and respect for) the animals.

The next morning we had one last game drive before heading back. Despite much searching we were still unable to find the elusive leopards or cheetahs. I was longing to see a cheetah and her cubs, but that just means I’ll have to return for another Safari in the future! Otherwise it was a good game drive by the Safari standards as we saw 4 of the “Big Five,” the five animals that were the most heavily prized during the hunting days: lions, elephants, rhinos, water buffalos, and leopards.

 

On the way back to Tenwek we again passed through the same villages and were greeted and chased after by many children going and coming to school. So thrilling to think that seeing us made them so elated and overjoyed! Their bright eyes and huge grins never cease to make my day.  I also found myself so surprised at how fast they could run and how much energy they had, despite knowing the chronic malnutrition that afflicts them.