The Masai Mara Safari

One of the Lion Cubs we saw on Saturday Morning



Giraffes feeding off an Acacia Tree



2 of the elephant herd



Danielle petting a Baby Rhino (a little nervous with the Mama a few yards away)



Our Bed at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club



April 27, 2009

Backing up a few days before now, on Friday John David and I had the awesome privilege to go on a 2 day safari. Carl and Francie had told us a long time ago that they would watch Jeremiah for us to go. (b/c he is so young they don’t recommend him going)! So I was a little nervous about leaving him for the first time; not because I didn’t trust Carl and Francie but b/c the 1st time I was leaving him would be in a foreign place and he had been such a hard one to take care of b/c of his teeth. But before I begin in the details, Jeremiah did great and the Lord had answered a prayer in that he cut his tooth before we left. He ate great, slept good and according to Francie “was a delight.”
We left Friday at 9am. We drove 3 hours to the secluded Masai Mara Safari Club. I need to mention that only about 1 hour of the drive was on a paved road. The rest was on an extremely bumpy dirt road, for which the driver called an “African Massage.” So bad that I got car sick on the way (which never happens.) It was so nice to finally pull up to the club. We arrived about 12:00 and were greeted by Leah who handed us a nice warm cloth to wipe our faces. Then, we were greeted by Andrew who gave us a cool glass of juice. We walked into a beautiful lobby that was decorated with beautiful African furniture-leather couches, cow print chairs, warm colors, and the smell of a spa. We looked at one another and said that we never expected anything this elegant and beautiful in Africa. Andrew then welcomed us to the club and we filled out our registration card. We were escorted to our tent. Now, let me mention a bit about the tent.
When we first talked to Carl and Francie about going on the safari, they told us we would be sleeping in a tent. If you haven’t already figured it out, I am not a tent kind of girl. I pictured us sleeping in a Coleman tent, on the ground, which I would absolutely hate. However, that is not at all that we had. The tent was on a cement block and it wasn’t a Coleman, but a huge tan tent that was permanent. We unzipped the tent, (our luggage was already waiting for us in the tent) and saw the most beautiful tent ever. The floor was a sand-colored tile with African rugs. The bed that faced us was something out of a magazine. It was a canopy bed with dark wood and a mosquito net tied back on each side. We also had a dresser (leather) and a chair with a table. The bathroom was separated by beads hanging from the ceiling. The walls were a burnt orange colored concrete with modern accessories. The vanity area was made of marble countertops and stainless steel faucets. The shower was tile and had a huge shower-head. The toilet area was separated as well and there was also a separate sitting area where I could sit and put on my make-up. We had soft towels and robes to put on when we got out of the shower. So you can imagine our shock to see this tent. We would recommend anyone flying to Kenya just to spend a week at the safari club for a vacation. I could have definitely spent 4 or 5 days there.
So back to the weekend. We had just a little bit to rest in our tent before lunch. We walked down to the restaurant, which they had our table set for us out on the balcony. The balcony overlooked the Mara river which was the home of a lot of hippos. We sat outside underneath a green umbrella and enjoyed our lunch while watching hippo swim and play. The lunch was amazing: Lamb chops and mashed potatoes for JD, coconut crusted tilapia for me, bread and butter, and 2 desserts. After lunch we walked around enjoying the weather and scenery. We rested before our safari began at 3:30. Our driver for the safari, John, greeted us with an open vehicle (land cruiser to be exact) and we were off. We drove all afternoon until 7pm admiring God’s creation. We saw gazelle, impalas, elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhino (which we got out of the vehicle and “petted”), cape buffalo (the most dangerous animal in Africa), and some other small animals. So a scary story of the day: It was dusk. We were looking for lion b/c you can only see them at dusk and early morning b/c they sleep during the day in the bush. We were driving really close to the bush when our vehicle got stuck in deep mud. Our driver got out and said that it was serious. So b/c of the mud being thrown into the vehicle, he had us get out and stand none other than out of the way which was close to the bush. I stood praying the whole time that a hungry lion wouldn’t jump out and see us as meat (John had told us that if you get out of the vehicle, you are mistakened by the lions as meat. After 10 minutes, John got the vehicle unstuck and we were safely back in. We didn’t spot any lions on that drive and arrived back to the club around 7:15 pm. We had a little bit of down time to wash up before dinner at 8.
Again, we were greeted by our waiter from lunch (John-not our driver) with our table set for dinner. We ate inside in the restaurant. We had another excellent meal: soup, bread with butter, beef medallion and potatoes for JD and pork chops and potatoes for me. We ordered dessert, but before it came out, the staff came out of the kitchen singing “Happy Birthday” and dancing with a birthday cake for me. John David had told them it was my birthday and so we celebrated with a cake and candles. After eating cake, they still brought us dessert.
We went to bed right after dinner because we had to get up early to go out on our ½ day safari. John, our driver, greeted us at 6:15 and we were off. Immediately leaving the club, we spotted 2 lion cubs. We watched them for a while hoping they would lead us to the rest of the pride. They eventually did and we sat for about an hour watching 2 mom lions and 6 cubs. It was incredible. (side note: all the animals we saw would get really close to the vehicle) After watching them for a while, we were driving around the bush again hoping to see more lion and a leopard. We were also looking for cheetah. We weren’t driving long before we spotted a male and female lion. Our driver told us they were on their honeymoon.
While a female is in heat, she and the male get away from the pride for 1 week. They do not eat the whole week, but they just mate. So we watched them just sit in the grass and sleep. But after watching them for a while, the male lion stood up and walked over to the female. And right before us they mated. It was incredible. Not to sound sick, but I got the whole thing on video. After that, they walked into the bush because it was time for them to sleep all day.
We drove to a nice spot on a hill and had our picnic breakfast. The club had packed us a breakfast so we could stay out all morning. It was awesome. After breakfast, we drove still looking for leopard and cheetah. Our driver spotted a leopard in the bush and we sat for a while taking pictures and videoing as well. We never saw a cheetah, but we did see the “Big 5.” When you go on safari, you want to see the “Big 5” which include animals that when they were hunted, if you didn’t kill them 1st, they would kill you. The “Big 5” include: rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard, and elephant. Our safari was over and we got a lunch to go and headed for Tenwek. We had a lot of fun and it was one of the best things we have ever done. Here are just a few pictures from the safari and when we get home (to a better internet connection) we will post more.