Safari in Maasai Mara

Before the sunrise game drive.  Notice hot air balloon in the background.

Inside my banda ...
a very fancy tent!  

 Stayed at Kalima Camp in the Masai Mara, not far from the Tanzania border.   Beautiful setting on top of a plateau overlooking the Mara River, plains and forest below, Kalima is an 'eco camp', but definitely not the camping experience  I remember!  Food, service, 'banda's,....all superb.   I enjoyed paying 'resident rates' as I now have my work visa and can take advantage of significantly reduced rates.  Definitely one of the 'perks' of teaching at ISK.

Martin, my guide for the two days was charming, polite, extremely knowledgeable about everything in the Reserve, and blessed with patience and a wry sense of humor.  He seemed to have a 'sixth sense' about where we would find the animals and indeed, we saw the 'Africa Big Five' in a day and a half, plus herds and hordes of zebra and wildebeest.  Giraffe were everywhere and always seemed to be 'posing'.  Along with the elephants, they are my favorites.    The most elusive 'find' was the leopard that we watched up in a tree, guarding what was left of his 'kill'....  a poor wildebeest that was hanging haphazardly from the tree.  With just my Iphone camera, I didn't have the photo opp that others in my group had, but I did take pictures of him none the less.

We were fortunate to spot many lions, most of whom were sleeping in the warm sun and didn't even bat an eye when  3 or 4 Land Rovers parked not more than 30 feet away. A lion couple gave us a bit of a show on my last morning in the Mara.    I've included a video below.   Our other 'thrill' was watching two crocs devour the last of a zebra.  It was a big 'eeeeuuuuwww' moment.....video included!! (see below)

  A Maasai warrior from the nearby village was the night 'guard' who accompanied everyone back to their bandas after dinner.  He also guided those who were interested in nature walks around the camp, as well as visits to the village (to buy arts & crafts, of course!).  Called Msante,  he is a 30 year old (by his estimate) who dreams of making a documentary of life in his village.  Educated by Jesuits in Nairobi (who gave him the Christian name of Robert), he told me his belief is that "education does not erase culture".  An interesting thought.   He was willing to answer most any question during our walk and evening discussion with other Kilima guests. I so wanted to inquire about the male and female ceremonies for circumcision, but didn't quite know how to frame the questions.  Maybe next time!    Female circumcision is against Kenyan law, but still practiced by the Maasai and one of the leading women's rights issues in Kenya.    

The videos below are not long...and once again, I am just using my Iphone camera so they're not great but will give a sense of my experience in  'God's Zoo', as my friend Gloria calls the Mara Reserve. . 

I will post more pictures on my Google+ page.  Other videos will be posted on keenaunruh88 (my channel) on YouTube, in the event you are interested.    

Naku penda, and thanks for checking in with me!
keena