[Thursday, August 3, 2023]
The first story of the day happens a little earlier than normal. After getting up to use the restroom at 3:30 AM, Laureen decided to peak out the window and see if she could see any hippos on the grounds. You may recall from our previous blog that after dark, all patrons at the hotel were warned that you should not go out at night alone and you should have an escort back to your room after dinner as the hippos like to come on shore at night and graze on the lawn. When she opened the curtain, there on the lawn just in front of our cabin was a rather large hippo.
And just before she got up, there was another “sighting”. As she put her feet on the floor, out of the corner of her eye she noted something on the floor. At first, she wasn’t sure what it was, but it was large and round and close to the bed. She realized that it was the blanket that had been folded up at the foot of the bed and had now fallen to the floor. Yesterday, Hamisi had told us a little about the snakes that they have in Kenya, including the Anaconda. So, for a split second, Laureen thought we had an Anaconda visiting us in the room. Thankfully, this was not the case.
Today was another 8:00 AM rendezvous at the front desk area and once again we all piled into the vehicle and headed off to our next destination: Maasai Mara. The drive, like all the others, was a series of small towns, countryside and large trucks. It was clear that we were entering a different climate area as the countryside was dry and sparse.
We usually travel for a couple of hours and our driver stops for a bio-break for the group. We are now used to the washroom through the curio shop approach where a large collection of carvings, paintings and other artifacts await your perusal as you make your way to empty your now full bladder. The washrooms are like you might expect in a third world country. There was one specific men’s urinal area which was a square room with half walls and the top half of the wall was open to the outside. So one could carry on a conversation with someone else who was outside of the building while you were taking care of business. On this occasion there was a man with a mop and a bucket with cleaning solution, and after each lady used the stall, he would mop and do a quick clean. That was definitely worth a tip.
As we walked back through the curio shop, I was looking at some of the carvings and was adopted by one of the “sales” people. I eventually chose a wood carving with the big five animals that was made from rosewood. We ‘negotiated’ until we were both unhappy with the price, which means it was probably a reasonable deal. I also had him throw in a small giraffe mask for free (you know I clearly paid for it in the original purchase). We also liked a few of the canvas paintings, which would be easier to take home as they remove it from the frame and roll up the canvas. There is some beautiful stuff here – but I think we will pass on the painting for now.
Then we hit the park gate where there was a plethora of Land Cruisers all looking to get their park passes. While our driver went to get ours, he warned us that there is a crush of Maasai women who will come to try and sell you something. Sure enough, the throng showed up as we parked and tried all kinds of ways of getting our attention to make a purchase. Nobody did. Hamisi came back with the pass, and we made our way in the Maasai Mara National Park. The road was rough and long. I’m pretty sure that there will be 6 inches of free space in my luggage when we arrive at our lodging for the night.
We arrived at the Mara Leisure Camp hotel, checked in and then went for lunch as some people had checked out late, and our rooms were not quite ready. They were not “rooms” per se, but rather more of a tent structure over a concrete base. It has that very Africa-rustic look and feel.
With about an hour before our 4:00 PM game drive, we gathered our laundry and placed it in the basket to have them cleaned, dried and brought back to our room by about 9:00 PM. Someone was supposed to come back and pick this up, but they did not – so I delivered the basket to the front desk. I also ordered a hand towel, as we only had shower towels in the room.
On my return, I sat down on the front porch of the accommodation and could hear what sounded like baboons fighting from the other side of our room. Sure enough, shortly thereafter, a group of thrashing baboons came streaming by our area. It scared me, and I jumped up and ran into the room, closing the door behind me. I think Laureen is still laughing about this as I am writing. Not sure I wanted to be in the middle of a group of brawling baboons. Something BOTH of us will not forget soon.
Back to the vehicle for 4:00 PM and we headed out into the park. In no time we realized that this was going to be different than anything else we had seen thus far. This park is just over 1500 square Kilometres in size and is seemingly full of wildlife. We have now seen our share of Zebra’s, so no big deal as we approached grouping after grouping. There were also warthogs, Thompson gazelles, and wildebeests. But the piece-de-resistance was when we came upon a lioness who was looking at a group of Zebras. Imagine seeing her go after one! But then, a male lion showed up as well and the place became a madhouse of Land Cruisers moving about attempting to get into a good position to take some photos. Laureen even captured him “calling out” to the female. This was amazing.
We spent quite a bit of time here, such that we needed to start to head back to the hotel as the park requires you to be out by 6:30 PM. On our way, we ran into number four of the big five, a small grouping of elephants munching on some trees. There was also a couple of Maasai giraffes which is the third and final type of giraffe in Kenya.
Once back at the hotel we all went to our rooms for a short break before dinner at restaurant. Hamisi had noted that they paired him with another driver who he was afraid would snore all night (the guy was a pretty big fellow), so I offered him a set of earplugs which he accepted. We need our driver to have a good rest! He also relayed a story of when he was here in the Maasai and some people where by the river during the day looking at hippos. He snuck up behind them and made a hippo sound and they all got scared and ran away. He was laughing so hard, he almost couldn't tell the story. When he was done, the whole table was laughing.
Off to another lodging place tomorrow and more time in the Maasai Mara National Park. Let’s hope we can see a leopard and be able to cross all the big five off the list.
G’night all.
Curt & Laureen
And just before she got up, there was another “sighting”. As she put her feet on the floor, out of the corner of her eye she noted something on the floor. At first, she wasn’t sure what it was, but it was large and round and close to the bed. She realized that it was the blanket that had been folded up at the foot of the bed and had now fallen to the floor. Yesterday, Hamisi had told us a little about the snakes that they have in Kenya, including the Anaconda. So, for a split second, Laureen thought we had an Anaconda visiting us in the room. Thankfully, this was not the case.
Today was another 8:00 AM rendezvous at the front desk area and once again we all piled into the vehicle and headed off to our next destination: Maasai Mara. The drive, like all the others, was a series of small towns, countryside and large trucks. It was clear that we were entering a different climate area as the countryside was dry and sparse.
We usually travel for a couple of hours and our driver stops for a bio-break for the group. We are now used to the washroom through the curio shop approach where a large collection of carvings, paintings and other artifacts await your perusal as you make your way to empty your now full bladder. The washrooms are like you might expect in a third world country. There was one specific men’s urinal area which was a square room with half walls and the top half of the wall was open to the outside. So one could carry on a conversation with someone else who was outside of the building while you were taking care of business. On this occasion there was a man with a mop and a bucket with cleaning solution, and after each lady used the stall, he would mop and do a quick clean. That was definitely worth a tip.
As we walked back through the curio shop, I was looking at some of the carvings and was adopted by one of the “sales” people. I eventually chose a wood carving with the big five animals that was made from rosewood. We ‘negotiated’ until we were both unhappy with the price, which means it was probably a reasonable deal. I also had him throw in a small giraffe mask for free (you know I clearly paid for it in the original purchase). We also liked a few of the canvas paintings, which would be easier to take home as they remove it from the frame and roll up the canvas. There is some beautiful stuff here – but I think we will pass on the painting for now.
Then we hit the park gate where there was a plethora of Land Cruisers all looking to get their park passes. While our driver went to get ours, he warned us that there is a crush of Maasai women who will come to try and sell you something. Sure enough, the throng showed up as we parked and tried all kinds of ways of getting our attention to make a purchase. Nobody did. Hamisi came back with the pass, and we made our way in the Maasai Mara National Park. The road was rough and long. I’m pretty sure that there will be 6 inches of free space in my luggage when we arrive at our lodging for the night.
We arrived at the Mara Leisure Camp hotel, checked in and then went for lunch as some people had checked out late, and our rooms were not quite ready. They were not “rooms” per se, but rather more of a tent structure over a concrete base. It has that very Africa-rustic look and feel.
On my return, I sat down on the front porch of the accommodation and could hear what sounded like baboons fighting from the other side of our room. Sure enough, shortly thereafter, a group of thrashing baboons came streaming by our area. It scared me, and I jumped up and ran into the room, closing the door behind me. I think Laureen is still laughing about this as I am writing. Not sure I wanted to be in the middle of a group of brawling baboons. Something BOTH of us will not forget soon.
Back to the vehicle for 4:00 PM and we headed out into the park. In no time we realized that this was going to be different than anything else we had seen thus far. This park is just over 1500 square Kilometres in size and is seemingly full of wildlife. We have now seen our share of Zebra’s, so no big deal as we approached grouping after grouping. There were also warthogs, Thompson gazelles, and wildebeests. But the piece-de-resistance was when we came upon a lioness who was looking at a group of Zebras. Imagine seeing her go after one! But then, a male lion showed up as well and the place became a madhouse of Land Cruisers moving about attempting to get into a good position to take some photos. Laureen even captured him “calling out” to the female. This was amazing.
We spent quite a bit of time here, such that we needed to start to head back to the hotel as the park requires you to be out by 6:30 PM. On our way, we ran into number four of the big five, a small grouping of elephants munching on some trees. There was also a couple of Maasai giraffes which is the third and final type of giraffe in Kenya.
Once back at the hotel we all went to our rooms for a short break before dinner at restaurant. Hamisi had noted that they paired him with another driver who he was afraid would snore all night (the guy was a pretty big fellow), so I offered him a set of earplugs which he accepted. We need our driver to have a good rest! He also relayed a story of when he was here in the Maasai and some people where by the river during the day looking at hippos. He snuck up behind them and made a hippo sound and they all got scared and ran away. He was laughing so hard, he almost couldn't tell the story. When he was done, the whole table was laughing.
Off to another lodging place tomorrow and more time in the Maasai Mara National Park. Let’s hope we can see a leopard and be able to cross all the big five off the list.
G’night all.
Curt & Laureen
The whole place would have heard me scream and I would have Ben embarrassed as Laureen knows my thoughts on snakes. Lol 😂
ReplyDelete