Safari Adventures

My daughter should be headed home from Kenya soon. I can't wait to hear all the stories. Here is what she put on Facebook about her safari last weekend -

The camp (Kilima Camp) was amazing...I would highly recommend it to anyone who is planning on visiting the Masai Mara. It was situated at the top of a mountain overlooking the Mara River/plain with beautiful view. The tents were amazing - a huge canvas tent complete with a bathroom (shower, toilet, sink). After a quick lunch, we were on a game drive with our driver, James, who turned out to be quite the pro. Dan and I still think there was someone driving ahead of us releasing animals for us to see...I never expected there to be so many. On our first 3 hr drive, we saw four of the "big five" - elephants, lions, buffalo, and a leopard...missing only the rhino, which is reportedly the most difficult to spot. We saw TONS of wildebeest, zebras, and giraffes...also, warthogs, hyenas, gazelles, topi, waterbuck, and probably tons of stuff I've forgotten.

We headed out farther into the park to find the places where the wildebeest were crossing the river - hoping to see the crocodiles try to attack them. I can't say that I was too disappointed to see "nature" in action...we saw them wade into the water to drink, but never actually saw a crossing. We did see a few lions attempt to hunt -- the wildebeest and warthogs were lucky as it was a bit hot and the lions didn't seem to be on their "A" game. We had lunch along the river overlooking dozens of hippos and a handful of crocodiles. At about 3pm, we began to head back when I told James that I really wanted to see a rhino...I kid you not, about 15 minutes later he pulled up right in front of one (that's 5 of the big 5 - hooray!!)

After breakfast, we went on a walk with a couple of Masai warriors which was different, in a good way, from the game drives. They pointed out all of the different trees, fruits, etc that they use for medicines, building materials, and the like. On top of that, we walked right up on animals grazing outside the park -- somehow, the zebras, giraffes, gazelles, and warthogs were much cooler when you were standing near them versus seeing them outside the car window! Dan really wanted to see a dikdik and the guides were trying their best. (This is again where I think someone was scaring one up to put out for us to see.) The guides stopped to give us an archery demonstration; as he started to line up the shot, he stooped and said, "There's a dikdik!" Sure enough, after careful stalking we managed to catch a glimpse of one running away.

What an adventure she has had!