We had an experienced driver who knew the animals and the terrain in the Masai Mara very well. This other group weren't so lucky and they spent most of their safari getting stuck!
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| 4x4 stuck in the Masai Mara |
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Miracle Safari - part 3
The plan was to camp using our own tent, cook our own food and pay for the game drives. We spoke with the owner of the lodge and he explained how their pricing worked. Taking their all-inclusive option was about 30 dollars more expensive but we'd stay in one of their 'big' tents, have all our meals in their restaurant and get two game drives a day. I asked if they took credit card as we didn't have enough cash to cover one night, they couldn't take card but they said we could pay from Narok when we were on our way back to Nairobi. We checked in for one night and ended up staying three.
Their big tent was a like a small house, multiple rooms and a proper bathroom with a hot shower, definitely worth the extra cash! It couldn't have been more perfect, the food, accommodation, vehicle and driver were all excellent. Within 5 minutes of our first game drive we came across a pride of lions, later a cheetah with cubs, then elephants, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffes, hippos, hyenas and the following morning a pride of lions having breakfast.
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Their big tent was a like a small house, multiple rooms and a proper bathroom with a hot shower, definitely worth the extra cash! It couldn't have been more perfect, the food, accommodation, vehicle and driver were all excellent. Within 5 minutes of our first game drive we came across a pride of lions, later a cheetah with cubs, then elephants, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffes, hippos, hyenas and the following morning a pride of lions having breakfast.
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Miracle Safari - Part 2
We were walking out of Narok town in the direction of the Masai Mara hoping to catch a lift. A few mini buses stopped but none were going where we wanted, eventually one stopped and said they'd take us to another town from when we'd find a bus going to the entrance gate to the Masai Mara. After a very cramped 20 minute bus journey we stopped at a major junction, said goodbyes and waited for the next bus.
We wait for about 1 half hour before some locals approached us and explained that the next bus wasn't until 2pm. They suggested that we were better taking a bus to Narok and getting a bus from there. We explained that we'd just come from Narok! We ignored their advice as we didn't want to back track and soon afterwards a family in a 4x4 stopped. We took their offer of a lift but about 10 minutes in the journey we realized that the town they were going too was about 200km away from the entrance gate we wanted.
Soon we passed some people in training gear looking for a lift to the Masai Mara Marathon. At this point we decided it was a good spot to try get a lift so we said our goodbyes to the driver of the 4x4 and his wife. They gave us their number told us to call should we have any problems. We were closer to the Masai Mara but not quite there. A few more cars and busses passed but none were going where we wanted. Finally a minivan with only 3 passengers approached, we spoke to the driver and he'd take us for 100 dollars. We laughed at this suggestion and so did he. I suppose you can't blame him for trying! Then the lady who was sitting in the back surrounded by bottles of coke and junk food said we could have a lift if we wanted. We confirmed it was a lift for free and not for 100 dollars! She ran a catering business and had hired the van for the day and said we were free to come along.
Soon we were traveling on dirt tracks through the Masai Mara conservation area. The tracks were in very poor condition so it was a slow and arduous journey but quite an amazing way to make the journey to the game reserve. We passed small herds of elephants, zebras and saw herds of wildebeest migrating south to the Serengeti.
A couple of hours later we arrived at the finishing point for the Masai Mara Marathon. The lady had hired the van to take supplies to sell at the end of the marathon. Somehow we were destined to attend the marathon. After helping to unload the supplies we chatted the lady and the driver of the minivan. They said we could stay at the marathon event as there was plenty of food, drink and room for camping or if we wanted the driver would take us to the park entrance.
We decided on the park entrance, we set off on the 70km drive to the park entrance. The driver was very interested in what we were doing at the Masai Mara and what our plans were and what we would do when we got there and how we would get back to Nairobi.
The conversation went something like this:
Him> Are you meeting people at the reserve?
Us> No
Him> Do you have friends there?
Us> No
Him> What will you do when you get there?
Us> We'll find somewhere to stay or we'll camp.
Him> Do you not have anywhere booked?
Us> No
Him> Do you have a vehicle? you'll need one to enter the park.
Us> No
The conversation continued in this manner, question after question eventually he started laughing and repeated the words "The Miricle Safari".
About two hours later we arrived at the Talek Gate entrance to the Masai Mara National Reserve! To be continued...
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| Hitchhiking in Kenya |
We wait for about 1 half hour before some locals approached us and explained that the next bus wasn't until 2pm. They suggested that we were better taking a bus to Narok and getting a bus from there. We explained that we'd just come from Narok! We ignored their advice as we didn't want to back track and soon afterwards a family in a 4x4 stopped. We took their offer of a lift but about 10 minutes in the journey we realized that the town they were going too was about 200km away from the entrance gate we wanted.
Soon we passed some people in training gear looking for a lift to the Masai Mara Marathon. At this point we decided it was a good spot to try get a lift so we said our goodbyes to the driver of the 4x4 and his wife. They gave us their number told us to call should we have any problems. We were closer to the Masai Mara but not quite there. A few more cars and busses passed but none were going where we wanted. Finally a minivan with only 3 passengers approached, we spoke to the driver and he'd take us for 100 dollars. We laughed at this suggestion and so did he. I suppose you can't blame him for trying! Then the lady who was sitting in the back surrounded by bottles of coke and junk food said we could have a lift if we wanted. We confirmed it was a lift for free and not for 100 dollars! She ran a catering business and had hired the van for the day and said we were free to come along.
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| Dirt tracks through the Masai Mara Conservation Area |
Soon we were traveling on dirt tracks through the Masai Mara conservation area. The tracks were in very poor condition so it was a slow and arduous journey but quite an amazing way to make the journey to the game reserve. We passed small herds of elephants, zebras and saw herds of wildebeest migrating south to the Serengeti.
 |
| Wildebeest in the Masai Mara |
A couple of hours later we arrived at the finishing point for the Masai Mara Marathon. The lady had hired the van to take supplies to sell at the end of the marathon. Somehow we were destined to attend the marathon. After helping to unload the supplies we chatted the lady and the driver of the minivan. They said we could stay at the marathon event as there was plenty of food, drink and room for camping or if we wanted the driver would take us to the park entrance.
 |
| Venue for the Masai Mara Marathon |
We decided on the park entrance, we set off on the 70km drive to the park entrance. The driver was very interested in what we were doing at the Masai Mara and what our plans were and what we would do when we got there and how we would get back to Nairobi.
The conversation went something like this:
Him> Are you meeting people at the reserve?
Us> No
Him> Do you have friends there?
Us> No
Him> What will you do when you get there?
Us> We'll find somewhere to stay or we'll camp.
Him> Do you not have anywhere booked?
Us> No
Him> Do you have a vehicle? you'll need one to enter the park.
Us> No
The conversation continued in this manner, question after question eventually he started laughing and repeated the words "The Miricle Safari".
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| Talek Gate entrance to the Masai Mara National Reserve |
About two hours later we arrived at the Talek Gate entrance to the Masai Mara National Reserve! To be continued...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sharon Shannon in Australia
I was lucky to be in Adelaide during the summer months where there are a number of festivals and events over the space a few weeks. One festival being WOMAD - World of Music, Arts and Dance. A wide variety of musical acts from all over the world. We managed to catch Sharon Shannon and her band who were headlining one of the stages.
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| Sharon Shannon at WOMADelaide |
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Miracle Safari - Part 1
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| Elephants at the Masai Mara |
With a few days to spare in Nairobi we decided to attempt a quick trip to the Masai Mara. According to the Lonely Planet, Narok is the gateway town to the Masai Mara. We didn't have our own transport so we would be replying on public transport and hitchhiking. We took a local bus and arrived in the evening. We spent a few hours wandering around the town trying to find somewhere to stay, everywhere seemed to be a "Butchery and Hotel" yet we couldn't find a room. The standard of accommodation was well below average, pretty seedy especially the 3 places mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Eventually we found a place that seemed reasonably clean, secure, wasn't attached to a butchery and had the possibility of meeting some other tourists.
The next morning we planned to go to the Masai Mara so our attempt at meeting people traveling this way started with dinner at the hotel restaurant. This didn't work out so well then just as we were leaving we met a large group of Japanese tourists who had just arrived at the hotel. Our lack of Japanese and their lack of English made for an interesting conversation but after some discussion we determined that they had hired two vehicles, were leaving at 6am for the Maasai Mara. They had room for the two of us and they said we were welcome to join them.
In broken English they explained that they had registered on the website and were surprised that we hadn't done so. We didn't quite get what this was about but we figured we'd be able to pay at the park entrance as we had done in Nairobi National Park. We said our goodbyes and arranged to meet at 5:45am the next morning.
About 20 minutes later the only guy who spoke some English arrived at our hotel room with a laptop and a few cables that hooked his phone up to another gadget that connected to his computer. He was able to access the Internet using his Japansese mobile and and a satellite! He said that it would be easier for us to register now so we sat and waited for the page to load. Slowly row by row the page loaded and what we saw was a website for the Masai Mara Marathon and a photo of a group of tourists and Masai Warriors running through the Masai Mara with a herd of wildebeest in the background!!
These guys weren't going to the national park at all, instead they were going to run a marathon in the conservation area surrounding the Masai Mara game park, about 70km away from the entrance! I thanked the guy, explained that we had no desire to run in the Massai Mara Marathon and apologized for the confusion. At 5:30am the next morning we started walking out of town in the direction of the Masai Mara. To be continued...
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