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| ella's Diary |
| Date |
08 May 2006 |
| Country |
Kenya (Masai Mara) |
| Weather |
Sunny & Wet |
| Diary |
Ella’s diary Masai Mara 7thMay-8thMay
We came back to Kenya after being in Uganda. Stayed in Eldoret 1 night and the went down to Nairobi, were there for 2 nights. Then we left to the Masai Mara National Reserve. The road to the Mara is really bad and it was getting late when we got to Narok, witch is a bit more than half way. When we got to a little village a man stopped us and said the bridge across the Mara River had been washed away! So we had to go a different way round. It was nearly dark but we saw lots of Wildebeest, Zebras, Dik-Diks and Masai Giraffes. We got to the main gate near dark and the camp site was in Talek which is just out of the park. The man at the gate said “follow that bus” so we did. On the way we saw some Ellies, Black Backed Jackal, a Hare and a Cheetah crossing the road. It was dark so we didn’t see it very well but dad nearly ran it over!-a cheetah crossing says Dad. And just as we arrived we saw two spotted Hyena!
We stayed at Arumba Camp. At night you could hear Hyenas going woop woop (they don’t really cackle like most people think) and Dik Diks going Kataca taca taca!- there was also lots of mosquitoes!
Early in the morning we got up and went to the Talek Gate while
Mum was paying the entrance fee we were watching some Hyenas
hunt a rather tied looking Zebra. Polly felt very sad because she
likes zebras a lot. When Mum had paid we went to see the Hyenas
on a hunt. There was another Land Rover watching them with a
sticker saying HYENA RESEARCH on the side. A young hyena ran straight past
the car and he looked like a dog fetching a stick with his tongue
hanging out. Then we saw lots Topi and Thompsons and Grants
Gazelle. We saw a herd of Elephants on the horizon so we went to
see them.
They had quite a few calves with them so we left quite quick-you
don’t want to fight with Elephants! A few minutes later Polly said
“look Rhino” but it was only a wild buffalo.
At Masai Mara you can drive for ages and not see anything not a
single Topi! Well that’s what happened to us but after an hour we did
see something…There was a pride of loins taking shade under the tree.
Later on we encountered 2 Ellies on the road with 2 claves they
wouldn’t move and we couldn’t move them! We waited and waited for
the Elephants to move and they decided to eat a bush next to the road, we drove past them slowly with Polly trembling, but we got past them in the end! One of dads favourites is the Water Buck they are big Antelopes and are very shaggy and Males have long horns, usually females live together in a small herd. We also saw some baby ones, as Nye said “they are so cute!”. We saw Hippos and Crocs. We saw some Baboons when we stopped for a coke at Samara Serina Lodge- a VERY expensive lodge to stay in (we couldn’t stay there). In the car park we saw a Rock Hyrax-a bit like a giant Hamster (Rabbit size) and lots of Dwarf Mongoose,
We left Mara and went back to camp for a break. In the evening we went for a drive and saw a different pride of lions…the lions are so unbothered about cars they just lie there and are lazy Lions. We also saw some Hyena again.
Next morning we got up really early and went to the place where some Belgians had recently seen some lions…when we got there Tess and Dad spotted a tail moving from behind a termite mound… we drove round slowly… but it was a warthog! Up ahead on the next hill Dad saw something moving. Dad got the binoculars and tried to see what it was and decided it was a gazelle but then it rolled over. We went to have a look “I bet it’s a lion” said Tess “Its near were the Belgians saw the lions” It wasn’t a lion it was a…Cheetah- a pregnant cheetah. Cheetahs are very pretty. We got very close and it wasn’t bothered at all- just like the lions! We watched her for half hour and then left her to have a kip. We left Mara after that and went on to Nairobi.
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