Kenya

Day 11: Voyage from South Africa to Kenya
We get up at 4:30 and reluctantly get out of bed to go to the airport. When we get there we get into the set of very confusing lines, and finally get onto the airplane. The airline had a strange name; it was called Mango. We took the plane to Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa, and another from there to Kenya. When we got there the safari finally starts. The second we got out of the airplane there are people waiting on the tamarac for us and we get taken aside and put into a small fancy van and go straight to customs. Instead of having to go through the long line, we went into a special line which was much shorter.

After we finish we go to another van and drive to this awesome hotel called Giraffe Manor. Giraffe Manor is called that because there are giraffes walking around the hotel grounds. We get there just in time for dinner, for us, and the giraffes. We go out to feed the giraffes, then sit around playing checkers until dinner. When we are done we go to sleep.

Day 12: Nairobi to Masai Mara

We get up in the morning we feed the giraffes, and ourselves and get into a van with our guide Ninian, a very commodious white-Japanese Kenyan. We go to a private airport and meet our other guide, Kip, a very nice and awesome black Masai Kenyan. We go into an area completely full of propeller planes. We get into a Cessna Grand Caravan, and I get to be copilot!

We fly to a dirt airstrip In the middle of nowhere [but it's actually the Masai Mara Protected area in southern Kenya on the border with Tanzania] and get into a couple of custom safari land rovers. We drive around and see all sorts of animals, including about seven kinds of antelope, including Topi, Thomson’s gazelle, Grant’s Gazelle, Eland, Waterbuck and a couple others. We drove around until we see a herd of gazelles running away from something our Kip immediately whips out a pair of binoculars and sees a lion. We drive over to it and see two lionesses and five cubs. We call Ninian and his group over so they can see it too.

Then we drive to our camp. When we get there I am totally blown away. The tents are the size of small houses, and have flush toilets and showers. Our camp has a lounge AND a dining room. We go to the dining room and have a gourmet meal, consisting of potatoes and some very fancy salads. Then we sit around for about two hours, and I teach Ninian's daughter Amelia how to play checkers. We went back out and drove around looking for animals. We came back, had an equally fancy dinner and went to bed.

Day 13: (December 28, Day 2 in Masai Mara Conservancy)

We get up early, have a quick snack and go out on safari with plans for a picnic breakfast. We drive around for a while and I got to sit on the roof of the car, under the conditions that we get down when rangers come by. (It is illegal to sit on the roof). We reach the picnic breakfast site, and soon a whole buffet is laid out. We eat, go then go to the other site where the other car saw two large male lions. We see the lions, and then drive home for lunch. We went back out, and stopped to look at a huge elephant herd. We drove around a bit more, and then we saw three lionesses on the hunt. We followed them until we found their cubs. Then it poured. We watched them for a bit more, then went home to eat dinner.

Day 14: December 29

We got up, ate breakfast, and went out to search for hippos. We stopped by some lion tracks and filled them with plaster of Paris so we could keep the shapes. Then we went to the river. On the way there we saw the most amazing thing. Black rhinos. Six of them. One of the most endangered species in the world, with only twelve in the entire park, we saw half of them. Then, when we get there, there Ninian said that we had to find 50 hippos if we wanted to eat lunch. Gladly after driving for about two seconds we find a massive group of hippos and a couple of weaver birds making their nests. We continue driving, and then eventually find another mass of hippos, bringing our hippo count up to 72. We celebrate, and then go home for lunch.

We went back out, looking for more animals, but all we found was rain. Lots of rain. We turned back, but the only way back from where we were was through a field covered in mud. Ninian led the way, only to get stuck in the thick mud. We eventually pulled him out, and we continued driving home, only to be stuck AGAIN. Gladly, after very carefully migrating through the sludge, we arrived at camp. Then we ate a quick dinner and went to bed.

Day Fifteen: December 30 [4th day in Masai Mara]

Today is our last day in the Mara, so today we are going to do something special. We eat breakfast, and then set out for an all day adventure near the Sand River. We drive out and look for animals, seeing baboons, giraffes and elephants drinking and washing themselves. When we finally get there we get right into the water, which is inches deep but full of sinkholes. After we finish we eat lunch by the river. Then we go to another part of the river. There the water is deep so we go in. We have so much fun. Sadly, we didn't

bring our bathing suits so on the way back we were soaked. On the way back we get very lucky. We saw a python! Ninian runs out and tries to catch it. He succeeds, and lets us hold it. Then we see one of the hardest to spot African animals, the leopard. We see four. Then when we get home we share our stories with the other group. Then we wait around playing games until dinner, then have a shower, then go to bed.