Masai Mara Game Reserve

Our first destination was Masai Mara Game Reserve. This reserve is connected to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania across the border. In Kenya, the terrain is slightly different, resulting in the name "mara" which means bushy. As you can see from the shots below, the description is accurate.

October 13, 1996

This shot was taken while we were taking a reststop before reaching Masai (or Massai or Masaii) Mara Game Reserve. This was our first truck, which we traded for a larger one once we reached Lake Naivasha. Daniel, our guide, is seen at the right.

Just inside the gates of the reserve, we started seeing animals everywhere. A Waterbuck is in the foreground, while a Topi and her calf are seen in the background.

The scenery of the game reserve is the background for a group of grazing Impala. Again, there are Topi grazing in the background, as well as zebra. The Topi are obvious by their grey thighs which make them appear to be wearing riding chafs.

Here we have a Burchell's Zebra (fewer, thicker stripes than Greby's), which was the only kind we saw. With it is a Masai or Rothschild Giraffe -- I still haven't made up my mind as to which kind it is.

Still just barely inside the gates to the parks, we encountered a group of elephants crossing the dirt road. They passed withing 30 ft or so of the truck.

Simba! Yes, the first big cat we encountered was indeed a lion. He was escaping the afternoon heat by sleeping in the shade of this tree (don't know the varity). This picture was taken from 20-25 feet away.

Not 15 minutes later, we found a group of young simba sunbathing on a small grassy knoll. I actually think that at least one of these lions is a male (facing left) since it had the beginnings of a mane. We got within 10-15 feet of these awesome cats!

As we were wrapping up our first game drive, we (along with more than half a dozen other safari vehicles) found this cheetah. One can practically pinpoint the cheetah locations by the clustering of the trucks. Apparently, a lot of cheetahs are starving because they cannot hunt properly due to their being dogged by safaris. Anyway, this one is walking in the shadow of our truck. Shortly afterward, we watched as it hunted and killed a baby Thompson's gazelle. It was stunning to see.

That night, we were treated to a Masai dance, which involves chanting and a lot of jumping. It is performed by young males who demonstrate their prowess, presumably to attract wives. Apparently, the real key to attracting wives is to possess a lot of cows, which is their measure of wealth. This will allow one to attract wives, which might bring one more cows as well. Apparently, the Masai are known as a war-like tribe since they raid other tribes in order to obtain their cows, which they believe god created for them. Thus, they are simply re-acquiring their own property.

We spent one night camped just outside Masai Mara. The next day we went on another game drive in search of neat animals, although we had certainly seen our fair share the previous day.

October 14, 1996

Masai giraffe grazing just after sunrise. The prominent tree in this shot is called a Euphobia tree. The stalks at the top are all like indiviual cacti and many of these trees are in bloom at this time of the year.

We roused this hyena from its resting place. There were no others to be seen, but these creatures are not solitary by nature, so this one may have been a male. Hyena hierarchy is completely dominated by females; even the lowest ranked female is higher than the highest ranked male. We did encounter a larger group of these strange looking creatures later.

This pic shows a male and female ostrich as they ran together over the plain. The male is the more brightly coloured; the females are a mottled brown. We actually did not get very close to these animals as they are not friendly and do not like to be approached.

Just before we left Masai Mara, we came upon a group of hyena who had recently made a kill or stolen one. Here, the hyena on the left walks off with what appeared to be a zebra leg. Yum, yum.

The next day, as we packed up our tents, we had to contend with Masai women who had come to hawk their wares to us. These included bracelets and necklaces, all beadwork. In Kenya, these people are exceptionally pushy and would actually put bracelets right on your wrists and you then find yourself negotiating over something you didn't even want in the first place. The polite way to get them to back off a bit is to tell them ka-sho, which means tomorrow and is a means of letting them know that you are not interested.

Return to Table of Contents

Forward to "Masai Village"