Kima to Masai Mara

Our ride out of Kima picked us up at 6AM on Wednesday morning. We drove for 8 hours south-west to the Masai Mara game reserve, which borders Tanzania. The terrain went from the more lush vegetation of western Kenya to plains and rolling hills of the Mara region. Here, the Masai tribes rule. Their houses are often built in circles, with dense thorny brush surrounding their villages. This prevents large animals from entering their villages and making off with their livestock. We spotted many Masai tending to their herds of sheep or cattle, always wearing bright colours and carrying a stick or spear.

We arrived at the place we’re going to stay in the early afternoon. It was a fairly comfortable place compared to the accommodations of the past few weeks. We were staying in tented rooms with a thatch roof. Our driver was named Michael, who had a matatu which had a top that popped up, allowing us to stand in the vehicle to easily spot animals while driving through the reserve. Over the course of the next few days we spent a great deal of time in the matatu driving through the Masai Mara, watching animals such as zebra, gazelle, the majestic elephants, hippos, even crocodiles, and of course the ever-graceful giraffe - all in their natural habitat. It was interesting to have them roam free, with us in a cage. At one point we watched 2 cheetahs hunting a baby ostrich. The speed and accuracy of its attack was quite amazing. Survival of the fittest. We also saw a leopard laying up in a tree, which is something apparently difficult to find. Very beautiful animals, all within their own ecosystem, quite an experience.




Paul marking child after vaccinating children from polio

 

Ute marking child after vaccination

Nikki helping with polio vaccination

International group with Kipepeo gang

Today we sadly left the park. We took a small plane from Masai Mara to Nairobi. It was a magnificent flight over the |plains of Africa and into a small airport on the outskirts of |Nairobi. The Kenyan president was about to arrive at this airport, so there was a lot of security with roads being closed. We then navigated the bad Nairobi rush hour to get to the international airport, where we are now, waiting for our 3AM flight. Here the 8 of us split up for the first time since starting our trip. Ute, Nikki and I are going south to South Africa, and Scot, Laurissa, Holly, Monique and Matias are heading to Monique’s relatives in Amsterdam for a few days. Our Kenyan adventure is coming to a close. My only hope is that we made a difference in the many lives we’ve touched over the past 2 weeks, as they have touched ours.