After a marginally stressful border crossing (for our tour leader and driver, who are questioned about not having some spurious special permit), we return to Kenya, and have to rethink currency values by a factor of ten.

In the afternoon, a brief stop for a tour of a soapstone carving workshop, seeing the craftsmen in action and how many hours go into producing each piece. Many beautiful things in the shop, I got a leopard to add to my growing animal figures collection.


Masai Mara

mountain rock mara springs camp

The landscape more and more resembles the wild west, an eroded landscape with weak grass poling through the dusty soil, herds of goats, sheeps and cows being driven to find pasture.

After two hours on a bumpy dirt road we reach camp just outside the park, and set out on the first of two game drives.

A rainy evening drive brought first views of sweeping plains covered in hundreds of dots - wilderbeast.
Two lion families brought safari vehicles flocking together out of nowhere in their dozens, before the lions got tired of attention and sauntered deeper into the bushes.
Finally with dusk approaching, first sight of elephants, a small family of four.
Darkness has fallen by the time we get back and I'm glad it's not my turn to cook tonight!

Dawn drive next morning yields corpses a plenty, first up a whole pride of lions lazily ripping apart and digesting a recently ex wilder beast, then a pair of chubby looking hyenas, and then over a crest to see open plains covered in thousands of live wilder beast. Apparently after the rains they can die from greedily overeating, much to the delight of many vultures and maribu stork who bicker over the carcasses
Gory stuff!
Oh and another small group of elephants, a jackal, and the usual zebra, impala, giraffe etc

The game drives are conducted in 4x4 rascal vans with pop up roofs so everyone gets a good view.
Now just a bumpy 5 hour drive back to Nairobi!
Our driver has an Ace of Base medly mix on repeat...