A very leisurely morning after waking at 7 we strolled to breakfast. It is so difficult to eat conservatively. This morning a plate of tasters turned up. containing Yogurt, miniature pancakes, fruit and croissants. After the starters you had the option of English Breakfast, omelette or Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon.
No wonder I felt full when leaving the restaurant and I only had yogurt, fruit and poached eggs with beans and mushrooms. Still this rate of eating means I will put on about 5 pounds during the holiday.
Mohamed drove us to the airstrip to pick up our flight to Masai Mara. On the way we saw our first ostrich. I hadn’t expected to see one. This male ostrich stood all alone out in the open flapping its wings to keep the flies away.
We continued on our way where we encountered a troop of Baboons occupying an acacia tree and eating the fruit. An agama sat on the signpost enjoying the sun. Plus the odd impala and water buck sulked in the bushes near the road.
We arrived at the airstrip a few minutes before the due time, but had to hang around for the delayed plane. We found out the that we wouldn’t be going directly to Masai Mara but have two additional stops. I don’t love travelling on these light aircraft that bounce around the skies so extra time in the air hardly fills me with glee. Apparently one plane on the circuit broke down and Air Kenya have had to reschedule the flights.
Eventually we arrived and picked up from the airstrip in one of the typical trucks used to view the wildlife. Progress was slow because much of the ground, even on the roads, was sodden and gutted. We later encountered worse conditions as we drove across the countryside off the primitive dirt roads.
When we arrived we wanted to eat and have a lie down, but the staff insisted on telling us the rules of the place. We did get a bite to eat and realised immediately we wouldn’t enjoy the same quality as at Elsa Koptje.
We accepted a 4:30 start to the afternoon safari which gave us about 35 minutes in our room before going back out again.
Our new Mari guide Simon spoke with a beautiful English accent, so easy to understand. He knew his stuff and was constantly on the radio to other guides. We stopped at all the normal creatures, warthogs, giraffes, zebra etc
We then set off to where another guide had spotted a pride of lions. We arrived and found 6 trucks already in position and you’re not meant to have more than 5 in position so as not to overcrowd the animals. We waited our turn until one truck left.
Simon sited our truck in a slightly different place to the rest. Sure enough after a few minutes a lioness appeared from the pride and strode towards us and sat just in front of our van.
We waited and then noticed two other lions on the other side of the truck. Very soon afterwards the king of the pride appeared and stood looking down towards us. Simon pointed out that he wouldn’t be happy because one of the lions was also male.
Sure enough the king descended towards us slowly and then ran to where the new young interloper lay. See the video for what happened next.
After the youngster ran away the king walked back to the pride and we left on the way passing the defeated kid sulking in the long grass making some strange noises.
I thought we would head back to camp but instead we drove through more heavy water logged ground to a new site. Here we found a cheetah had downed a gazelle. The cat tore the animal apart with jackals hanging around waiting for the cheetah to be satiated. See the pics and video.
At last we headed for the camp in the pitch black and sat down for our evening meal. I stuck to the vegetarian option, while Maggi had the fish. In the morning she complained about indigestion throughout the night. I fell asleep completely overwhelmed by the day’s activities.