Day 6-8 On safari

On Monday we took a little plane from Wilson Airport (Nairobi’s domestic flights) to David Livingstone Safari Lodge. The flight was exciting - within a minute of take-off we had left the city behind and the pilot was pointing out a herd of rhino! We didn’t rise more than about 5000’ so were able to observe geographical features such as ridges, rivers, hills and Masai homesteads, wherever there was a gap in the light fluffy clouds. I sat right behind the pilot and was slightly disconcerted when he picked up the in-flight magazine and read it for about five minutes! I resisted the urge to tap him on the shoulder and say “shouldn’t you be looking where you’re going?”!!

When we arrived at David Livingstone we had a series of surprises. The first was that we were the only passengers getting off there. The second was that the landing strip was right next to the lodge and porters in white suits were waiting to take our bags. We were greeted with a warm flannel and a drink of mango juice. Then we found ourselves at the bar next to the river where a group of hippos were wallowing, making the most amazing sounds – snorting, swooshing and growling! The final big surprise was to find that we were the only guests in a place intended for 100 plus! We certainly had good attention from the staff!

Our room overlooked the river and we were told that if we needed anything at night we were not to leave our room but to blow a whistle. Electricity was only available for two hours in the morning and late afternoon and evening until 10pm. The lights would go out briefly at five to ten, as a warning, back on for five minutes and then off until daybreak. We did wonder if that affected the electric fence that separated the hippos and crocodiles from coming up to our room – but we didn’t like to ask. Sometimes it’s best not to know!

Our first game drive was that afternoon and we were introduced to Duncan who was to be our driver for the three days we were there. He was very knowledgeable about animals and where to find them and also about birds so when on a couple of the drives we saw no new land animals he was able to point out all sorts of new birds. He was also a skilled driver and really put to the test on the second day when we had a deluge of rain and nearly got stuck in the mud!

We had a brilliant three days on the Mara seeing loads of animals and birds – especially considering we were “low season”. One particular highlight was visiting the Masai. We were welcomed with singing and dancing – and jumping by the men! We were shown how they make fire - Ray Mears style – or is it in fact Ray Mears who makes fire Masai style?! We were taken inside one of the homes in the village or “Boma”. It was very compact, like living in a caravan where there is a particular place for every single thing. There was a slow burning fire and the only outlet for the smoke was a small window, so after a while our eyes really began to sting. Not surprisingly, there are health problems associated with this for the Masai.

There are too many photos to show on this Blog – it would take forever to load up but if you would like to see: eland, topi, dik dik, Thomson’s gazelle, ostrich, buffalo, elephant, jackal, hyena, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, monkey and the visit to the Masai Boma then click on here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinegrew/