Why watch it on TV when you can experience it?

I usually do my research before I travel to new places in order to get the most out of it – understand the basics of the history, people, geography, and some about what the sights are and what to expect. I haven’t done that on my weekends here, and for my weekend in Kenya that might have been a net positive.

Wildebeest converging on a river crossing.

I went to Kenya two weekends ago and it was mind-blowing. One of the guys I work with is Kenyan and was going back to visit his family, and he helped me and some of the others on the team set up a safari in Masai Mara. We flew in to Nairobi and then transferred to a bush plane to go out about an hour to an airstrip. It was definitely a dirt strip, but when we left on Sunday the place looked like the Heathrow of the Savannah – it was crowded, and you had to be aware lest you get a cloud of dust in your face from prop wash.

Posing for me.

I was imagining coming in and driving around looking for critters, like driving around the ranch and hoping to find something. However, we caught the end of the wildebeest migration, and the place was chock full of everything. Thousands upon thousands of wildebeest stretching over the landscape, sometimes grazing, sometimes making their trek in single file. From the air you could see the black dots go for miles, and at river crossings they looked like black particles of sand going through the neck of an hourglass. It gives “cattle on 10,000 hills” a new meaning.

On the way from the airstrip to our lodge we saw just about every big animal, to the point where our driver was trying to pull us away so we could get to the lodge.

The family.

I’m still pretty incredulous. We saw everything except a leopard, meaning we saw a very rare black rhino. Lions were everywhere; we saw them on every drive, sometimes multiple times. We saw them attempt to hunt twice, saw them eating two kills, and lots of sleeping. We saw so many, from so close, and doing so much sleeping (or playing around), that you have to remind yourself that they could make mincemeat of you if they decided to take an interest.

I had trouble taking a nap one day because some monkeys were having fun throwing fruits out of the tree next to my tent and making a racket, and banded mongoose liked to use my porch as a thoroughfare.

We had a great guide, meaning he was a fun guy. He was a local Masai, and it was interesting to hear his practical, local knowledge of the animals. However, he wasn’t a naturalist, and that was a big hole in the experience.

Peekaboo.

I clarified “great guide,” because if I heard that I would assume the guy was very good at finding animals. Now, we did see lots of just about everything, but you quickly realize that most animals can be spotted just by driving around because they are everywhere. The best strategy for finding those “must see” animals like lions? Go looking for other vehicles. Seriously. No tracking involved, just look for two or three stopped vehicles and you know you’ve hit something. Lots of people staying outside and driving in do so in the ubiquitous white Toyota vans which are particularly easy to spot.

Hippos are some stinky, nasty animals. We saw several pits where hippos just sat in the muddy water all day. They do everything – everything – in the stagnant water, so you know when you are near hippos by smell rather than by sight. However, they look like they are enjoying wallowing in it so much that you are tempted to join them. Besides, “wallowing” is such a great word.

As you drive around Masai Mara you will see a good number of trees all by themselves, with nothing other than grass for 1/4-1/2 km. Other places they are in strips or clumps. I’m not sure how this happens, though I would assume it has a lot to do with water. Regardless, for some reason I was captivated by the lone tree, and consider it a sort of motif for the trip.