The drive out to the Massi Mara was about 6 hours, half on 'good' roads and half on really bumpy or dirt roads.
We were literally the ONLY people at the Mara Leisure Camp (capacity 80 people). Loved our tent (yes, it is a tent!)....
When we walked up on the porch to the main doors, here is what greeted us (along with about 10 of his friends in the yard)...
How cool is that? The girls and AJ were pretty excited by this point and then they entered the tent to find this....
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| Master bedroom |
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| Connecting room between the two tents |
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| The girls' room (AJ had a small bed in our room) |
We ate lunch and headed out on our first safari drive about 4pm Sunday. Our driver's name was Steve and we all said "Steve, we want to see a predator catch his prey!" And Steve said "That's really hard to find but I'll do my best." And we chanted "We believe in Steve! We believe in Steve!"
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| Our Safari Vehicle! |
Two other vans were stopped along the road and said there was a cheetah that had just gone over the little hill. Steve drove off the road and over the hill and there was the cheetah to our front left. He started crouching down as if he was hunting. We looked directly in front of us and there were two small Impalas (deer like animals).
And then like a blur the cheetah flew across the clearing and was on the impalas so fast. They didn't have a chance. The smaller of the two was the target and served as dinner. The other one made its getaway, looked back (at her baby?), and then was gone.
The girls were excited and totally disgusted at the same time. They were sad that the baby impala got caught and at how the momma impala looked back. I tried to be understanding, saying things like "that's nature girls" but frankly I thought it was awesome! Total adrenaline rush.
My only regret is it happened so fast that I didn't get a video of it. S turned on her video as Steve was driving to find the cheetah after it had dragged off its prey. The only real shot we have of the kill is this screen capture from that video.
Follow the cheetah's tail up its back and to its head. You see its two ears? The thing to the left of the cheetah's face is the head of the impala as the cheetah is holding it by its neck. You can then follow the body of the impala down.
We continued our drive for 2 more hours and probably had our best drive of the whole safari as we saw all kinds of animals that night. We spent all day Monday driving around the park and did a Tuesday morning sunrise drive before heading back to Nairobi.
A blog post about safari is pretty much a blog post about pictures. They really tell the story. One of the first animals we saw after the cheetah was a Warthog. The girls just laughed and laughed at this animal. When it gets scared its tail goes straight up as it runs away. It also eats on its knees as shown in the picture below.
The girls made a warthog chant that went 'When I say wart you say hog...WART' 'HOG' 'WART' 'HOG' And then the warthogs would run away with their tails straight up. Much laughing ensued...
Our dear friend Melody gave AJ a lion suit when Rachel and I were in Kenya 2 years ago. He brought his lion tail with him and was so excited to 'see a lion' and 'be a lion'!
Female lions under tree...
Male lion on left side of picture...
And the rest of the most excellent lion pictures (we ran across a bunch of them each day!)
Love this picture...
My favorite lion picture...
This picture was taken after 4 of 5 cubs were feeding on momma (above). These are the little ones venturing off...
We found if you see a bunch of Hyenas you are probably near lions or some other predator. This hyena was finishing off a predator's kill and was literally tearing the ribs off the carcass and chewing the bones. The little fox like creature near the head of the carcass kept trying to get a nibble and the hyena would chase him off. The vultures just kind of stood back and waited for their turn.
Another vulture on the lookout...
AJ got a toy giraffe (aka Twiga in Swahili) as well as a toy zebra...so he was really excited about finding those animals....
I can just imagine God chuckling when He was creating giraffes "Hey, Jesus, check this out...LOL!"
Zebras...question of the day...black with white stripes or white with black stripes? Inquiring minds want to know...
We saw at least 75 elephants on Monday alone. It was a big elephant day....
As we were driving away from this group of elephants a smaller elephant in the brush made a trumpet / horn like call to his family and started running toward them. As he gathered into the group, the dominant male started grunting (Rachel got a great video) and making moves toward our car. We snapped this photo and then took off ;)
We even found miniature elephants ;)
We had lunch near the hippo pool. Two years ago Rachel and I were here and there were very aggressive monkeys stealing everyone's food and chasing Rachel across the open area near the bathroom. Rachel and I were a little disappointed that there were no monkeys out there today (probably because we were the only people there!)
It is a good thing to have a guy with a gun escorting you around when walking outside....
Dead hippo (REALLY smelled bad....I mean, really bad!)
Alligator...
Big lizard...
Little boy 'goosing' his sisters...
Some cool birds...
Don't remember the name of this animal but it was a good looking animal...
Wildabeast (I nominate this animal in the 'best name' category)
Ostrich...Rachel's least favorite animal (long story....but she did ride one with permission once)
Cuties...
Goofing off before dinner...
An exciting day...
Anyone else wish they had hair like S?
Taken a little after the cheetah kill on our first night out...
And finally the best for last....
My lady, beautiful and classy as always.... Love her like crazy.
Off to Tanzania Wednesday morning May 8.
Til next time, God bless
Wow Andrew - AMAZING pictures. I showed my wife and girls (big mistake), now they want to know when do we get to go Kenya!
ReplyDeleteBe safe and relax knowing that the markets have been behaving 'badly' of late LOL .
Take care,
Scott
Same here... The whole family can't wait to go! I think maybe I just want to be you when I grow up. =)
ReplyDeletewow, puts that tent you stayed in Sydney to shame with a bathroom and beds like that!! What an incredible adventure!
ReplyDeletewe thought we'd done well seeing our animals in 2 days in teh Pilanesberg in South Africa but these pics make us realise what a trifling few we did see. Still they were special to us! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete(Notes from email) Very cool, so nice to see God showing off his creation :) Dios les bendiga! Eunice (Guatemala)
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Prayers that God will guide you, bless you, and keep each of you under His mighty wing. In him may you find rest!
Love you,
H
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Wow, love the pictures but this survival of the fittest stuff, I just can't handle. Couldn't have watched what happened to that little impala....would have cried, especially when Mama looked back. The photos you have are awesome.....can't wait to see what you're all up to next! Take good care of yourselves and know that our prayers are with you and your precious family!
Jack and Lynne Spearing
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May God bless you and keep you in Jesus Name!
Pauline (Australia)
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We faced the same thing…the disappointment of no monkeys at the hippo pool picnic. Steven and I were waiting for the monkeys to come in and steal food (we even had particular people that we were hoping would be their targets, but, that’s a whole ‘nother story!), but, no monkeys. I think after their encounter with Rachel trying to act like one of them, they moved permanently to Tanzania…away from those wacky humans!!! J Glad you had a great time!
Love to all, Gail
I think I definitely need to get a safari in Kenya on my list of things to do :) WOW, amazing tent, pictures and experience! Love it and you! Laurel
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I am so glad you are sharing this with all of us! Thinking of you all xox Hugs to S, V, H and AJ, miss you all!
ReplyDelete(From email)...Dear Scott Family,
ReplyDeleteI hope you have arrived safely to Tanzania and are able to pick up e-mails.....
I am honored to be on your “blog” list of recipients. Reading your stories and looking at all the pictures of the family, the people you have been working with, the children you have invested so much in and the sights of Kenya have been AMAZING! I am humbled by your dedication, in awe of your energy, inspired by your talented family and blown away by your lovely children. Each of them are unique, precious, intelligent and sweet. They are a blessing to this world and the greatest gift you and Rachel have given humankind.
I feel enriched after getting to know all four of them and I am thrilled to have re-connected with both of you. Not only did you grow up to be lovely people, you have modeled your lives and that of your family full of love, faith, goodness, charity and joy.
You have been and will continue to remain in my thoughts and prayers that you all stay well and safe, enjoying your WORLD TOUR and reaching out to people and touching their lives in a positive way.
How is Rachel feeling with her pregnancy? You were right, Andrew, when you described Rachel as beautiful and classy. I would have also called her the most elegant and gorgeous animal in the jungle! Give my love, hugs and kisses all around! Marla
From email...What great pictures!!!! And amazing quarters! Just looked like the movies. Safe travels this week end. Love Mimi
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Oh those mischievous monkeys! They totally dive bombed us too, when we were there. I'm beginning to think they train them to do that to the tourists. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you guys brought AJ's lion tail! Bwahahaa! I had a good laugh seeing him with his tail. :)
What a great aventure. So glad y'all got to see a Cheetah Take Down and so much other cool stuff!
Love you guys,
Mel~
You Seam you had a very nice time in the wild. The little one surely enjoyed and you had the best opportunity for great photos.
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