Meeting the Maasai

Today felt like the longest day of our trip so far, even more exhausting than the 24 hour travel day from Virginia to Nairobi. So I'll be kind of brief with the words here, but will include many photos.



Knowing it would be a long day, I started with a Full English breakfast at 6AM. Our guide Willie picked us up in Nairobi and we were off. It was a smooth modern divided highway for the first hour or so, and then a 2-lane blacktop road the rest of the way to Masai Mara National Reserve.









Scenes along the 2-lane road.




Approaching the Rift Valley, there were baboons lining the side of the road. Truck drivers throw food to them, so they know to wait here.







We crested a ridge and started down into the Rift Valley. There were many vendors along the road, positioned in spots with sweeping views.





Narok, the largest city of the Maasai tribe (population over 300,000), lies at the bottom of the Rift Valley. It was a hectic busy place compared to our drive so far.









There were many colorful Maasai people walking along the highway after we passed Narok.










Scenes along the road between Narok and Masai Mara.










The Maasai are herders of cattle, and there were many herds on the road as we approached Masai Mara. In Maasai culture, wealth is signified by how many cattle you own. Willie explained that if a Maasai man comes into a large sum of money, he won't buy a car or other expensive possession, he'll just buy as many more cattle as he can.


Six hours after leaving our hotel, we finally reached the entrance to Masai Mara Nature Preserve. There were many Maasai women there selling souvenirs, and Megan bought a few keychains.






Although we were entering the nature preserve, we still needed to drive an hour across it to reach our hotel and check in, on the far side of the park It was kind of crazy to finally enter Masai Mara and then drive at high speed all the way through the park without stopping, but I snapped a few photos as we blew past the wildlife.


After crossing the portion of Masai Mara which is managed by the Maasai people, we entered the other half of the park when we crossed the Mara River. The other half is managed by a private firm.




After seven hours on the road, we reached our destination: Serena Safari Lodge. There was a giraffe on the plain below visible from the pool area, and several elephants visible from our room.
We checked in, had lunch, and then headed out for our first wildlife safari. Our guide Willie knows the area well, and in just two hours he took us to places where we had close views of elephants, giraffes, lions, warthogs, Thomson's gazelles, mongooses, hippos, African buffalos, crocodiles, hyenas, and many birds.



















Back at the hotel, we had dinner and then Megan, Marsha, and I ended the day with a nightcap on the deck under the stars.