Masai Mara

We did a weekend trip to Masai Mara. We’d been wanting to return to the Mara anyway but having a visitor gave us a good excuse.

arriving by small plane - the escarpment bordering the Mara

We made a three-day weekend out of it, which for me is never enough. I feel as though I could go on game drives for a month without getting tired of it. Every time is different and there is always something amazing. I know that’s not the case for everyone. I’ve heard of people getting bored of driving around the dusty savanna. It’s certainly not for everyone. But some of the most memorable moments I have spent on this continent have been while on safari.

As for the girls, they seem to rather enjoy it as well. Even from early on they were less of a challenge than what we expected. We used to be concerned about their lack of attention span (and I do confess that we come armed with children’s books, iPad, crayons, etc. as back up) but generally speaking they stay pretty engaged and love spotting, and identifying, animals as we drive along.

Of course there are always the moments that are a bit more difficult to explain. The whole cycle of life thing can be a bit of a challenge to explain but I personally don’t mind exposing them to the odd hunt here and there. On a previous safari we witnessed a cheetah kill that was one of my all-time safari highlights. But it ended with a couple of bloody cheetah faces and a slowly dying impala that required some explanation. Overall, however, I think it’s an important part of their education.

Our niece was with us for her first safari. Hopefully not last. As one who’s not a fan of the great outdoors, it was a risky activity. Game drives are full on outdoors. Lots of dust. Exposure to whatever the weather is giving you. Fun stuff for me but not everyone enjoys it. Nonetheless, she said she had a wonderful time. We likely didn’t convert her to a life as a park ranger but we at least succeeded in adding a cool experience to her time in Africa.

We stayed in the same tented camp that we did the last time we were in Masai Mara. It’s situated on the escarpment overlooking the Mara savanna. Amazing views. While it’s often good to switch it up a bit, there’s some value in going with what you know, particularly with kids. You don’t want any bad surprises.

In fact we ended up with the same guide. Which in our case was a good thing. We didn’t remember each other straight away but we figured it out within a few minutes. I think he finds a good balance of narrating what’s going on, including fun facts about the animals and their habitat, and not overdoing it and just letting us enjoy the experience without too much chatter. He also seems to get a read on how much experience the clients have in doing this sort of thing. For example in our case I think he understood that we’ve been on many safaris over the years so he skipped a lot of the basics.

monitor lizard

I'm unable to make mud look that cool

he was particularly angry; we decided to stay out of his way

My photography of wildlife evolves over time. I used to take photos of almost anything that moved. Pretty soon you start to realize that you have billions of similar photos of impalas, elephants and baboons. I find that I don’t have the camera out and ready quite as much. I just sit back and enjoy the experience more. I also look for, and see, new things. You also have to take what the animals and the lighting give you. The main thing is not to get too obsessed about getting the ideal photo or seeing all of the big five – catching a glimpse of that elusive leopard. You still need to stay alert, anticipate where the animals might be and what they are likely to do so that you have the camera ready when the time comes. If you miss something, you miss something. Oh well.

 

 

Great weekend. Good, again, to get away from our urban life. Time to start planning the next one.

Abigail's visit

I’m on a flight to Mombasa right now and the flight attendant just served me an apple juice and cashews. She has drawn her eyebrows in such a way that she looks permanently surprised. I’m in no position to tell people how to wear make-up since I don’t know much about it but I tend to think that more often than not women get it wrong. Usually they use too much. Make-up is one of those things that women seem to do for other women, possibly hoping that somewhere along the way men like it too.

I need to play catch-up again on this blog. Serious time gap between my last post and right now. We’re nearly through September and I need to go back to June! Ugh.

So June. Early in the month our niece visited us from the US. She stayed for about three weeks and, given that it was her first time to Africa, we wanted to give her a good taste of what Kenya is like.

cousin's happy arrival

Though not a big fan of the great outdoors, she seemed to enjoy her stay.

One of the things we did was include her in the day to day routines. Priya and the girls took the lead on this since I was working most of the time. It’s always nice to share a slice of one’s life with family, particularly if our lives are radically different from theirs.

Brackenhurst 

We also went to a place call Brackenhurst, about 45 min. outside of Nairobi. I’d never been but Priya had been before for a ladies’ retreat. The rainy season was supposedly goes until early June so typically rain would be hit or miss this time of year. Personally, I love the rain so I would have been happy either way. The other thing that happens in June is that the weather begins to cool as the southern hemisphere winter begins to set in. Brackenhurst tends to be cooler than Nairobi. It’s a quite a bit higher at about 2,500 m. (8,200 ft.) compared to Nairobi which is around 1,800 m. (5,900 ft.).

In the end we had quite a bit of rain and it was quite cool. One often needed a layer, particularly when the sun wasn’t out. But it’s a great place to get away, hang out, enjoy a fire, go for a walk (or run), etc. regardless of the weather. And the food’s good.

We did a walk through the tea plantations. It’s nothing spectacular but the area is quite beautiful and it was just nice to get out of Nairobi for a while and enjoy the cooler (cleaner) air. The place apparently started out as a coffee farm in 1914. But during WW1 the British opted to use it as a holiday destination for war-weary soldiers. From that point it served as a hotel until 1964 when it was bought by the Baptist Mission of Kenya. While it still hosts a good many Christian groups, conferences, etc., it’s open to the general public.

Definitely a good weekend. Probably need to do that more often. 

Giraffe Centre

A common stop for visitors to Nairobi is the Giraffe Centre located on the southern boundary of the city of Nairobi. We’ve been a few times and it’s about a half hour from home (depending on traffic, of course). The kids like it since they can feed the giraffes.

feeding giraffes with the manor in the background

The centre, which was founded in 1979, was begun by a couple after discovering the sad plight of the Rothschild giraffe, a subspecies of the giraffe found only in the grasslands of East Africa. At the time, the animals had lost their habitat in Western Kenya with only 130 of them left. Thanks to the preservation efforts there are now over 300 Rothschild giraffes in various Kenyan national parks.

The centre sits adjacent to Giraffe Manor, an expensive hotel that also hosts these beautiful animals as they meander about the property. They’re known to stick their heads in the windows of the rooms (which are apparently pretty amazing). The manor, modeled on a Scottish hunting lodge, was built in 1932 and has apparently functioned as a hotel since 1983. We’ve never stayed there, of course, since we usually gravitate towards more modest accommodation. Maybe someday.