July 20-23, 2017. Maasai Mara. Olseki Conservancy. Porini Mara Camp.
This was my first experience of safari at an eco-camp. Nothing about plunging into eco-tourism adventure. The Porini Mara Camp had six luxury tents in the middle of a Ol Kinyei Conservancy, just an hour away from the Maasai Mara National Reserve (it is part of the same ecosystem and animals move freely between the conservancy and national reserve depending on the seasons).
Everything about it was eco-friendly. No plastic water bottles - instead fresh, filtered water came from recycled wine bottles. The shower was heated water poured into a small tank outside the tent. The camp was not fenced off, so nature would pass through at night - you really feel in the middle of the wild when you hear elephant walking by the tent or hearing about the other wildlife that walked through the camp.
Rule Number One - At night, have an eskari (guard) escort you from the EVENING campfire to your tent and in the morning before your morning game drive. The Flashlights were looking for eyes.
On safari, I meet many people who state that visiting the Maasai Mara and going on safari is a "once in a lifetime experience". Although I do not have an "official bucket list", going on an African safari is on people's bucket lists. If it isn't, dare I say, add it! The "once in a lifetime experience" comment made me think about how blessed and spoilt I feel living so close to many national parks where I can see wildlife in their habitat at a fairly affordable rate! It made me start thinking about how the phrase "once in a lifetime" takes on different meanings depending on your situation and context. Although going on a safari is no longer a once in a lifetime experience, I will make the most of the opportunities I have whilst in Kenya to safari and am so close. It made me think and wonder how bucket lists might change depending on your location in the world and what appears to be "exotic" (e.g., maybe someone from Africa would like to go see "snow").
RULE NUMBER TWO - WHEN LIVING IN KENYA, YOU MUST VISIT THE MAASAI MARA DURING THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION. IF YOU ARE LUCKY, THEY MIGHT CROSS THE MARA RIVER.
Around July for about two months, the wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti into the Maasai Mara (They are the same ecosystem, just different names - Serengeti is in Tanzania and Maasai Mara is in Kenya, the animals albeit territorial do not carry passports!). This happens annually, and varies slightly from year to year depending on rains and weather patterns. When I arrived, there were wildebeest EVERYWHERE! (When I went in October last year there were just a few wildebeest).
The morning after arriving, we drove to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, and had a bush breakfast.
Afterwards, we headed toward the Mara River where we saw a large herd of wildebeest gathering. It was around noon and our guide told us that some days the wildebeest gather at the edge of the Mara River and don't cross, and other days they do. We would just have to sit and wait. So we did, for about two hours in the heat of the day. Nothing seemed to be happening, but the wildebeest were gathering. All of a sudden as we were "debating if we should go and have a bush lunch somewhere", the wildebeest changed their direction and started running down the steep banks of the Mara River about 150 metres from where we anticipated them to cross. When they started to cross, it sounded like the biggest herd of cattle all making noise at the same time!
RULE NUMBER THREE - WHEN YOUR GUIDE TELLS YOU TO EXIT THE VEHICLE, EXIT.
When the wildebeest herd started to cross, we frantically drove our vehicle farther down the river and the guide had the five of us hop out of the vehicle and run down the steep banks of the Mara River to watch the crossing. We started slipping and sliding down the banks and I can hardly imagine what it would be like for the wildebeest to have their footing as they crossed the river. Supposedly, if the crocodiles see the wildebeest crossing, they will not attack the first one for fear of the crossing being called off. Rather, they will attack a wildebeest while the crossing is in full swing, since it is noisy and most wildebeest won't notice if one wildebeest has gone down. Animals are smart and adaptable eh? Watching the frantic wildebeest crossing the Mara River is spectacular and chaotic. The wildebeest appear to be in great panic and confused.
RULE NUMBER FOUR - SPOIL YOURSELF. GO ON A HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE OVER THE MARA.
I feel like a true Kenyan now. I debated going on a hot air balloon ride and was able to barter down the price by 60 dollars! It was really incredible to wake up at 3 a.m. and drive 2 and a half hours through the Mara to get to the balloon launching point (Just kidding - I slept the whole way as we drove through the communities on the border of the game park. What I didn't know about hot air balloons is that when you are ready for take-off, the basket is on its side, and everyone lays on their back in the basket. Then when it takes off, you are upright again and standing. Seeing the sunrise over the Mara in an hot air balloon overlooking the Maasai Mara plains covered with black specks (thousands and thousands of wildebeest), was incredible. Upon landing, we had a bush breakfast with champagne. That was surely doing breakfast in style!
RULE NUMBER FIVE - ALWAYS DO A SUNDOWNER IN THE BUSH.
The sunsets on safari are second to none in this world. Each one is prettier than the last one (I think something my Grandma Wagler would've said). An iconic experience is to have a "sundowner" drink whilst out enjoying a safari sunset. I try and pretend I was a British colonist enjoying this new landscape in the early 1900s. Dominic and Lenny my guides even had a FaceTime call with my friend Becky. Last year, I was in Malawi for this summer FaceTime, and this year I was in the middle of nowhere! Cell phone reception is incredible in the Maasai Mara and I love the traditional Maasai clothing juxtaposed beside them using their phones to take selfies and to "Facebook" what they see while on the game drive with other drivers.
RULE NUMBER SIX - BE PATIENT AND YOU MIGHT BE LUCKY!
Three cheetah in the early morning (the day I was leaving) were on the hunt. All of a sudden we saw them sprint, and take down an impala. Now, it felt gruesome at first, but I guess they need to eat. What I did learn is that cheetah suffocate animals because if the animal were to make noise, hyenas or other bigger animals would eat their "kill". (Animals are smart, eh?) It is important to do the kill as quietly as possible. Since it was on the Conservancy, we watched this happen only a few metres away! Surprisingly, I still had an appetite for breakfast. Lenny and Dominic were in complete awe and tell me they only see this stuff happen maybe every two months, if they are lucky! Everyone back at camp knew what I saw when I arrived, because they had "Facebooked" the news back to camp.
I love seeing the Maasai villages. Sometimes, we would drive through a Maasai village to get back to the Ol Kinyei Conservancy from the Maasai Mara National Reserve. You would see the traditional houses, and then there would be a circular fence of sticks for the Maasai's livestock. This is to protect it from potential prey such as lions. I find it funny still that they protect their goats and cattle from lions, and yet their houses and family members are open to those threats.
Animals, animals, animals.
This trip was once in a lifetime! Each safari is as they are all so different and the animal behaviour is what makes it so unique.