Safari

As a last hurrah in our trip to Kenya, David and I went on a three-day safari. If you have never been on a safari and you have the time and the money, I have two words for you. Do it.
It was pretty phenomenal.
Starting out, my expectations weren’t very high. On the five hour drive up to Masai Mara, I joke with David.
“I expect it to be just like a National Geographic nature show,” I teased. “With lions taking down gazelles left and right.”

Our guide: Bonnie.

Our tent.
While we didn’t see any kills in action while we were there, we saw so much more than I ever thought we would. On our very first game drive, we glimpsed a pride of thirteen lions, saw some cheetahs (which are incredibly rare in the wild) and rode alongside a wild bull elephant for a few meters. More commonplace were the herds of zebras, gazelles, wildebeests and buffalo that covered the plains. The cats were my favorite though. They’re so graceful and powerful and aware of themselves. It’s hard to get bored watching them because they’re just so gorgeous.

On the second day we got to watch lions to our heart’s content. In the morning there was a single male lion with a fresh kill. We sat and watched as he ripped the meat off of a wildebeest’s carcass. Such sharp teeth and powerful muscles. There were times when the lions walked right next to the van. I could have reached out and touched them. They’re massive. I would be utterly terrified if one of them decided to come after me—even if I was in a car.
That evening, it was pouring down rain on our safari drive, and there wasn’t too much going on on the savannah. The pride of thirteen lions that we saw the day before came out into the open and frolicked in the field in front of our van for two whole hours. They were literally within spitting distance the entire time. We had a front row seat to the antics of the playful cubs, the regal males and the disdainful lionesses. David took about 1500 pictures of these cats.











The animals weren’t just in the game park either. We stayed in a “campsite” where we had super nice tents. In the afternoon, just after lunch, David and I heard a commotion outside. We peeked out to see a whole colony of monkeys overrunning the camp. They were unzipping people’s tent flaps and going into their tents to get food. We watched as they continually raided one of the tents for a loaf of bread they found in it. One of the monkeys was super bold and kept coming toward me. I was a little freaked out, since I wasn’t sure if it had rabies or not. Whenever I turned around to walk away it would run up really quickly behind me. Later the camp manager told me that the monkeys aren’t scared of women for some reason. Sexist animals.



Actually, I’ve gathered that in the animal kingdom, males are pretty much useless except for mating. The female lions do all of the hunting. The male elephants are on their own for every time except mating season. Think of how well that would go over in humanity!
Anyway. I was blown away by the variety and sheer volume of animals we saw. Elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, zebras, hippos, gazelles, wildebeests, all sorts of birds… pretty much the only species we didn’t spot were leopards and rhinos (both of which are incredibly rare.) It truly was an experience of a lifetime.