Last day on the savanna

Happy New Year!!

Today has been a very relaxing way to start the new year 😊. Everything here is so much quieter now than the celebratory excitement of yesterday. Even the animals have been quieter & less visible this morning. We started the morning with heavy fog all over the savanna, which set a peaceful mood for the day.

Last night there were special activities to mark the time between dinner & midnight. Right after dinner there were two dance performances by folks from two tribes in the Masai Mara area, the Masai and the Kuria tribes. It was enjoyable to sit outside by the pool with the gathered community to see the performances.

Three Japanese visitors are now accompanying me on the daily game drives. Their main interest was to see big cats, so yesterday that’s what we set out to do and we weren’t disappointed. We came upon 2 very sleepy brother cheetahs & a pair of lions also lounging in the sun.

The vehicles that are used in the Mara are varied. Ours is a Toyota Land Cruiser. They all must have amazing suspensions & 4 wheel drive to deal with the variable road conditions in the park. Ours has 4 back seats & the top is popped up so we can stand to get a better view when necessary. No one is ever allowed to exit the car when we are on a game drive. On my first couple of drives I wondered if they ever could get stuck – especially when ours has been the only vehicle in an area with horrible roads! Well they do get stuck – yesterday we had to push another vehicle to get it moving again, and then again today our driver had to get out to coach a driver who was stuck & blocking the road! My driver, Paul, has been doing this work for 20 years at this lodge. He needed to have passed coursework re: the animals & birds as well as driving skills before applying for a job as a game driver. He said it’s a very competitive occupation & only the best get the jobs. This is definitely not a job for the faint of heart! Paul calls this land paradise & he finds such joy being out in the wild areas of this beautiful park 😊

This afternoon’s game drive was a bit of a reality check as to some of the dangers in this environment for the wildlife. As we approached the Mara River we saw a zebra’s body floating, surrounded by at least 4 large crocodiles. They were all floating down the river as a pack, the crocodiles eating the zebra as they all went down the river (thank heavens the actual eating was happening under the water). What we learned is that the homeland for the zebras in this part of the Mara is actually in the northern part of the park. In order to get there they have to cross the Mara River, which now is running fast because of the unusual amount of rain in December. We saw zebras across the river who were calling to the large crowd of zebras on our side. As we looked a bit down river, we saw that there were 2 large & 1 baby crocodile waiting in the mud flats where the zebras would be choosing to come out of the water. Much of the river bank has high walls, which the zebras can’t navigate to get out of the water. We watched as several zebras went down to the water’s edge, but then would retreat & others would try. None chose to cross while we were there, which we were grateful for. Our guide said that they were all very aware that one had been lost just before we got there. We all felt for the tension that existed in that herd.

Here are some views from the calmer parts of today’s game drives.