Masai Mara Day Two

On day two, we had a morning and afternoon game drive scheduled, and we decided to extend the morning drive so that we’d be out for six hours rather than just three. We left camp around 6:30 a.m. and quickly came upon a pack of six elephants walking across a field, stopping every so often to munch on grass. There was a baby in the group, which reminded all of us of the “Babar” children’s book series. Previously, I hadn’t given much thought to elephants, but I have to say that they are pretty impressive animals to see. With their wrinkled, leathery skin, slow but steady movements and calm, watchful demeanor, there’s also something very comforting about elephants.

After taking leave of the elephants, we noticed another safari vehicle a distance in front of us. It had stopped, and the passengers were observing something. We quickly learned that a still vehicle, or a group of parked vehicles, meant that an animal worth photographing was around. What we found that morning was pretty cool: a male lion out alone, looking for food. We parked a distance away from him, but he ultimately crossed the field and came close to our vehicle. Edward told us that we could take pictures, but when it got particularly close, we should remain very still. I don’t think I anticipated what it would feel like to have a lion walk inches from me, with only a windowless vehicle separating us. I may have skipped a few breaths as it walked past, although I doubt the lion batted an eye.

After our lion encounter, we spent some time driving deeper into the Mara, and I napped on and off for a little bit (we woke up early!). We saw groups of gazelles and some Guinea fowl, birds with wide, spotted bodies and bright blue heads. We stopped in the middle of the plain for breakfast, munching on eggs and fruit that the hotel had packed up for us. After breakfast we continued on, driving to the Kenya – Tanzania border! The wildlife reserve we were traveling through crosses national lines and when you are in Tanzania it is called the Serengeti, though it’s the same stretch of land as Masai Mara.

After stopping at the border we drove to the Mara River and watched a group of hippos climb in and out of the water as they huffed and puffed and made strange grunting noises. We then drove back across the plains. The grass was pretty high, though after the animal migration that will begin next month (and signal the start of safari season), the grass will be stomped and chomped.

We decided to bring a bottle of wine on our afternoon drive, which we opened when we found a family of lions that was napping in a field. Lions apparently are only active for about four hours a day (lazy!). We stayed to watch them for nearly an hour, enjoying our wine and the sunset.