KENYAN SAFARI: Maasai Mara National Park, Guest Post by Gretchen Woelfle

Gretchen and Safari companions, Kenya

Last month my friend and fellow children’s book writer Gretchen Woelfle flew to Nairobi, Kenya, and joined a group of volunteer doctors and nurses working with the organization Preventing Cervical Cancer (PINCC) on a medical mission. See her post last week for her report. Then she went to on a safari to see African wildlife. Here's what she saw:

Following my two weeks as a medical volunteer I booked a five-day safari. How could I go to Kenya and not see the world-famous Maasai Mara National Park?  A few hours out of smoggy Nairobi, down into the Great Rift Valley, we left the paved road and proceeded down a lumpy bumpy rocky road. Our van driver didn’t feel the need to slow down so we bounced and jounced for a couple of hours farther into the country. 

Giraffes

When we saw our first giraffes we screeched to a halt and gawked out the windows.  A small herd of zebras down the road brought another shout from us to stop.  Wildebeests, ditto.  We wanted to stop for every animal, but our driver assured us we’d see a lot more up ahead. He was right.

For two nights we stayed in platform tents, with bathroom attached, near the entrance to the national park.

Gretchen and Maasai family

We visited a traditional Maasai village, where (for a fee) the men welcomed us with a leaping dance, then gave us a tour of the village including the interior of a dark adobe hut, and the corrals for their goats, sheep, and cattle. Exiting the village we encountered the “gift shop” – women selling beaded jewelry, blankets, and carving. I doubt if any of it was made in that village, but I couldn’t resist a bright red Maasai wool blanket. (It’s now a tablecloth.)

We first entered the Maasai Mara near sunset – jostling over roads and dirt tracks. Drivers kept in touch with each other via radios, and a call from one would have us streaming down the road to reach something special. That evening we saw our first lioness – calmly sitting in the grass while her four cubs scrambled and played nearby. They are indeed regal animals.

Lioness

First thing next morning we saw another lioness, finishing a meal of a cow (a weak one left behind by Maasai herdsmen,) with two cubs grabbing a bite or two. After she had dragged most of the carcass across the road, three vultures descended and attacked the two legs left behind. A dozen more, then another dozen swooped down to tear apart the stomach. Four different vulture species came for breakfast.

Vultures

On that day-long trip and another at daybreak the following day, we saw all the usual suspects: elephants, hippos, elands, impalas, Cape buffalo, hyenas, baboons, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, crocodiles, eagles, tiny Thompson’s gazelles, the hind end of a (shy) leopard sleeping in a burrow by a river, and, from a distance, a pack of African wild dogs. These are said to be the most dangerous of all, because they will attack humans.  They live in the hills and rarely come to the plain, where rangers shoot them on sight.  

Gretchen and her guide, Kelvin

At Lake Naivasha we took a (smooth and gentle) boat ride and saw more species of beautiful birds than I can remember, a flock of flamingos, and two lolling pods of hippos. On my last day I longed for a more active outing and found it in nearby Hell’s Gate National Park. Kelvin, my friendly guide, and I cycled five miles down a canyon where I got fairly up close and personal with some zebras, warthogs, impalas, and even giraffes.  After five miles, we hiked down into a deep gorge and along a stream bed. A sign had warned us about pesky baboons, but we only encountered two well-behaved hikers.

Wildebeest

At the end of that same day, I was in the air, beginning the twenty-four hour trek to Los Angeles. I felt like a time traveler, whisked from the timeless world of the African savanna, back to twenty-first century urban life.

I booked with Big Time Safaris Ltd., which offers a wide range of prices, schedules, and customized itineraries. www.bigtimesafaris.co.ke