massive maasai mara

as amazed as we had been in amboseli we were even more blown away by what we'd see next at maasai mara. our next leg meant another trip in a tiny plane (with so many stops it felt more like a bus ride) back to nairobi and then onto another flight. we arrived at another tiny airstrip that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. our introduction to the park began with our long ride back from the airfield. though our guides must have been blasé about seeing some of these animals for the millionth time they were always patient with us, stopping as long as we liked to take photos. again, those photos seem to be the best way to tell the story of our stay here, so here goes..

teeny tiny van-plane

right away we saw animals that we hadn't in amboseli - these topi are nicknamed 'blue jeans'. i'm sure you'll never guess why.

we were excited to see hippos much closer up wading in the water. maasai mara park is home to the mara river, which is not seasonal. this means no watering holes but no fewer opportunities to see animals gathering.

a sweet family of warthogs

i guess i'd be grumpy too if i had birds all over me all the time.

inside our luxurious tent. the camp site here was right next to a small stream and often heard animals growling and munching at night - likely hippos coming out of the water for some grass.

our swanky bathroom - the toilet and sink had running water but the shower uses water from buckets that hang above the enclosure.

i'm sure we saw the most wildebeest by far. not a pretty animal.. but there's something delicate about the wisps of hair around its face.

we saw quite a few baby animals. it was the birthing season for a handful of the animals we saw there.

the landscape was much different here, with actual green grass and even some rolling hills.

our guides, jonathan and josephat, astutely spotted a cheetah from quite a distance nearly as soon as we drove out of the campsite. we were able to drive off the roads in this park, so we could get right up next to her. she didn't seem concerned by us being there at all. our guides told us she was pregnant, which may have explained her lazing about.

we saw some baby topis that were just a few hours old; one we captured nursing here.

at we approached one of the smaller rivers our guides spotted a herd of wildebeests ready to cross. we sped up to try to get close enough to see them from the other side of the ridge.

when we got close they got skittish and stopped, seemingly confused. without a leader they hesitated and some turned back.

eventually someone stepped up and a few tried to cross again.

the landscape here was lovely - the hills seemed to glow that yellowish green just before dusk.

with help from some other guides, we managed to spot a rare leopard from across a small river. somehow our guides knew he was about to mate and even they were excited. (this apparently is exceedingly rare.) we couldn't see it well through the trees but we did hear the telltale growl afterward. it all happened very quickly.

the ground seems to glow as the sun starts to go down.

despite the large size of this park we often ran across other vehicles, usually near spots where a near animal had been sighted.

the golden sunset made for some stately silhouettes.

the sun also lit up these grazing giraffes just right.

and of course made for a quintessential safari silhouette.

we did see some incredible sunsets. this time we enjoyed our 'sundowner' drinks and homemade spicy chips out in a field near our 4x4.

out on our drive the next day we spotted a group of hyenas, this time surrounded by vultures and storks. the scavengers seem to be pretty good at taking turns, but sometimes a few get impatient.

grant gazelles among some very young acacia trees.

we had been very anxious that we'd yet to see any lions. we were not to be disappointed on our first full day in the park. this stately specimen was more alert than his many sleepier counterparts.

nearby were a number of storks in which the lions seemed to be uninterested or unaware.

again, our guides somehow knew these two were about to mate so they alerted as to be ready. the whole thing was over in a matter of seconds and again culminated in a synchronized growl.

the aftermath.

it's amazing how close we were able to get. all the animals grow up accustomed to these vehicles. our guides assured us their complacence would change quickly if anyone got out of the vehicle.

locals passed through the park and the reserve as well. here a cattle herder leads his group across a rocky riverbed, through which our guides expertly drove just after. their driving was incredibly, navigating rocky terrain and muddy rivers, and was second only to their in-depth knowledge of the land and its animals.

a lovely tree, with a small cheetah family lazing in the shade just below.

aren't they sweet? a mother and her cubs.

somehow our guides spotted this small serval in a shady spot near a small stream.

and nearby, another cheetah. i still couldn't get over how close we could get.

these three appeared to be having a stand-off.

a few of the small streams had lily pads and even a few lotus blooms.

we didn't see many elephants here (certainly nothing like amboseli) but we did spot this mother protecting her baby from the strange vehicle that was approaching.

we didn't see many but we did spot occasional elands, the largest of africa's antelopes.

the one animal our companions (there were four of us in the vehicle, along with our guides) hadn't yet seen was the black rhino. there are fewer than 50 in this entire park. that may sound like a lot but there were easily thousands of other animals and the park is massive. we spent an extra hour circling the areas they knew the rhino were likely to be until we got lucky and spotted this fellow, just about 20 feet away. we knew it was a big deal because even the guides were taking cell phone pictures to show their kids.

it was amazing to see up close - its massive horns (i suppose all the ones i'd seen before were worn down) and tapir-like mouth seemed positively prehistoric.

after we had stopped for a picnic lunch in the park we spotted this lone elephant taking a break himself for a bath.

i do love the shape of these stately acacias.

we spotted our first hartebeests running past a fittingly heart-shaped tree. it's amazing that, for as many animals as we had already seen, we still managed to see new animals. our guides could easily identify every bird we saw, even though thousands are native to the area.

finally we spotted a family of lions! this mother was licking her cubs after a brief rain shower.

i guess tough love means growling at your cubs sometimes.

these two were tugging at a stick. we probably could've sat here all day watching them wrestle and tumble over each other.

we stopped along the mara river and spotted this cute little guy amidst a tree of thorns. our guides immediately identified it as a little bee-eater.

a number of crocodiles were poised all along the river bank, mouths open wide.

although i couldn't get a closer shot, i think my favorite bird here was the lilac-breasted roller. how gorgeous are those colors?

after another very long day of riding we were approaching the camp as my mom spotted a giraffe bending down to drink. it's an odd sight, and one can see why the giraffe is so hesitant to put himself in this position.

the next morning we decided to get up early for one last morning drive before our flight. the drive was largely uneventful at first. and by that i mean we saw an extraordinary amount of animals but nothing we hadn't seen before. what we did stumble across was another wildebeest crossing, this time over a river and into the sunset.

we sat and watched for more than ten minutes. there must have been thousands of wildebeests, it seemed like a never-ending parade of them.

while the crowd was mostly wildebeests there were a few topis and zebras who crossed among the crowd.

we saw quite a few of these thompson's gazelles, the smallest of the african antelopes. we even saw a couple of tiny ones hopping up and down (apparently the term is 'pronking') like they're on a spring. it was one of the cutest things i've ever seen.. that wasn't on youtube.

this odd one is called a secretary bird because of its coloring that makes it look like it has black pants and a white top.

somehow our guide spotted this pair of lizards on a rock. (see the gray lizard behind?) of course the male gets the pretty colors.

this little guy, with legs like tent poles, is called the saddle billed stork. i think its whole bill looks like it's made of clay.

i could go on with a picture of each of the dozens of birds and mammals we saw (we actually had a checklist to reference) but i think i'll suffice it to say that our safaris in these two camps far surpassed our wildest expectations. we hoped we'd be lucky enough to see some elephants and lions. we truly didn't imagine we'd be so close to such a vast variety of wildlife. the only downside i can think of to a trip like this.. it may have ruined me for zoos.