Tuesday, July 8, 2008 – SAFARI!
Day 25 in Kenya
As Christie and I were getting ready to leave for safari, Madina knocked on the door, handed me a letter, and said, “Ann asked me to give this to you.” !!! It was so sweet and such a great surprise! Ann wrote me a letter before I left for safari! J It made my morning.
Kashu (pronounced “cashew”) picked us up, and we were on our way. We took the same route as when class 8 went to Naivasha. Christie and I were a little freaked out at times, but we have mostly laughed. We stopped at an escarpment to overlook the Rift Valley. Later, we stopped at a Maasai community market/ shop that had toilets and toilet paper! It was amazing. J The sellers wouldn’t bargain much, though, so we left. The last hour we spent driving on a super bumpy road. We wove through random dirt roads up hills until we ended up at a campsite in the middle of nowhere. We were comforted that Spurwing’s site was nearby. Seriously, there was no one here. The bar was empty. The only people here were a couple of Maasai guys in western clothes, Kashu (who isn’t explicit about plans), and us–two, single, young white women. Hmm. I think we were both freaking out at this point. But there was nothing we could do, and we had to have faith.
Our tent is called Simba. It’s actually really nice! We have two beds and a bathroom, complete with hot shower, sink, toilet, and toilet paper! Alleluia! And, p.s., the shower I took after dinner was one of the most comfortable, warmest, and loveliest showers ever. Mmm.
We had an awesome lunch at the site with Kashu. Then, Christie and I rested on our patio (so nice), playing cards, talking, and reading students’ compositions for the writing contest. We headed out for our evening game drive at 3:15. A Maasai friend of Kashu, David, joined us. The Mara is gorgeous and EXPANSIVE! We saw tons of zebra and gazelle, as well as elephants, lions, giraffes (even babies), topi, hartebeasts, wildebeasts, buffalo (or “boofalo,” as they call them), a hyena, ostriches in the distance, birds, and vultures. It was the perfect day for it!
We came back and had supper around 7:30 p.m. First, we sat around a campfire, chatted with Kashu, and looked at the most perfect star-studded night sky. Dinner was so delectable. The beef’s flavor was amazing. They even turned on music for us. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we got two wazungu neighbors! That makes us feel better. J Now we are showered and getting ready for an early-morning game drive.
Some of what I learned today:
- At around age 50, elephants go off by themselves, because they can no longer keep up with the pack. Elephants live to be about 60 or 65.
- Lions are best around age five or six. They live for about 14 years. One of the lions we saw had a giant gash on one of its hind legs.
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