Kenya is known as one of the best places in the world to go on a safari to see animals. Safari is a Kiswahili word and in English it means journey or trip. Many years ago, people would go on a safari to hunt animals as a leisure activity or to sell the animal body parts. The places where the hunting took place were called Game Reserves. Some locals killed animals, such as elephants and rhinos, predominantly to remove their horns and sell them for medicinal purposes or as ornaments. After 1960’s this practice became illegal. Nowadays, poachers can spend up to 10 years in jail if they get caught killing an animal.
My sister and I went on safari to Maasai Mara National Park, to treat ourselves for both our birthdays last month. This is the most popular park to go on a safari in Kenya. It’s about 3-4hours on road from Nairobi city. The road is mostly bumpy and dirty, making it a long and tiring trip, but the trembling is all worth once you get there.
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| Maasai Mara landscape |
This four day safari tour was recommended to us by our local volunteer organization in Kenya (Network for Voluntary Services). The tour guides/drivers were locals with lots of knowledge about the animals and Kenya in general. They formed a funny pair called Michael & Jackson. They were hilarious and we highly enjoyed spending time with them. They drove us on a 4x4 van, which was not a fancy vehicle but did the job. In fact, we saw only a few tourists in posh 4x4 vehicles. The ceilings of these vans can be lifted for a better view of the animals.
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| Clau with Tour Guides Michael & Jackson |
ZEBRAS
The very first animals we saw as soon as we arrive at Maasai Mara were the zebras. We saw so many of them! It was fascinating! The interesting as well as sad fact about the zebras is that the male will often kill the cubs in the female’s womb, during matting, if they are not his cubs. The males can smell when the cubs/babies are not their own. This act is carried out this to keep their own genes in the herd.
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| Curious Zebras |
THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION
During September, we were able to witness the wildebeest migration, where 1.5 million of these animals embark on an epic trek out of the Serengeti Park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya. This extraordinary journey happens from July to October every year, which are the best months to go on a safari. Predators that depend on the wildebeest for food follow them and the result is a concentration of wilidlife unequalled to any other part of Africa.
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| Wildebeests |
THE “BIG FIVE”
My sister and I saw pretty much all the wildlife species in this park, including the “Big Five”, which are the biggest animal attractions in a safari. These animals include the buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino. They were given this name as in the past they were the hardest and most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. Many people got killed hunting them, mostly locals with primitive weapons, such as spears. The only animal we were not able to see was the hyena, because they usually hide during the day and come out during the night.
BUFFALO
A myth about buffalos is that they will charge after a person with a red piece of cloth, like the bullfighters in Spain. We were told that buffalos cannot see colours and they will charge after a human being if they get teased. When it happens, the way to save your skin is to drop any piece of your cloth on the ground and keep running for your life. Most often, the buffalo will stop to smell your cloth and momentarily forget about you. J
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| Buffalo |
ELEPHANT
When we asked our tour guide Michael if he ever had any incident with an animal, he told us take he was charged by a female elephant. This happened on his early days as an inexperienced guide, when he got too close to the female’s elephant curb. He said that he has now learnt his lesson and never get near the babies.
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| Elephant curb happily with its Mother |
LEOPARD
The only feline which can climb a tree. After they kill their pray, they will usually place their dead body on the top of a tree to stop other animals from eating their food.
LION
A remarkable fact about lions is that during matting season they can mate 25 times per day, but it lasts around 8-12 seconds. Generally, they eat 55 kilos of meat per day. Male lions, like male zebras, also kill other male cubs. They live between 12-15 years and the females around 18 years.
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| Lion crossing peacefully between the vans |
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| Lion walking slowly after a good feed |
RHINO
There are two types of rhinos in Kenya: the white and the black rhino. The last one is an endangered species, due to excessive poaching (illegal killing). These massive animals feed only on grass, like the hippos. They weight around 3000 kg. Their biggest predators are human beings, who kill these gigantic beasts to remove and sell their horns in the black market. The rhino horn can be worth more than gold in Africa. Sadly, some national parks in South Africa are removing the rhinos’ horns as soon as they are born, to stop illegal hunters from killing these animals.
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| White Rhinos |
CHEETAH
My favourite creature though was the Cheetah, which is the fastest animal in the world, reaching 110kms per hour. There is something beautiful about these felines’ posture and their confident look, which is so attractive.
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| Cheetah hiding in the bush from the heat |
HIPPO
My second favourite creatures were the hippos. This was the very first time I saw hippos on the wild and it was such an impressive sight. It was interesting to learn that despite of their huge size they are vegetarians, feeding largely on grass. They spent most part of the day in the water, getting out at night to eat. Another curious fact is that they will only kill human beings who cross their demarked territory, leaving their bodies behind (they don’t eat them).
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| Hippos bathing at Mara River |
VERVERT MONKEY
This monkey with fluorescent ‘blue balls’ was ‘THE SHOT’ of the Safari. There is no trick on this photo, the colour is real! There was not a single person, who would see this photo and not have a good laugh. There were loads of these monkeys around the campsite, where we stopped for lunch. Nedless to say that they were there to help themselves with the leftover food.
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| Ververt monkey |
MANYATTA CAMP
The accommodation at Manyatta Lodge was outstanding. We stayed in permanent tents, where we could enjoy a nice ‘warm’ shower with proper running water. It was such a treat after spending some weeks having ‘bucket shower’ in our host family house. J
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| Eating Area |
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| Permanent tents |
During these four days, we also had a chance to bond with other volunteers and meet with some nice tourists. We had a diverse group in our van with volunteers from Italy, Australia, Malaysia and Brazil, of course.
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