We arrive at the lodge, Mara Hippo Tented Camp, around 4pm. It's a nice lodge on the edge of the Mara entrance. It has the works: pool, bar, resturant, tents, cabins, stone lodges. Only things it's missing are, people. The place is pretty empty, but no worries because we're not staying here anyway. This is where Bobbi and Aziz are staying and this is where we'll come for our meals. We are staying in the campsite down the road.
But no time to see the campsite now, its 4:30pm and it's time to see some animals! George, the driver/guide, has raised the roof on the van so we can stand up and get a better veiw of the animals as we drive along. As we head away from the lodge we see a memorial plaque for a British guy who was killed by an elephant a few years ago. Apparently he decided to go for an early morning walk and was within 100 meters of the lodge when the elephant attacked. Moral of this story: Don't piss off elephants - they're bigger than you.
When you get to the entrance of the Masai Mara, its a little like entering into Jurassic Park. It has that enormous feel to it and as soon as we drive through the gates there are a herd of zebras and beyond them there are miles and miles of open fields and hills. It's Beautiful.
As we start our drive into the open fields we see gazelles and wildebeest. George then spots an eagle at the top of a Sausage tree. The fruit that hangs from the tree does indeed look like sausages. They use this plant to make a tribal beer.
We've stopped to take pictures of the eagle and suddenly we notice something much more interesting ... a LION!!!
A full maned adult lion is lying under the tree having his dinner. He's gnawing on a wildebeest. What a sight! A wild lion eating its prey. George tells us that the lionesses would have killed the wildebeest that morning but that the lion gets to eat first (as he is the king) then the lioneses get the leftovers. Typical, the women do all the work and have to settle for the remains.
We move on from the lion after 20 min. and 200 photos. As we drive, we come across a lioness and her cubs. Little simbas. They're adorable, cuddley, little creatures. They're playing in the branches of a low tree while their mother rests. The lioness is breathing really hard. George says it's because their hearts are too small for their bodies so they have to lounge around and breathe hard to stay cool. We stay there long enough to watch the cubs climb out of the tree and go to their mother to feed.
We finish off the drive by seeing a few buffalo and giraffes walking around. It's 6:30pm and the sun is just setting over the horizon.
