The day started at 6.30 with a quick breakfast and collecting our packed lunches. Then we ran the gauntlet of the Masai Mara curio touts at the gate to the park who are extremely persistent and even open your windows and thrust their wares at you. Rapidly though we were through and making our way across the plains to the river.
En-route we were treated to a Baboon community right next to the road, (they even put on an acrobatic display in the trees for our benefit J) and a leopard sleeping in a tree. We were the first to come upon a Cheetah sat on an ant hill surveying the area for game.
Shortly after that, we spotted our first hippo. They seem very cuddly, clumsy and lazy, but apparently they are one of the most dangerous and surprisingly fast? After crocs, more hippos, etc. plus the bonus of a herd of around 18 elephants crossing the river (including the little ones crossing with only their trunks visible as the water was too deep for them to be above the surface) a magical moment. We broke for lunch by and umbrella tree on the plains and ate whilst savouring the vast view of the National Park. We were also acutely aware that we had seen a lion less than 1km from where we sat.
On the way back we saw more animals then we took a track and got very stuck in some very deep mud. With an elephant 200m away we were trying to dig a 3 tonne 4x4 out! We were like coiled springs waiting to jump back into the car if it moved!! Luckily a couple of other 4 x 4’s saw one of us that was stood on the roof frantically waving at cars on the tracks in the distance.
A very large Land Rover with a couple of Masai in full garb eventually pulled us out. Embarrassingly for the driver, a Matatu style van then drove straight through the mud no problem!! On the way home we finally saw the missing member of the big 5 – a Rhino. Unfortunately we were one of the last cars to get there so there was the rather surreal experience of one of the rarest animals in the park virtually surrounded by what could have been mistaken for a paparazzi rush hour J. Fortunately that was a rare bit of congestion on our trip but on this occasion the beauty of the Masai Mara was slightly spoilt by the number of vehicles. George had done very well throughout the day to find us some very nice animals often where we were the only vehicle so we could not complain really.
Back to camp for another of Charles’ fine meals and to wind up George the driver for the mud incident!! Apparently it was to add to the drama and excitement of the safari and was deliberate?
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