SAFARI in the Masai Mara...Another Dream Come True!!!

As most of you already knew, part of my dream of coming to Africa most certainly included me on an African Safari…well, another dream came true! I just returned back to Malawi after a safari in the middle of the Masai Mara in Kenya. WOW!!! There really are no words to accurately describe this experience. I can put it best by saying…I’ve never felt so ALIVE in my 23 years of living. You all know that feeling—when your heart pounds rapidly out of your chest, your butterflies fly rampantly around in your belly, your blood zooms hurriedly through your veins, and your thoughts spin wildly out of control… Now, take the feeling you know inside of you and multiply it by 1,000, and you might just begin to get a slight idea…

There is something about seeing your first lion in the wild that brings this feeling rushing over you! The first time I saw a lion, we were able to drive up to about 4 feet from the King and 2 queens of the jungle, who were all sleeping due to a recent feast on their proudly slain zebra (also only a couple of feet away from me). I watched them sleeping for quite some time, then they woke up, stared straight into my eyes for what seemed like days, then came walking slowly to my car. Can you say petrified??? Wow!!!

I saw everything up close—from zebras, giraffes, and hippos…to hyenas, lions, and cheetahs…to jackals, elands, and topi…to mongeese, wart hogs, and meer cats…to baboons, crocodiles, and wildebeest…and so many more wonderful species of Africa. I was also extremely fortunate to be in the Mara at the time of the great migration…thousands of wildebeest and zebra moving north because of the rains…the 8^th wonder of the world. I was even luckier to see the migration crossing the Masai Mara River, dodging the teeth of crocodiles and hippos. National Geographic, Animal Planet material times 500!

I stayed at a wonderful camp (Serian Camp) right over the Masai Mara River, where the hippos like to bath during the day. Then at night, the hippos retreat on land into the bushes. Needless to say, I could hear the hippos snorting all through the night as they walked past my tent into the bushes. Another completely petrifying moment was when a lion (or leopard, we’re not quite sure) walked right past my tent, and decided to purr, grumble, and give a slight roar right into my delicate canvass tent. Holy moly!!! Fortunately, my Masai guard (armed with a machete and a spear) was hiding out in my outdoor bathroom just in case. Ha ha ha!!! WHOA!!! Hearing the grumbles and watching the silhouette move slowly past my tent now constitutes the coolest 3 minutes of my life!

One of my favorite parts of my safari was visiting a nearby traditional Masai village. For those of you who have never been to Africa, the images in your mind of what you think Africa and its people look like is typified in these Masai villages—brightly colored cloths for clothing, bright and elaborate beaded jewelry/headwear, singing, dancing, jumping, feathered crowds for the village chief, and spears for protecting the village against the evils of the lion, leopard, and the like. The bright colors are amazing, the Masai people’s bone structures are incredible, the jewelry is so cool…all in all, the Masai people are the most BEAUTIFUL people I have ever seen in my life!!!

Wow! Am I dreaming? Somebody wake me up please…