Today was the start of a three day excursion that I knew would be an unforgettable experience - a trip to The Maasai Mara National Reserve, one of the best wildlife reserves in all of Africa. Almost any African animal you could image can be found there, how could we pass up the opportunity to go while we were in Kenya? We got up early to head out, it is about a 5-6 hour drive to get there from Nairobi. We finally arrived at around 3 pm and checked into our camp, the Manyatta Campsite. The accommodations were small, but comfortable, and perfect for our short stay.
After eating a quick lunch, we headed into the park to see some animals before the sun went down. Although we only had 2-3 hours left in the day, we quickly realized exactly how much we could see in that time. Immediately, we started seeing the animals. Zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles were the first few animals we saw.
We happened to be visiting during a great migration of the wildebeests from Maasai Mara, to the neighboring Serengetti National Park in Tanzania, as the two sit directly on the border between Kenya and Tanzania. There were so many wildebeests it is hard to imagine. Tens of thousands sprawled across single fields, all mooing and running around, some in a perfect line. If you look in the photo above, and you see black dots in the background, you may be shocked to learn that those are all all wildebeests.
We learned many interesting fun facts from our driver, David. Apparently, the male gazelles will fight other male gazelles (those with antlers) for the right to all of their female gazelles. The winner stays with the females, while the loser stays with all other gazelles who lost, referred to as "the bachelors" (See below).
Then we started to see even more as the giraffes came into view, their towering might leaving a huge impression.
And then off in the distance, some ostriches, their heads in the ground as they ate.
Then at some point, Jen yells out that she sees an elephant! It took us a while to see it, but there it was, off in the distance!
This is not even to mention the incredible landscape of the Maasai Mara - the environment is nature at its most beautiful. The tall, yellow grass, the lone trees and bushes in the distance, the tall hills and mountains in the distance, it has to be seen to be believed.
With just two hours, Maasai Mara had already left such a large impression on us, and we had an amazing time.
After our first excursion, we returned to the campsite, ready to sleep and wake up early the next day for a full day safari!