The Maasai Mara

Long overdue but here you have it!

Leaving Mutara Camp was hard as it had really felt like home, and we had a real family there. However, we knew we had adventure ahead of us, and we had to move on. The drive to the airport was on some very rocky and uneven roads. I feel like no one talks about how rough some of the roads are in the African bush, so I will just come out and say it can be very uncomfortable. After about an hour on the rough roads, we got to tarmac and enjoyed the comfort of what I would call a normal road. My group was lucky enough to have secured a full plane with a direct route straight to the Mara. It was one of those flight routes that just worked well for all parties involved and a plane was needed in the Mara, and we were the ones who could get it there. Our flight was taking off from a sister resort‘s private airstrip near Mount Kenya. We arrived to the airstrip as our plane landed on the runway. We all used the facilities and boarded the tiny propeller plane. Abi and I were lucky enough to secure the seat directly behind the pilots so we could really see everything that was going on in their world. The flight was under an hour; quick and easy. From where I was seated, I was able to spot the runway from a good distance. I was struck by the thought of “what does one do if there are safari animals on the runway?”, and I got the answer to that a few days later, but for now, the landing was successful and uneventful. As we taxied closer to the end of the dirt runway, I noticed our trucks awaiting us and a small hut where souvenirs and gifts were being sold by the local Maasai people. We hopped off the plane, said “asante sana” to the pilots, collected our bags, and headed towards the cars where we met our drivers for the next couple of days. Abi and I picked Reuben who proved to be a great guy and taught us some valuable Swahili over the next 2 days. We weren’t allowed to visit the Maasai shop as we were on a tight schedule, so we threw ourselves and our stuff into the Land Cruiser and were off. Within 2 minutes of driving down the dirt road, we spotted a giant group of giraffes (a group of giraffes is called a tower when they’re stationary and feeding in a tree or a journey if they’re on the move). There must have been 10 or more which was the biggest group we had seen at one time yet. Reuben told us that these were Maasai giraffes which we hadn’t seen yet. They were stunning. Their patterns were unlike anything I had seen before; totally irregular but incredible. They were instant favorites for us all. Minutes later, we pulled over and got out of the car along the bank of a river. Our guides escorted us to the edge of the water where we looked across the river and saw at least 50+ hippos sunning themselves. I think Abi counted 64 total hippos. Seeing them was exhilarating since they were huge, in such a large number, and are Africa’s 2nd deadliest animal after only mosquitoes, and I don’t know if that actually counts. Hippos kill like 550 people a year! That’s beyond terrifying and the manner in which they often kill is even worse…

After watching them for a few minutes, we continued on our way to the hotel. 5 minutes later, we pulled up to the gate that acts as a secure barrier between the hotel and the wildlife on the outside. For this leg of the trip, we were staying at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club right on the banks of the Mara River. It was an amazing setting right in the heart of it all. From the deck, you could watch crocodiles and hippos on the river. As we arrived, we were greeted by a traditional Maasai welcome dance performed by some locals. It was both awesome and intimidating but sounded great. The sounds and harmonies they can produce with their voices is beautiful. I was truly in awe of them. We noticed a nearby gift shop, and I learned on this trip to never turn down such opportunities as you never know what you might find. We actually did pick up a few items that were handmade by locals. I am still wearing my Kenyan flag bracelet on my right wrist to this very day.

We got checked in, met the manager, and learned the rules of the property. The biggest rule? Keep your tent’s front door zipped completely at all times, or the monkeys WILL try to get inside your tent. Apparently, it’s happened countless times because they reiterated themselves countless times and various staff members would bring it up to me again and again. After seeing how many monkeys lived on the property, I understood them completely (and later on that night when I heard monkeys on the roof of my tent playing for hours, I understood even more).

We were given a page with various hotel services and excursions that were available for purchase. Abi freaked out right away, and I soon saw why. The hotel had super adventurous activities for guests. The one that jumped out to me most right away was the night game drive, which is the same as a day game drive except you see all the animals that sleep during the day, so it would be like another world. But then Abi asked me if I had seen one yet, and I gasped! They offered an adventure through the Mara on bikes! It said it would be like 10 km and groups had to be at least two people. We were two people! I begged her to go, but it turns out I didn’t need to bet since she was very, very keen to go on the bike ride too. I mean we hadn’t exercised in awhile, we both love cycling, and what a unique way to see animals and the Maasai Mara. We decided that we would book it right away and go ASAP. The hotel coordinators asked if we could be ready in 15 minutes. We hadn’t even stepped foot in our rooms yet, but we said yes immediately. So we raced to put our stuff in our room and changed into our sportiest clothing. And we were off!

We met our bike guide in front of the hotel. It turns out that it would just be the 3 of us riding bikes through the bush with no real protection. I was really going to be trusting that this man knew where the dangerous animals were and weren’t. We got our tires pumped up and seats adjusted and were ready to go. Our leader raced off ahead of us in true Kenyan racing fashion. We did our best to catch up with him, stay with him, keep an eye on the terrain of the road, and drink in the amazing views. We had mountain bikes which turned out to be excellent since the roads and grasses provided a very unstable and inconsistent surface to ride on. I must have had a smile on my face from ear-to-ear because I remember thinking “Wow, this is incredible. I am smiling really big”. We hopped off the gravel road and onto a grass path where we spotted a dazzle of zebras and a confusion of wildebeests right away which was insanely cool. Here I was on a bike in Africa riding next to these incredible wild animals.

Truly surreal. This grass path was really nice and had some nice rolling hills. It took us into a very small collection of houses where we waved at locals from our bikes as we rolled on past. We eventually looped our way around and found ourselves back at the airstrip we had landed on just a short while earlier. We even rode directly on the airstrip! We stopped at the gift shop we had seen earlier that was being run by some locals. Abi and I picked up a few gifts for others and ourselves. I got a rhino necklace that apparently was good luck. I am sure he’s never used that line to close a sale before… But it turns out that maybe there was some truth to it. Not even 5 minutes after putting it on for the first time, we are riding on a dirt road heading back to the camp when we are passed by a man on a motorcycle. He zooms off, and then we see a bunch of action to the right of him. I guess maybe his motorcycle had startled them or something, but a big group of 12 giraffes was sprinting parallel to the road we were on. I said to our guide “we have to speed up and catch them” to which he smiled and nodded his head. We all started pedaling faster, and we drew nearer to them. We caught up with them once they had stopped sprinting, and they just stared at us as we rolled on by. They had to be wondering what these things were. We were right in the shadows of these super tall creatures in what I can only describe as a moment you will simply never forget. The rest of the ride was a bit uneventful after that, but it was easily one of the best activities I’ve ever done. Definitely the best bike ride!

After that rush, we had lunch and rested for a bit and watched the hippos and crocodiles on the river. Before we knew it, it was time for the afternoon game drive. We saw some lions resting after feasting on a zebra but didn’t see the actual kill. Some hyenas were circling nearby patiently awaiting their chance to get a nibble on what remained of the formerly striped animal. It was gruesome to witness but very cool. It was nature in its most primal form.

We made our way back to the hotel and had dinner. We had to be efficient since we were also going on the nighttime game drive under the cloak of full darkness.

It was about 8pm, and it was time to get nocturnal. We were joined in the vehicle by Reuben and another man who was to operate the spotlight. The success of our entire game drive was in the hands of this man and his spotlight. Unfortunately for us, he either was brand new at this, just had an overall shaky hand, or was actually scared of seeing some wild animal because he wasn’t very good at scanning and pointing out animals. Multiple times I thought I saw something, but he went right past them with his spotlight. Even with his less than stellar performance, we saw tons of awesome nocturnal wildlife. We saw an aardvark which Reuben said was very good luck. Even Peter said he hadn’t seen an aardvark in four years when we told him later on. We saw lots of hippos on land, which was very scary to me, a special rabbit which Reuben called the “African kangaroo” for the way it hopped around, quite a few giraffes, and an injured zebra with a limp all by itself. The injured zebra made Abi very sad since she feared for its life. All in all, it was a wild experience to see the Mara by night. We didn’t see any big predators as the sneaky leopard still eluded us. But we still had high hopes that we would see one before our time in Africa was through.

The next morning was more or less normal for us. We had breakfast and hit the Mara. We saw a cheetah lounging in the tall grass, but I couldn’t really get a good view of it due to other safari vehicles being in the way and the grass provided a natural camouflage for the cat. I was shocked someone had spotted it in the first place. We saw our usual assortment of fun creatures and headed back to the hotel. No cycling for us this afternoon sadly.

Peter told us he had something special planned for the afternoon, but he refused to tell us any details. All he said was to be sure that we wore good shoes for walking. This frankly terrified the lot of us since that clearly meant we weren’t going to be behind the protection of a large vehicle.

We drove for about 20 minutes towards a mountain, and I was getting flashbacks of our brutal hikes in Rwanda. I was really hoping this wasn’t going to be too treacherous. We parked the vehicles near a small building where a few men were standing with large guns. It turns out that the Mara is home to 2 white rhinos that are under 24-hour protection by armed guards. They’ve created a sanctuary for these rhinos where they can graze freely and not have to worry about poachers. It’s a special place for another reason too: you can get closer to these rhinos here on-foot than anywhere else. No fences or anything to separate you from these massive creatures. Just you on foot and them walking around eating their vegetation. It was insane how close we were, but they didn’t seem to mind our presence at all. They just went about their feeding. It’s hard to articulate how colossal these beasts are in person when it’s just you standing there next to them. I was in awe and so grateful that they have a place where they can thrive without fear of poaching. Hopefully with more conservation efforts like this, people will be able to enjoy rhinos for generations to come.

After the rhino sanctuary, it was once again time to find the sly leopard. We were cruising around searching all the trees for these big cats lounging about. After riding around with my head out the popped-up roof for awhile and seeing absolutely nothing, I finally spotted something unusual. I saw a big plume of smoke. We got closer and saw there was also a campfire and some tables. There was even a few vehicles. What was this? It turns out we weren’t searching for leopards at all. It was just another one of Peter’s surprises. We were going to be having some sundowners (cocktails at sundown) around the campfire. We were anything but upset by this, but we did feel slightly misled! It was pure bliss enjoying a Tusker beer around the fire while the sun went down. There was also lightning in the distance which only added to the mystique of our situation. We shared funny stories of vacations past with one another and all enjoyed a hearty laugh or two. We wrapped up our drinks and headed back to camp.

Upon walking in, we were greeted with a loud commotion. The local Maasai villagers were back in the main area and performing some traditional dances, singing, and a jumping competition. I have no clue how or why, but the main villager grabbed me, shoved some fancy beaded stick in my hand, and made me dance and sing with him. Next thing I know, I am in the center of circle of 50+ people and jumping as high as I can with another villager. My minuscule jumps must have made him look like an NBA all-star, but I won’t forget the rush of that moment. During this trip, I tried to do things that made me uncomfortable to grow as a person. This was definitely one of those moments of uncomfortable growth, but a lasting memory was made for sure. Abi, laughing hysterically, grabbed me after I jumped out of the circle. She asked how I had gotten in there, and I said I had the same question too!

We had a drink with our group mates and headed towards the dining room to be seated. They asked us to follow them, and we thought this was a little odd, but we complied. We were led to gazebo area by a huge bonfire with a private chef by a grill. It turns out that the camp wanted to do something special for our honeymoon and planned a private dinner experience on the bank of the river. It was incredible. Multiple camp employees stopped by our table to say hello and congratulate us. The food was fresh and delicious. Another incredible memory created in the Mara.

After dinner, I headed to the one room in the whole place that had a television. West Ham was playing against Liverpool, and I had to watch. We were getting up very early the next morning for our hot air balloon excursion, so Abi politely excused herself and went to bed. My match ended around midnight and resulted in a 1-0 loss for the Hammers. Still a good time watching my team while abroad in Kenya.

After getting back to the tent, I was getting prepared for bed when I heard an unusual noise. I had heard all kinds of wild animals, but this one was different. It wasn’t any animal. It was human. Or rather humans clearly very in love with each other in a nearby tent. I laughed to myself in disbelief that I was hearing this. I went to bed.

The alarm clock went off early the next morning. We grabbed a light breakfast and were out the hotel door by 4:45am. Our drive to the hot air balloon was rocky and pitch black. After about an hour, a large shape emerged from the darkness. It was our hot air balloon being inflated with air and heat. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous at this point. I had never been in a hot air balloon and didn’t know what to expect or how safe these things are. We sat down and waited about 15 minutes while final preparations were made. We were ushered over towards the large wicker basket and told to hop in. The basket was divided into four quadrants separated by a central cockpit. We got in this basket that rested on its side and were in a position that I can only describe as like a space shuttle launch. You know in all those space movies where they’re sitting in the space shuttle right before it launches and their backs are parallel to the ground? Yeah, that’s how we were sitting in this hot air balloon basket. At this point, I was full-blown panicking but really trying to not let it show. What have I gotten myself into? This is terrifying. Everyone else got seated into the basket, and we were instructed to hold on as they tipped the basket over so it would be ready for takeoff. It was gently rocked onto its bottom and we were now in a position I was much more comfortable in. We were surrounded on all sides by workers attending to the basket and balloon as we were mere seconds from takeoff. The pilot was a Turkish man named Serkan who had quite the personality. He was pulling the handle that shot huge flames into the balloon to fill it with hot air. He got his tanks of propane all situated and got his cameras and iPad ready for launch. He counted us down, and we left the ground. There was zero turning back now. We were airborne. Immediately upon leaving the planet I have grown so fondly of, I realized that this was extremely peaceful. A quiet, silent serenity like I had never experienced. Since you’re moving with the wind, it’s absolutely dead silent. The silence was only broken by people chatting, saying "ooh" and "ahh", and the roar of the engine shooting giant pillars of fire into the balloon to give us lift. The sun was now peaking over the horizon and painting the Mara in brilliant golden hues. If I had to relive one moment of my life forever, it would be that one without a doubt. Floating over the bush with my new wife. It doesn’t get any better than that.

There was so much to look at and drink in that I felt overwhelmed, but at the same time, totally at peace. We were flying over scores of wild animals as Serkan commentated our journey over the plains. The thing about hot air balloons is that they’re pretty much unpredictable. You can go up and down, but you can’t choose where you want to go. The wind takes you on a journey that is being decided in the moment. We floated around for an hour guided by this Turkish man I had just met and had the time of our lives. He mentioned that the only rough thing about balloons is the landing, but due to his nature, I thought he was just kidding. I had never heard anything about hot air balloon landings, so I didn’t know what to expect. He said that we were nearing the conclusion of our trip, so we needed to put away all our loose belongings. We weren’t allowed to have anything around our neck since it would smack us in the face upon landing. I literally laughed and said this guy is hilarious. I put everything away and sat down in our original positions again as we braced for this rough landing. Serkan turned on “The Final Countdown” by Europe which got a big cheer and laugh from all parties onboard. By this time, I was realizing that I had no knowledge whatsoever of balloons. I had thought that balloons landed like a helicopter and just hovered slowly to the earth. I was now realizing that you come in sideways like an airplane, and the basket doesn’t have wheels. I was now realizing we were going to drag ourselves to a halt, and now I was realizing Serkan was right all along, and I needed to get ready. Serkan screamed “get ready!”, and we struck the ground extremely hard. Before I had time to digest that first impact, he screamed “okay and now the second!”, and we hit the ground even harder than the first. “And number 3!” We hit the ground for the third, final, and hardest time. Abi’s hat had come off her head on the third impact, and we were giggling like schoolchildren. Serkan told no lies. Landing is rough business. We hopped out of the basket as it laid on its side again like how we first started. Everyone cheered and thanked Serkan for the flight of a lifetime. Now, we had breakfast in the bush. We got in the vehicles which pulled up shortly after our landing and were escorted to an area where a dining table was ready. There was a buffet table with an omelet station and even a proper toilet. We were greeted with the traditional song “Jambo Bwana” and a champagne toast. Unreal. We had breakfast in the middle of the bush with zebras just a short distance away. We met our fellow fliers and all bonded over the fact that everyone at the table also heard the lovers late last night in camp. It turns out everyone thought it was Abi and me since we were the honeymooners! The noise had gotten so unbearable for one of our fellow fliers that they called security, and security had come to our tent first before realizing we were dead asleep! They eventually found the source of the noise and somehow told them to keep it down. What a funny series of events!

After breakfast, we headed back to camp, grabbed our bags, and headed for the airstrip immediately. Our time in the Maasai Mara had been nonstop action from the moment we landed in this majestic land. The Serengeti awaited us now, and it had a lot to live up to after the time we had in the Mara!

I am sorry this update got so delayed, but I am good as my word. I will be finishing up the rest of our trip soon, so please stay tuned for the final updates, more videos and photos, and to see what Abi and I have planned next! Asante Sana! Kwaheri!