Masai Mara - June 13, 2009

Evangeline after a Happy Nappy!

Jambo!
Today is Joe and mine's 28th wedding anniversary!!! Really wish he was here with me! This is the first time we have ever been apart on this special day. We did some texting - no calls. The reception is really poor when you get out of the city. Anna tried to call last night but couldn't get through.
Today was the same schedule: 6:30am 2 hour game drive, breakfast, nap or rest, lunch, nap or rest, 3:30 3 hour game drive, nap or rest, 8:30 dinner, glass of wine on the porch with Evangeline then off to bed with Mr. Hot Water Bottle. What a life!!!!
Our morning game drive was pretty uneventful. Letif tried so hard to find us some lions, leopards or cheetahs. He kept apologizing but we told him we were just thrilled to be driving around on Mara watching the sun come up and enjoying the spectacular scenery. We did see some mongoose, secretary bird and an eagle and of course herds of all the other animals. We told him there was no way he could top the lion drama we witnessed the day before!
On the afternoon drive we completed the Big Five - we went to see the Rhinos. The rangers keep them in a separate area because they are so highly prized for their horns and are very vulnerable to poachers. We saw one on the way in that had recently attacked a ranger's truck and he had had the tip of his horn clipped for this offense. The rhinos, elephants and cape Buffalo's are the most dangerous animals on the Mara. They have killed a lot of Masai.
At the ranger stations we actually got to get out of the truck and walk up to the an area where the rhinos were. They were pretty intimidating! I stuck real close to one of the rangers during the whole visit. We then hung out with a couple of orphaned eland who were very friendly. We actually got to pet them. They were so beautiful. On the way back we saw more elephants with babies, more Giraffes (Letif pointed out a couple of newlyweds necking), Impala, Cape Buffalo, Topi antelopes and lots of Dik Diks. Dik Diks are beautiful little animals that travel in pairs. They mate for life. If one of them dies the other will "commit suicide" if he or she does not have a baby or doesn't immediately find another mate. We also saw some warthogs. I love them! They are so ugly but so cute! Letif said they are called Pumba which is swahilli for stupid!
Tomorrow we go out for our last AM game drive then head back to Nairobi. Leah has invited me to stay and live with her. I told her I would love to but Joe may not like this!
Love,
Adina