Young < 3 Digby

We have been in the Masai Mara (the Mara for short) for the past two nights, and I have to say it has been simply amazing. I have talked to some people who claim they are disappointed by the place, but I’m not sure where they went. We have seen all manner of animals, from the plentiful impalas, drogbies, wilderbeast, and zebras to the more elusive giraffes, water buffalo, ilands, rhino, and hippos. We have even had the incredible luck to see a cheetah in the rain, a herd of thirteen elephants, and a group of three young male lions guarding their recent kill (a water buffalo) from jackals and hyenas. Some may call Yellowstone the Serengeti of America, and while Yellowstone is captivating, I am going to draw my line in the sand and say it doesn’t hold a candle in terms of wildlife to the real thing. (The Serengeti and the Mara are actually connected and part of the same overall habitat. Only the nations within which they lie are different – the Serengeti is in Tanzania, and the Mara is in Kenya.)

Even without all the big game though, I am still in love. The landscape is simply stunning. Vast grassland plains, colored a deep green after recent rains, are dotted with acacia trees. In the evening, their silhouette against the setting sun is iconic – the stuff of postcards. The foothills are bushy and rocky, more temperate jungle than savannah, and the watering holes and rivers offer yet another feel. During our three days there, vast and powerful thunderstorms would fly across the open plains, thoroughly drenching the land for a few minutes before moving on. On our second day there, we were working on our computers while waiting to go to lunch and got caught as a huge storm moved in, sending a downpour onto the camp for a good 15 minutes. Then it was gone, and the sun was once again out flirting with the remaining, and less threatening clouds.

The nighttime in the Mara was equally stunning. We cajoled our driver, Mwau, into taking us out at night to search for some hippos. The Fairmont security captain, Chacha, joined us with his high-powered rifle and flood light – apparently no cars are allowed to go on night safari without armed protection. When we got out there, we found the hippos, saw a genet cat, and saw an aardvark. The entire vehicle went silent as we watched it attack a termite mound for minutes, before disappearing into it. Truth be told, we were not even aware of how lucky we were to have seen the aardvark - both Mwau and Chacha mentioned how rare it was and said they had never before seen it in real life, but it was only in the morning when Chacha sought us out that we realized how lucky we actually were. I guess Chacha had immediately called his parents to tell them of the sighting, and they didn’t believe him, so he was intent on getting pictures from us. I think maybe my favorite part of the night safari though was when I asked Mwau to stop the truck, turn off the engines and just let us listen to the night and stare at the sky for five minutes. I felt so incredibly refreshed and recharged – it was a peace and wonder that is not often found amongst people and in cities. One thought ran through my mind - everyone should be able to experience this at one point in their lives.

There were some things that made me sad. Our safari involved us off-roading through much of the park, and there were times when Mwau deliberately drove our truck up very close to animals, obviously disturbing their activities. The tracks left behind by multitudes of off-roading vehicles turn into ruts and informal roads. The Masai have villages around most major tourist camps and sell “visits” to their camps to tourists. I’m not sure what this does for their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but my gut tells me it can’t be good. Yet on the whole, it was a really amazing experience. I always dreamed of going on safari, but surprisingly, the safari exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. It is not one I will soon forget.

PS: Digby’s are a crazy cute, monogamous, little deer-like animals that Young and his eagle-eyes mistook for everything from a rabbit to an Impala.