Masai Mara

Well what can I say about the Massai Mara - it is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen... a 6 hour drive on TERRIBLE roads, through Kenya to the Massai Mara...a nature/game reserve where Elephants, Lions, Hippos, Giraffes, Black Rhinos, Zebra etc have made their home...

Let me start at the beginning.  We headed to the Massai Mara on Monday morning after stocking up on essentials - water, toilet roll and snacks!! 6 hours later, after meeting up with 6 other people, the 8 of us were driving through the Massai Mara, surrounded by Wilderbeast - who have just started their migration from Tanzania...  We were staying in a campsite, beside a Masai village, with Baboons running around everywhere. Apparently they are 'theives' so we had to keep our passports etc. close to hand!

Africa gets very dark, very quick... and by 6.30pm we needed our night-lights/torches and the mozzie spray  (only 5 bites so far.. not too bad)...

Day 2 - up at 6.30am and off we went (with sandwiches... because we are avoiding uncooked food we are living on banana / jam sandwiches for lunch...!) - after seeing Lions, lioness with 5 cubs, vultures etc.. our truck (an 1982 French Army truck) got wedged into the mud... so the 8 of us got out of the truck and for 3 hours Eoin, Ken (another guy), the driver and our Masai 'animal tracker' were digging out mud.  Our job was to 'watch out for something that looks like a cat but much much bigger... if you see one run into the truck and let us know'!  Three hours later, our driver's ego completely bruised... we were rescued by another tour truck...and our driver had to come back with a tracker to pull the truck out...

Day 3 - up at 6am and off again, spend the morning and evening in the Masai Mara and went off to a Masai village in the afternoon... was very interesting to chat with Masai people - did you know they have many wives and 1 wife is worth 7 cows!!!!!  and then.. the new wife has to build her own house... man oh man!!!  However, apart from the small chat it was really a money-making racket for tourists.. felt quite false and then there was sell, sell, sell, they were trying to get us to buy everything.. from a lion's claw to plates to stools... I understand they have such little money and so need to be a 'tourist' attraction... but it still leaves a sour taste...

Day 4 - up at 6am for a final game drive.  Saw 4 out of the Big Five - Elephants, Black Rhino, Buffalo, Lion - didn't see the Leopard... but we did see the Wilderbeast migration and wow oh wow.... !  Then 6 hours back on the truck back to Nairobi...

An amazing experience, fantastic people, beautiful animals, amazing sun-rises/sun-sets and worth every penny and bump in the road!

Joining up with the truck tomorrow (sat) to head towards Kampala (Uganda) so will be in touch from there... (around 12-13 July) if I can...

Africa is Hot!

Hot! Hot! Hot!! that is how we are both feeling at the moment... very hot!

SO, rumours that Nairobi is 'nairobbery' seem unfair and untrue.  We spent the day in the city centre, having walked the 40 minutes from the backpackers. Friendly people, lots of music and fun... Sunday is very religious - woke up to sounds of 'happy clappy' music from the 4 churches surrounding us.. nice and cheerful... went into town into the markets.. bought some little bits - Eoin was a whiz at bargaining... (we think..though we still got ripped off... ) all part of the experience.. Walked through a massive park off the main street - Kenyatta avenue - full of kids with their face painted and bouncing castles.. it was our turn to be stared at  - little kids couldn't get over the fact that we were white and their little heads were turning with huge eyes, staring at us.

Off on the Massai Mara tomorrow until Thursday evening so wlll be back in touch then ...

Arrival in Nairobi - 1 July

Hi there, updating you all from the Wilderbeast Backpackers in Nairobi, Kenya...

We had a great adventure getting here... up at 3.30am to Dublin airport where we were seated in the emergency exit seats (nice for legs!!) and then, from Heathrow to Nairobi we were in 'middle/business' class - what is going on?!?!?!?!?!?  We are not complaining though felt a little like fraudsters.. but we could get used to it...  (well, Eoin was lapping it up!!)..

Arrived in Nairobi at 9pm local time (7pm in Ireland) and had to go through immigration.  So...two hours later ...  we got to the top of the queue and got our stamps...and to our relief our wonderful taxi driver, Livingstone, was waiting for us...

So day 1 - we got here, we haven't even seen a mozzie... though there is a tortoise wandering around the garden..we have sampled the local beer and are now off exploring...

Few last bits and pieces and then we are off!

Well, here we are, Thursday evening, all set and ready to go.  Up at 3am to get to the airport for our 6.40am flight to Heathrow and then we fly off to Kenya, arriving at our backpackers in Nairobi at 10pm, just in time to miss the mozzies and settle in...

Sarah is very kindly cat/house sitting (she has promised the cat will be both fat and smiling upon our return!!)...

Ok folks, outta here.... Next posting from Kenya xx

Pre-Africa still....

Ok, trying to get this blogging business sorted so excuse me while I type.....

bags packed - check
Mozzie spray - check
Passports, useful bits of paper in bag - check

Waiting for the flight.... :)

Getting Ready...

Getting ready to go to Africa on our overland adventure - lions, tigers and bears...oh my....
first stop Nairobi, arriving Friday 1 July, 9pm...