Today was our first full day in Masai Mara National Park, and Daniel wanted to make sure that we took full advantage of our day.
Therefore, we got up around 5:30am (who ever said vacation was supposed to be restful?!?) so we could start our day in the park before sunrise. As the saying goes, "the early bird catches the first worm," and this was definitely true for us today. Because we made it in to the park very early in the morning, we were able to see some amazing animals before they napped away the hot late morning and afternoon.
Our drive started with your run-of-the mill antelopes and gazelles. Interesting, but not what we were hoping for. We were slowly driving along, looking at the sights and hoping to see animals when, all of a sudden, Daniel heard something on the radio, and took off like a bat out of hell. (All of the safari guides and drivers have radios installed in their vehicles, so they communicate with each other within the park to let them know when there is an animal sighting).
We saw a group of vehicles in the near distance, and arrived just in time to see a lion's butt disappearing in to the bush. Awesome. But have no fear. Daniel was committed to getting us a good look. Essentially we (and at least 8 or 9 other vehicles) followed the lions around, darting from one location to the next based on where the animals might go. This payed off, however, when we ended up with up-close and amazing views of a male and female lion who were (in Daniel's words) "honeymooning." We were even able to view this so-called "honeymooning," which was an interesting sight to see, to say the least.
After watching the lions for a while, we again headed off our separate directions to see what we could see. Not too far after, Mike and I were the first people in the park to spot a family of black rhinos. Daniel immediately tried to find a back road to get us closer to the rhinos, while at the same time getting on his radio and informing all of the other drivers that the rhinos had been spotted. (The rhinos were located near a type of tree called a sausage tree; therefore, as Daniel was talking on the radio, the only words were understood were "Roger, roger" and "sausage tree." We found it quite amusing...) Within a few minutes, there were at least 4 or 5 other vehicles watching the rhinos.
From here, we headed back out again and saw some giraffe and elephants.
Then, without any notice whatsoever, Daniel quickly turned the van around, turned around and told us "you might want to sit down for this" (as we were standing up and looking around in our pop-up-top van), and then took off like he was Dale Earnhart Junior. We asked what had been spotted, but Daniel remained quiet about the subject. After about 10 minutes driving at top speed on bumpy, dirt roads, we arrived at our goal destination, where at least 7-8 other vehicles were already there (it made us wonder how crazy the park becomes during high season...). And in the near distance? A cheetah. It was amazing. Totally worth the terrifying ride in the back of the van...
Soon after we arrived, the cheetah decided to head on it's way. But, again, Daniel (and the rest of the drivers) followed it's path and we had amazing views.
At one point, the cheetah even took off at full speed to try to catch a small antelope, but had no success. Daniel said this was because the cheetah was young and "an amateur," as the cheetah is much faster than any other animal in the park. While the fastest antelope can run at speeds up to 65kph (that's kilometers per hour), a cheetah can run at speeds of up to 105kph. That is fast..
Following this exciting part of our day, I told Mike that even if we didn't see any other animals for the rest of the day, I would be a happy camper. =) But, much to our luck, we did see many other animals, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles (we traveled to the Mara river to see the crocodiles and hippos) and a few other less common animals, including the monitor lizard and a tree hyrax (which, apparently, is a distant relative of the elephant - though you definitely would not know by looking at them!.)
When on safari, there is a group of animals known as the "big five." These are considered the most dangerous and fierce animals in Africa. The big five are composed of: lion, cheetah, rhino, elephant, and cape buffalo (yes, buffalo confuses us as well, but apparently they are much more dangerous than we have been taught to believe). Of the big five, we were able to see four of the animals today. Overall, I'd say it was a very good day!
Therefore, we got up around 5:30am (who ever said vacation was supposed to be restful?!?) so we could start our day in the park before sunrise. As the saying goes, "the early bird catches the first worm," and this was definitely true for us today. Because we made it in to the park very early in the morning, we were able to see some amazing animals before they napped away the hot late morning and afternoon.
We saw a group of vehicles in the near distance, and arrived just in time to see a lion's butt disappearing in to the bush. Awesome. But have no fear. Daniel was committed to getting us a good look. Essentially we (and at least 8 or 9 other vehicles) followed the lions around, darting from one location to the next based on where the animals might go. This payed off, however, when we ended up with up-close and amazing views of a male and female lion who were (in Daniel's words) "honeymooning." We were even able to view this so-called "honeymooning," which was an interesting sight to see, to say the least.
After watching the lions for a while, we again headed off our separate directions to see what we could see. Not too far after, Mike and I were the first people in the park to spot a family of black rhinos. Daniel immediately tried to find a back road to get us closer to the rhinos, while at the same time getting on his radio and informing all of the other drivers that the rhinos had been spotted. (The rhinos were located near a type of tree called a sausage tree; therefore, as Daniel was talking on the radio, the only words were understood were "Roger, roger" and "sausage tree." We found it quite amusing...) Within a few minutes, there were at least 4 or 5 other vehicles watching the rhinos.
From here, we headed back out again and saw some giraffe and elephants.
Then, without any notice whatsoever, Daniel quickly turned the van around, turned around and told us "you might want to sit down for this" (as we were standing up and looking around in our pop-up-top van), and then took off like he was Dale Earnhart Junior. We asked what had been spotted, but Daniel remained quiet about the subject. After about 10 minutes driving at top speed on bumpy, dirt roads, we arrived at our goal destination, where at least 7-8 other vehicles were already there (it made us wonder how crazy the park becomes during high season...). And in the near distance? A cheetah. It was amazing. Totally worth the terrifying ride in the back of the van...
Soon after we arrived, the cheetah decided to head on it's way. But, again, Daniel (and the rest of the drivers) followed it's path and we had amazing views.
At one point, the cheetah even took off at full speed to try to catch a small antelope, but had no success. Daniel said this was because the cheetah was young and "an amateur," as the cheetah is much faster than any other animal in the park. While the fastest antelope can run at speeds up to 65kph (that's kilometers per hour), a cheetah can run at speeds of up to 105kph. That is fast..
Following this exciting part of our day, I told Mike that even if we didn't see any other animals for the rest of the day, I would be a happy camper. =) But, much to our luck, we did see many other animals, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles (we traveled to the Mara river to see the crocodiles and hippos) and a few other less common animals, including the monitor lizard and a tree hyrax (which, apparently, is a distant relative of the elephant - though you definitely would not know by looking at them!.)
When on safari, there is a group of animals known as the "big five." These are considered the most dangerous and fierce animals in Africa. The big five are composed of: lion, cheetah, rhino, elephant, and cape buffalo (yes, buffalo confuses us as well, but apparently they are much more dangerous than we have been taught to believe). Of the big five, we were able to see four of the animals today. Overall, I'd say it was a very good day!
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