Safari 3

Kate Winslet, Titanic. Janne Helin, Toyota Prado. standing on the seat and holding on to the racks on top of the car to avoid collision with the hatch. the scenes in Mara are awesome and although the day started with little sleep, no breakfast and a grumpy driver, it turned out to be worth the effort and money to get here. during the day I was not yet quite so sure about it. the swimming pool of the otherwise posh hotel, Mara Simba, was closed and the early morning magic of masai region had dissolved into midday boredom. on our way there were many masai with cattle, but we saw also wildebeest, zebras, antelopes and a jackal being chased by Sheppard dogs.

At the hotel hippoes cheered me up a bit while we were drinking some tea and having late breakfast thanks to the flexible staff. However, our attempt at getting fuel and seeing some animals at same trip turned sour, as we took a road leading away from the park. Instead we saw some of the masai and turned back to hotel shortly after. At 15.00 (after a good lunch) we set off to the reserve, and this time, with the help of the hired guide we, saw plenty of animals like the local elephants (quite small species), antelopes, buffalos and lions. There were 4-5 orphaned lion cubs, whose mother might have been killed by a buffalo or by a riffle, depending on which explanation one finds more likely. We were also lucky to see a leopard, which is something that everybody visiting the reserve might not see. Due to the leopard, there were loads of other tourists on the same path in the white safari taxies. The white line of cars was quite funny sigh in its own right and quite different of what you would expect on the basis of our own, nearly empty hotel. clearly the “greatest game on earth” is not happening in Marai Simba. Now I will go to bed and hopefully have happy dreams by listening to the sound of Mara river rushing by and frogs and birds chirping.