Leaving Naivasha was a little sad but there was a lot of excitement to finally see the Masai Mara. It was a 4-hour drive and we started early so we could reach the hotel in time for lunch. There was going to be an additional 45-minute detour the recent floods had damaged the direct bridge that connected our hotel, so we would have to take a long way around. We had a heavy breakfast at the hotel and packed some snacks for the route. It was mostly a smooth drive till we reached the gate of the Mara. We had stopped a couple of times for short breaks – once at a gas station convinience store and then other time at a souvenir store with some snacks. The cost of everything seemed to go up as we got closer to the Mara.

While the drivers managed the tickets and the entry process at the gates, we were surrounded by women in local attire selling trinkets and local handmade art. There was a lot of bargaining to be done and we left that hard work for the return journey. There was an hour of driving through the game park before we got to our hotel. The roofs of the cars were raised and we got excited for some game sighting. We did see some gazelles, zebras and giraffes but the highlight was a charging buffalo. For a while it looked like it was charging straight at our landcruiser but it ran alongside for a while and then crossed the road to the other side. It was a sight to be seen but no pictures or videos as we weren’t sure if we wanted to stop in case it was actually charging at us.

We got to the hotel just after 1 and they offered lunch even before we got to see the rooms – we hungrily accepted. Lunch was served in an open courtyard and there was a small buffet laid out on one side. We had been assigned 2 large tables. This buffet too had a signifcant component of Indian food (dal and a paneer curry), though the rest of it was quite good. We had a curried pork, some steamed vegetables, the usual spinach and ugali. There were also a range of basic salads and mostly cakes for dessert. The rooms were quite nice though there were some interesting surprises.

Parts of the resort had been washed away in the floods and were being rebuilt – that didn’t impact us though. There is no power supply in the Mara and all hotels run on gensets. In the non-peak season, the gensets are tuned off from mid-night to 4 am and in the day hours when the tourists are on the safaris. The rooms were quite plush but the windows had no glass, just very fine netting and curtains. You can hear everyone talking! The bathrooms were large and very plush. The bed was large and had a thick mosquitoe net around it. We quickly settled in and got ready for our first safari.

I had read a lot about Masai Mara, and seen a lot of pictures, but nothing can do justice to describing the experience. It is endless miles of grasslands and you can see so far inside that you feel it hides nothing. The lone acacia trees dot the landscape and add a bit of a garnish to the views. The area is very flat and the roads are gravel but mostly good, except for the damage done by the flood.

It wasn’t long before we spotted a sleeping pride of lions. There is still some debate on if there were 6 or 7 of them. The landcruisers are not allowed off-road, so we were a little away from them and only saw their heads above the grass when they looked up. We hung around for a bit hoping they would wake up and play around or just suddenly kill a gazelle. We knew that was not going to happen and that the lazy lions would doze till sundown. So we moved on with a plan to stop again on the way back, closer to sundown.

A short drive away we spotted a cluster of safari vehicles focused on a patch of bush, usually an excellent sign. We drove around to get our first sighting of a cheetah in the wild. The wild cat was lazing around in the bush making cute faces and yawning. The view was obstructed on all sides but one by the bush, so the vehicles were lined up and moving slowly. The cheetah decided to do everyone a favor and went for a stroll. A long one at that. It gave us some fantastic photography moments before he disapeared into the bush.

We then spotted three elephants in a large grassland. Perfect for some pictures. The large animals in their natural habitat eating away to glory are just magestic.

It had been quite some time so we drove back to the spot where we had spotted the pride of lions. The lazy buggers were still asleep but we did see some movement. A few of them woke up, stood, and then slept back off. Lights were fading, so we had to leave before the close time of the park. I did manage to capture a beautiful sunset with an acacia tree in the foreground before we got out.

A quick hot shower later we were ready for dinner and a drink – we still had some of the booze from Naivasha in our bags. Dinner was served indoors (probably because of mosquitoes). It was a nice buffet spread though the sitting area reminded me of my college mess. We crashed early as we had to leave by 5:30 am for the morning safari…