The last day of a trip is always a little sad, but this one would also be hectic. The trip was planned so in a way that this last day included a long drive from Masai Mara to Nairobi, followed by a red-eye flight back home. Check-out time at the lodge was 10 am, though we had planned to leave much earlier, right after breakfast. Even though the three days of our park ticket had expired, since we had a drive back home, we got a free pass to enter and then have an hour to hopefully spot the elusive kill. We had seen the big 5, a few stories evolve and some incredible wildlife sights. There was just one item in the list to check…

It was a breakfast full of conversation and discussions about how the Masai Mara is in a league of its own as far as wildlife parks go. It was a lot of getting ready, packing out, and settling the bills. We were already an hour behind schedule when the luggage was loaded. Anticlimatically, that meant that we wouldn’t have time to stop for photography in the park, just a drive. We spotted some animals, but nothing spectacular.

At the park gate, there were several locals in local attire selling trinkets and souvenirs. This time, it was hard to resist, and we bought several items, cheap in price and quality. The remaining drive was quite smooth, and for the most part, the roads were great. We started to plan a fancy lunch in the city, and there were discussions of Ethiopian food. However, the drivers suggested we eat at a highway-side restaurant as Google Maps would not be able to anticipate upcoming jams. They were right about the jams, but picked a pretty crappy restaurant for the lunch.

We reached the airport in good time to chill a little in the lounge and get a glass of wine. They checked out yellow fever certificates even before we joined the check-in lines, and then it was the usual process. There were some nice shopping options at the airport before we boarded the flight for an uneventful journey home.

There were many takeaways:

1. It is good to have a binocular for everyone. Given the amount of action you see, they are hard to share.
2. Patience pays off, usually.
3. If you don’t bother the wildlife, they will ignore you completely.
4. The resorts in Masai Mara have a rustic feeling but have an air of luxury in the wild.
5. Lions are truly royal and majestic – my favorite animal to spot.
6. I am so glad we got to see the Big 5 – not many believe that the hardest of them to spot is the Rhinoceros. Rhinos are quite easy to spot in Kaziranga, India.