During breakfast we talked about the things that had gone bump in the night. Being that we were right on the boundary of the Nakuru National Park, there was every chance of all kinds of animals visiting the camp & some of us definitely heard something. Pete told us he got up in the middle of the night to investigate a noise. A battle between man & beast ensued with Pete (& his trusty Leatherman pocket knife) being the valiant winner. He wasn't sure what is was, but there were three lions he thought, or maybe one was a leopard. It was very dark so he couldn't tell for sure. I don't know how much truth was in the story, but Pete swore it was all true.
After breakfast we loaded out gear into the vans & set off on the long drive to the Masai Mara. The drive back tracked toward Nairobi before turning South-West once we'd passed Lakes Elementaita (above) & Naivasha.
We travelled for a couple of hours past seemingly endless farmland. Every now & then we'd spot a Thomson's Gazelle & even a couple of giraffes. We stopped at the small village of Narok for supplies before turning off onto a bumpy potholed bitumen road that became a dirt road. It seemed to go on forever. The gazelle started to be sighted more frequently & we could see the evidence of elephants pushing over small trees.
Right about the time we were thinking we couldn't handle any more of the bumps & dust we stopped at a traditional Masai village. Interacting with the local communities is something GAP likes to do around the world. After we'd paid out $20 USD each, the villages came out greeting us before performing their traditional jumping dance.
We were told it had something to do with dodging a dowry. These guys obviously practice a lot. Check out the guy below!
We were encouraged to give it a go. Fabien, Pete (below) & myself all had a go after some pressure from the girls. A good effort by Pete who'd been up half the night wrestling Lions with nothing but a pocket knife.
The jumping dance is traditionally a guy thing but a few of the girls were allowed to try as well.
The women had their own dance (something about fertility). Not as athletic as the jumping dance but apparently more important.
A couple of the men showed us how they made fire. (Yes very clever boys).
Check out the wacky ears on this guy! Sretching holes in your ears is very trendy in the western world these days. Call me conservative, but it looks ridiculous!
We were allowed a peek inside one of the family mud/dung clad dwellings. They're dark, sooty (from the kitchen fires) and tiny. Up to 7 people live in a hut not much bigger then our living room! No wonder they're semi nomadic.
Keiko had a digital instant camera (similar to the old school Polaroid) that had the kids very interested. They were able to see themselves in the photo & were able to keep the photo for themselves.
The photo below started making me suspicious. See the orange cell phone? I was starting the think that these people in fact lived just up the road at the main village & this village was just for show. Maybe not, but it had me thinking.
The Masai use donkeys for transport mainly. Unlike the multi patterned ones we saw in South America, these all looked identical no matter where we went. We would start referring to them as Masai Zebra.
We left the Masai to their dances & cell phones and set off for to the camp (below). After 20 minutes we were out of the vehicle & off the horrible road. The contrast of the dry dusty landscape we'd been travelling through all day was astounding. The green at camp turned out to be a precursor to the game park that we were just outside of.
While we were in the dining room waiting for lunch & chatting away, we saw a vervet monkey in the tree outside. One of us said, "I wonder if that's the monkey the cooks told us steal food". Not 2 seconds later it jumped through the window (none of the windows had glass in them as it turns out) jumped onto the table with the condiments, grabbed an unopened loaf of bread & took off up the tree! I'm sure it wasn't their first time. Crafty little rascal with his green balls.
Right about the time we were thinking we couldn't handle any more of the bumps & dust we stopped at a traditional Masai village. Interacting with the local communities is something GAP likes to do around the world. After we'd paid out $20 USD each, the villages came out greeting us before performing their traditional jumping dance.We were told it had something to do with dodging a dowry. These guys obviously practice a lot. Check out the guy below!We were encouraged to give it a go. Fabien, Pete (below) & myself all had a go after some pressure from the girls. A good effort by Pete who'd been up half the night wrestling Lions with nothing but a pocket knife.The jumping dance is traditionally a guy thing but a few of the girls were allowed to try as well.The women had their own dance (something about fertility). Not as athletic as the jumping dance but apparently more important.A couple of the men showed us how they made fire. (Yes very clever boys).Check out the wacky ears on this guy! Sretching holes in your ears is very trendy in the western world these days. Call me conservative, but it looks ridiculous!We were allowed a peek inside one of the family mud/dung clad dwellings. They're dark, sooty (from the kitchen fires) and tiny. Up to 7 people live in a hut not much bigger then our living room! No wonder they're semi nomadic.Keiko had a digital instant camera (similar to the old school Polaroid) that had the kids very interested. They were able to see themselves in the photo & were able to keep the photo for themselves.The photo below started making me suspicious. See the orange cell phone? I was starting the think that these people in fact lived just up the road at the main village & this village was just for show. Maybe not, but it had me thinking.The Masai use donkeys for transport mainly. Unlike the multi patterned ones we saw in South America, these all looked identical no matter where we went. We would start referring to them as Masai Zebra.We left the Masai to their dances & cell phones and set off for to the camp (below). After 20 minutes we were out of the vehicle & off the horrible road. The contrast of the dry dusty landscape we'd been travelling through all day was astounding. The green at camp turned out to be a precursor to the game park that we were just outside of.While we were in the dining room waiting for lunch & chatting away, we saw a vervet monkey in the tree outside. One of us said, "I wonder if that's the monkey the cooks told us steal food". Not 2 seconds later it jumped through the window (none of the windows had glass in them as it turns out) jumped onto the table with the condiments, grabbed an unopened loaf of bread & took off up the tree! I'm sure it wasn't their first time. Crafty little rascal with his green balls.
Later in the afternoon it was game drive time. We were finally going to visit one of the most famous game parks in Africa, the Masai Mara Game Reserve. The Masai Mara isn't a fully fledged national park as the Masai are still allowed to bring their animals onto the reserve during the day to feed. There is some native traditional lifestyle clause that allows them to do it.
Our camp was just outside the Eastern border of the park so it was only a couple of minutes drive to the Oloolainutia gate. Once we were on the other side our driver (Commo) popped the top of the van & we were off!
The Mara is a vast expanse of open grassland, rolling hills & scattered trees. It's an ideal habitat for two million grazing animals for 3 months of the year. 
Not far into the park we saw our first wildebeest (below). One of 1.3 million of these restless animals that migrate between the Mara & the Serengeti every year. The migration had already left our end of the reserve but a small number stay behind every year instead of following the rest of the herd. There's enough grass to sustain them but they have to chance it with the predators.
Hello! What's this then? Apparently this is called a lion jam. The big cats cause traffic snarls in the middle of thousands of square kilometres of nothingness.
Sure enough, once we were able to barge through the traffic, we found a lion pride. And true to form, they were lazing around sleeping! Just like the ones at the zoo. My initial thought was, "Great, we'll take a couple of photos of sleeping lions, get bored & move on".
We were parked for a little while with the lions doing nothing before one or two of them started to stir. The cubs were first, yawning & stretching.
One of the lionesses had a yawn & showed us the tools of her trade before going back to sleep.
One of the older male cubs (above) got up had a stretch & wandered over to wake up his dad....
And flopped down to rest....
But got bored so bit the big pride male on the ear. Ouch!
It wasn't until he dug his sharp claws into the side of big cat's face that he finally got a reaction. And check out the teeth! The big cat with the big teeth was being very tolerant with a youngster he could very quickly bite in half.
Sorry dad. I didn't mean to hurt you. Honest. Are you awake?
Then the cub's brother had a go at waking up dad getting a suitable reaction from his brother on the way....
Who decided it was time to get up, stretch & hassle someone else. 
The older cats were stirring by that time. Two of the lionesses were having a licky/washy fight that turned into growls & teeth, but nothing serious.
The first cub went over to his mum for a bit of attention since his dad wasn't interested.
That was working out nicely until one of his sisters spoiled the party.
The female cubs are a bit smaller & don't have the little Mohawk of the males.
Little sis eventually settled down for a rest & let the little male have some quality time with mum. 
Meanwhile everyone else was still doing what cats do best.
We left the cats to their slacking to see what else we could find in this vast reserve. We were able to cross lions off the Big Five list properly.
We were not 300m away before we spotted another lioness. She's part of the pride we'd just seen but she was sitting away from her family because she was heavily pregnant & a matter of days off giving birth. Lionesses hide away from the pride to protect the tiny cubs. 
We drove around for a little while seeing more wildebeest, impala, zebra, tommies & buffalo. Just after we turned to head back to the gate (it was getting late & dark) we spotted a number of grey figures amongst the trees on a hill. 
Elephants! A decent sized herd as well. That makes it four of the big five & it was only day two!
I was taken aback by the size of these creatures. I've seen plenty of Indian elephants in zoos, but adult African elephants are a step up again. I was also impressed with their destructive power. They were able to push down quite large trees with a minimum of effort. It's one thing to see them on a nature program knocking trees over but when you're up close & personal, the true nature of these massive animals gives you a very different feel.
There was one big bull elephant trailing the herd. He wasn't too difficult to spot because he had either an extra leg or a second very long tail (see below) if you get my drift. By no means was it the last time we'd see elephants. 
While we were elephant watching a black-backed jackal jogged up to the vehicle. These little opportunists are the equivalent of the coyotes in North America. They scavenge kills & hunt small animals to live quite comfortably amongst a large number of much larger, better equipped hunters.
That was working out nicely until one of his sisters spoiled the party.
The female cubs are a bit smaller & don't have the little Mohawk of the males.
Little sis eventually settled down for a rest & let the little male have some quality time with mum. 
Meanwhile everyone else was still doing what cats do best.
We left the cats to their slacking to see what else we could find in this vast reserve. We were able to cross lions off the Big Five list properly.
We were not 300m away before we spotted another lioness. She's part of the pride we'd just seen but she was sitting away from her family because she was heavily pregnant & a matter of days off giving birth. Lionesses hide away from the pride to protect the tiny cubs. 
We drove around for a little while seeing more wildebeest, impala, zebra, tommies & buffalo. Just after we turned to head back to the gate (it was getting late & dark) we spotted a number of grey figures amongst the trees on a hill. 
Elephants! A decent sized herd as well. That makes it four of the big five & it was only day two!
I was taken aback by the size of these creatures. I've seen plenty of Indian elephants in zoos, but adult African elephants are a step up again. I was also impressed with their destructive power. They were able to push down quite large trees with a minimum of effort. It's one thing to see them on a nature program knocking trees over but when you're up close & personal, the true nature of these massive animals gives you a very different feel.
There was one big bull elephant trailing the herd. He wasn't too difficult to spot because he had either an extra leg or a second very long tail (see below) if you get my drift. By no means was it the last time we'd see elephants. 
While we were elephant watching a black-backed jackal jogged up to the vehicle. These little opportunists are the equivalent of the coyotes in North America. They scavenge kills & hunt small animals to live quite comfortably amongst a large number of much larger, better equipped hunters.
The first couple of hours in the Masai Mara had already given us some trills & we still had a day & a half in this amazing place.
It was getting dark & we had to be out of the park before sundown. Back at camp we had dinner & bedded down early as we had a 4am start the next day.
Our vans turned off the main highway & soon started descending the escarpment into the Rift Valley. There are a number of view points on the way down & we stopped at one near the top. Of course each one has a few craft stalls to "support the local community".
While we waited for Mosses to organize our park permits, we wandered around the car park photographing the Vervet Monkeys (below). The monkeys weren't at all fearful of us & were no doubt checking us out in case we had snacks for them.
This one looked like she was waiting for a bus (below).
There were also some equally opportunistic starlings (Glossy Starling below) following around the tourists.
What was slightly unnerving was the park wardens armed to the teeth. I guess that's what it takes to stop the poaching. Lake Nakuru is a small park but a protective sanctuary for a couple of endangered species including the Rothschild's Giraffe & both black & white Rhinos. 
Lake Nakuru is a salt lake similar to the ones we saw in Bolivia & is just as attractive to flamingos. The setting isn't as spectacular at the Altiplano but the wildlife easily made up for it. Other than the flamingos there's a variety of water birds including pelicans, cormorants & gulls.
While we were out of the vehicles photographing the lake & the birds, a busload of school kids piled out next to us (below).
Impala (below) are common at Nakuru. It's easy to spot them by their near orange coats & twisted horns on the males. The small herd below is fairly typical & is made up of females with their offspring & one male (right of picture). Impala are the favourite food of leopards. 
The antelope mingle with large herds of zebra & buffalo that are all very tolerant of each other. Each species has its own niche so they effectively don't compete for food and benefit from the extra eyes looking for danger.
We were very lucky to see some Dik Diks. These are the smallest antelope on the planet & are about the size of a rabbit. They're quite nervous animals & we had to be quick with the cameras before they scurried into the thickets. 
Not long after we popped through the trees onto the plains we were able to tick the second box of the big five. White Rhinos! These are the main reason why the park wardens are armed to the teeth. They're quite peaceful animals provided you don't antagonise them.
The white rhinos are grazers which means that they are grass eaters. They black cousins are browsers meaning they prefer to eat tree leaves. The white rhinos were quite happy sharing the plains with the other grazers such as the tommies & zebra, not to mention the buffalo that were busy antagonizing each other.
There were half a dozen of them all quite close together including the huge male above. He wasn't up to much, but was shadowing a female with her calf (below).
Dinner was pretty much ready for us when we arrived back at camp. After that we all wandered around the corner to the local bar & had a couple of beers. We turned in early for the night as we had a 6am start the next morning.