Kenya Safari

‘It’s going to be a bit rough,’ Atanas our guide said as we started out of Nairobi, after we’d said our jambos (‘hellos’ in Swahili). This didn’t prepare us for the last part of our journey; two hours of bone-shaking drive over a corrugated gravel track. Carol wished she’d worn her sports bra... Yet it was strangely therapeutic, like a long, deep massage – my lower back and leg aches melted away.

Wildebeest relaxing

And at the end, the Masai Mara, the top end of the Serengeti, with more animals than you can imagine – it felt like the first time at the zoo. Our Toyota minivan was specially modified to take the rough drive; the top popped up to allow us to stand while getting some shade. In the bush we weren’t able to leave the vehicle – just as well – we were often only a few feet from the animals; animals which were largely oblivious to us.

Atanas quickly taught us new collective nouns, as we found our prey; we already knew pride of lions but a dazzle of zebras, a tower of giraffes, a parade of elephants, a rank of impala, a bloat of hippos and his favourite, an obstinacy of cape buffalo, were new to us. We parked in the middle of an obstinacy – I lost count but there were several hundred – and not one moved an inch. It seemed all of the herbivores were happy to graze amongst each other.

But, our first find, on the evening we arrived, was a group of lions consuming a fresh kill – some picking through the carcass, others tearing off a limb and stepping back with it. Soon after, we watched a cheetah mother and cub gradually awaken.

Dinner time

Our vehicle was roomy, with eight seats and only a couple from the Scottish Isle of Arran to share it with; a chance to make new friends. The Lodge was comfortable and the food good, but the hot water for showers and power for charging were only on at certain times of day, so we had to pay particular attention to the time.

Early next morning, it was back into the bush and our first sight of giraffes in the distance, looking positively prehistoric; their disjointed heads moving above the trees as they walked. Then quickly we were on the trail of adult male lions, one chasing a challenger out of his territory, roaring as he ran. Spellbound, as we shadowed him closely until our track veered, we watched him running in pursuit for miles.

After a picnic under a tree on the open savannah with only antelopes in sight, we parked on a track to watch a large family of elephants walk towards us, tearing grass up and eating it as they approached. They walked straight across and around us – it was as if we were invisible.

Hyenas munch as cat watches on

In the evening we attended ‘feeding time’ at the back of the lodge site. It was dark as a grounds man emptied a bag of food below the back wall. In the dim light we watched a group of house cats surround it; until three hyenas slunk into view. As they approached the cats withdrew, but only by a foot or two. Once the hyenas had their fill the cats moved back in – then a mongoose shot out of nowhere into the midst – the cats yowled as they leapt back. And then it was gone – show over.

It was time for us to say Lala Salama (sleep tight)…

On Safari in Masai Mara

Arranged through Pollman's Tours & Safaris Ltd www.pollmans.com