On to the next great adventure

This day began impossibly early – I was collected from the camp at 0500. The reason for such as early start was that I was going on a balloon trip over the Masai Mara. We arrived on an open area somewhere in the reserve – at that time in the morning it could have been anywhere. However, as eth sun rose, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise:

Whilst the sun was rising, the crews were inflating the balloons ready for take off:

At this stage if I hadn’t already guessed, I realised I really needed a better camera for the purpose, so most of the photos taken in the air aren’t really up to much. However, just to prove I was up there,



The trip took us about 30km across the reserve, and we spotted a range of game, but none of the big 5 – which just goes to show that whilst a balloon is a great way to see a place, you can’t actually take it where you want to go – the wind is king. We did fly over a hippo who had taken a stroll on the banks of the Mara, though:



Anyway, once we landed, we were treated to a champagne breakfast out in the bush, which was a great end to the ride, and to start the rest of the day. I wasn’t due to meet up with John until 10:30, so a driver from the balloon company drove me around for the next couple of hours.

Patrick – the driver’s name – took me back down to the banks of the Mara, and pointed out a number of crocodiles – which reminded me “Never smile at a crocodile ....” but this one looked particularly fine:



He was then determined to complete the big 5, so we drove round for a while, listening to the radio – as ubiquitous as the white Toyota van and we soon got a pointer. Driving off at a rate of knots, we found this character:



Shortly after we saw her, and stayed – in company with a collection of other vans – taking photos, we got a steer to the last of the 5, so headed off to find the location. Half an hour or so later, we arrived on an open hill side, to find 4 or 4 safari vehicles, and one lone leopard:



Leopards are particularly shy, and hard to find, so this was a great result – and it stayed strolling across the hill for 15 minutes or so with a posse of vans in it’s trail.

Shortly after this, with the big 5 firmly in the bag, I met up again with John. He was disappointed that he had not been the one to find the two missing animals, and so determined to find them in a better location, or doing something more interesting. The first we found was another – or possibly the same – leopard, hiding from the sun, which seemed pretty sensible by that stage:



We then went on the trail of more wildebeest – not hard to find, since they are everywhere at this time of year – but particularly to see if we could see them crossing a river. They are the main players in the migration, moving to find water and food as the season changes –others follow, but wildebeest are easily the biggest number. The problem they have, particularly when crossing water, is it makes them easy prey for predators. Not being entirely stupid, they know this, and so they can take a long time plucking up courage to make a crossing. Once one starts, they all tend to follow, but you can wait a long time – even days – before they do.

We went back to the Mara River to try and see this; on the way seeing rather more hippos:



Moving along from the hippos, we found a herd of wildebeest who were possibly thinking about making a crossing. That said, they say of the Masai Mara that there are so many people who come to the reserve, the wildebeest actually come to watch the people. This shot could well bear that out:



The wildebeest had a few false starts at crossing, but eventually thought better of it so we moved off in search of other sights. We missed the actual capture of the zebra, but arrived to see the aftermath:



Fairly visceral, and the picture doesn’t do it justice, but an amazing sight. Looking elsewhere, we found some more lions, with something of a puzzle on their hands:



First of all working out what the tortoise moving towards them actually was, then how to eat it:



Looking at animals being killed by predators, the cycle wouldn’t be complete without seeing the dustbins of the plains:



Inevitably there are a variety of vultures, and this was only one type, more were spotted as we drove around, but not all as photogenic as this lot(?!)

The last spot of the day was the largest antelope around – the eland:



We found this whilst looking for more leopards, but in the event, none were prepared to show their faces – probably a wise move, given the number of white van men tracking them down. Eventually, we left the park, but on the way back to the camp, John insisted on taking me to a Masai village. It was quite an experience, and reminded me of the Auden piece – some 30 inches from my nose ... as about 10 Masai warriors cam bearing down on me, and didn’t stop at the requisite 30 inches, but kept on coming. This was part of their welcome dance, which they insisted on my joining – the least said of that the better. Still, it did put paid to the question posed in the film – “Can white men jump?” Of course they can:



Or perhaps not:



Enough, then for one day, and time to beat a hasty retreat to the camp.