OUR LAST FULL DAY IN THE MARA, BLOG 3, MARCH 7TH 2020

I woke up to the sound of pouring rain sometime during the night. I fell right back to sleep so had no idea how long it rained. Paul slept right through the loud drumming of rain on the tent canvas.

Our pre-breakfast arrived at six o’clock on the dot. We again enjoyed our hot beverages (Millers can you believe that I am drinking coffee!) and toast in the stillness of the predawn.

Our trusty Maasai escort takes us down to the dining tent to meet Sarah and Ping. We climb into the truck and are headed out of camp before the sun climbs above the horizon. We soon find that it rained enough last night to make the roads slick which makes Ping wrestle with a slipping and sliding vehicle. Thankfully the farther we get from camp the roads become nearly dry.

Ping is determined to find the leopardess that we looked for yesterday. I don’t think I wrote that she has two half-grown cubs. Evidently the trio tend to stay in the vicinity we were at yesterday and Ping usually can find them. On our quest to see the leopards we drive by two jackals that are lying by the side of the road. The early morning light is literally making them glow. We stop for photos and Ping pulls his camera out to snap some photos too. You know whenever your guide starts taking photos that the situation is special.

As we drive and drive in our hunt for the leopard family we visit with Ping, (Sarah is very quiet and doesn’t talk too much). Paul had told Ping yesterday about his lost coat and asked if he might contact somebody that monitors the airport in the chance that they might have found his coat. This morning Paul asks Ping if he had the chance to talk to anyone about the missing coat and Ping shakes his head and laughs, we assume this means the inquiry would by useless. Ping tells Paul he has a “jumper” coming to replace Paul’s lost coat and it will be here before we leave tomorrow. Paul insists he will be okay with his raincoat and a blanket. Ping laughs again and tells Paul that it will be very cold in the mornings once we get to Tanzania and the Ndutu area. Well, it’s pretty chilly here so I hope it won’t be much colder!

As we continue to search for the felines, we happen upon a group of mongooses/mongeese(?) sunning themselves on top of their burrow. There are several babies who are very curious about us and we spend several minutes observing and photographing the cute little things. We also see lots of Impalas, Thompson Gazelles, and an enormous lone elephant.

Ping finds a place near a small stream where Sarah sets out our bush breakfast, Ping is busy talking on his phone. Ping is co-owner of Enaidura camp so he must tend to business even while guiding us.  As we are eating there are some Maasai cattlemen driving an enormous herd of multi-colored cattle through the water not far from us. There are several agama lizards sunning on a jumble of rocks nearby and a hamerkop briefly lands on a large boulder across from our dining spot.

This morning as usual we see a myriad of birds including a Martial Eagle, Whydah birds, a Grey heron, a Green-backed heron, Secretary birds, and a pair of beautiful Crowned Cranes to mention a few.

We finally have to cry uncle on the elusive leopardess and return to camp for lunch. Happy is waiting for us with a tray holding washcloths so we can wipe our faces and hands. As we use the refreshing cloths Happy wishes us a happy Valentines’ day. Paul and I had no idea it was Valentine’s day!

There is a Dik-dik standing behind the dining tent who gives us a curious once over before bounding a way into the bushes. The staff has placed our lunch table under some trees a few yards away from the dining tent. There is a baby woodpecker who occasionally pokes his head out of a hole in a nearby tree and watches us throughout our lunch.  Anthony has fixed lasagna for lunch and it is delicious. After we have finished eating, I decide to walk the path between our tent and the dining tent just to get some exercise. The Maasai guard tries to walk with me but I wave him off, it is broad daylight and there is no sense in the young man trekking back and forth with me.

On my second round on the path, something moves in the bushes next to the trail and I jump in fright. The guard, who has been watching me, quickly begins walking towards me but stops when he sees that I am laughing. I have seen what frightened me and it is the tiny dik-dik that had greeted us on our return to camp this morning. I’m rather embarrassed by my reaction but hey, in this wild place you never know what might be lurking in the brush. When Paul and I are walking down from our tent for our afternoon game drive a wart hog near the path gives us a start as it runs away.

Ping takes us back to the river to resume our search for the leopard. He sees a herd of Impala that are staring anxiously at a cluster of bushes. We drive around the dense brush but find nothing. The impalas are very uneasy so Ping stops the vehicle and we sit and watch the nervous animals. Several of the gazelle sprint by us in single file as if something is spooking them but if there is a predator around, we can’t find it.

We continue driving along the river peering into the underbrush and trees. There are a lot of hippos in the river and I catch a quick glimpse of a crocodile. That is the only croc we see on this safari. A troop of baboons are feeding in some of the trees and seem at ease which indicates there is no leopard around. Ping finally gives up on finding the leopard and he drives across a scary river passage that has me clenching the hand rail in front of me. There are a couple of grunting hippos on our left and faster water running over broken shelves of rock on our right. I was sitting on the left side of the vehicle but decide if we have problems getting through the river, I’d rather face the swifter water than the hippos!

On this side of the river is another large herd of Impalas and again they are very agitated. The group wants to move to an open field about 50 yards straight ahead of them. However, the trees and brush that grow on both sides of the road come closer together at the edge of the meadow. This makes a perfect ambush area for leopards or lions. Ping believes the impala smell or sense that the leopard and her cubs are in the vicinity because it was reported that the mother made a kill around here last night.  We watch the anxious antelope approach the narrow entrance several times only to lose their nerve, turn around, and come back down the road. At times they swivel their heads in the same direction looking like a synchronized dance team. One of them will jump at some imagined danger and they will all jump. We watch the uneasy herd for forty-five minutes until one doe finds the courage to walk through the danger zone and everyone else follows. I wonder if Impala get ulcers, I tensed up just watching the frightened gazelle.

We return to camp after dark. Anthony outdoes himself tonight with a chicken curry dish which was scrumptious. This man is truly a talented chef. At the end of our meal the staff come around our table singing and dancing. Anthony is carrying a heart-shaped cake in honor of valentine’s day! It was a nice gesture and the cake was very good. When Nicholas takes us back to our tent there is a bottle of wine with long stemmed glasses sitting on the table outside of our tent. How nice is that? We didn’t drink the wine though as it is late and we are ready for bed. When we walk into our tent there is a very nice, fleece jacket folded up on the bed. Thank you, Ping!

This morning the ritual is the same with Paul and I enjoying our drinks and toast outside the tent. It is so peaceful and as we finish sipping our drinks the numerous birds in this camp are beginning to greet the early morning with a few calls.

We are off at 6:30 and return to the river where Ping has learned that a fellow guide and his clients caught a brief glimpse of the elusive leopard yesterday. Well, for us it isn’t meant to be to see the wily feline because we come up empty again. Ping notices a trio of vehicles across the river in the distance. He drives along the river until we are directly across from the other trucks. We spot a lioness just as she is descending from the top of a termite mound. The vehicles start to follow the lioness that is on the move and now we see that there are three lionesses and two large cubs. Even though the lions are a long way from us I am able to get documentary photos to show that we indeed saw lions. Ping can’t drive across the river because the passageway in this area was completely destroyed by the floods. That’s okay, we were able to observe them with our binoculars.

We return to camp and have a huge breakfast at our table that is sitting close to the river. When we have finished breakfast, we return to our tent and do a walk through to make sure we haven’t overlooked any of our belongings. When we exit the tent some of the staff are there to help us with our bags. Most of the staff gathers by the safari truck to say goodbye. Paul and I thank everyone for taking care of us and Paul hands Happy the envelope containing a handwritten note and tip money for the crew. We climb into the truck along with Ping and Sarah, waving goodbye as we drive away.

 

Ping is driving us as far as the nearby airstrip, not the one we landed at, where Brian and one of the Maasai guards are waiting. Ping has two clients flying in this morning but they weren’t sure what flight they were on so he needed the guys there just in case the guests arrived before we got to the airstrip.

When we get to the dirt airstrip there are a couple of planes that have landed but Ping’s clients aren’t among the passengers. Paul and I say so long to Ping and Sarah thanking them for the interesting game drives we had with them. Of course, we give Ping his envelope containing a thankyou note, tip money and some extra cash for the nice “jumper” he gave Paul. Ping insisted the coat was a gift and refused to take any money for it at breakfast.

With the young Maasai at the wheel and Brian riding shotgun, Paul and I wave goodbye to our guide and spotter as we drive away. Our new driver will be taking us to our next camp, Asilia Encounter Mara, which is in the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, which they estimate is a two-hour drive.

Since the grass is tall in this part of the Mara, there aren’t many animals to be seen as we motor along. When we reach the Mara’s border there is a ranger that lifts the barrier to let us drive through and we leave the Mara and its lush grass behind. We immediately encounter Kenyans going about their daily business. A small boy is driving a few cows and a big bull next to the road. I ask Brian if this is one of the new bulls from Pakistan that Ping was telling us about. He translates this question to our driver who says that indeed it is and he stops the truck so we can look the bull over.  Paul and I comment that it is a good-looking bull. I then ask Brian to tell the little boy that his cows are very nice. When the Maasai relates my comment, (he speaks Maa to the boy), to the young boy a proud smile lights up his face.

We probably drive another hour to reach the gates of the conservancy where a guard must check our permits and papers have to be signed. Once we drive through the gate, we immediately encounter zebra, the biggest herd of Eland that we can recall seeing, numerous impala and Thompson gazelles. It isn’t far to the entrance of the camp which is surrounded by an electric fence. Our driver and Brian deliver us to where camp is set up and there are some of the Encounter Mara staff waiting to greet us. Paul and I say our goodbyes and thanks to Brian and our driver, then follow the staffers to the community tent.  Mercy, has us sit in some comfortable chairs and instructs us on how the camp runs. We are then escorted to tent number nine and shown all the light switches, how the bucket shower works etc. We even have an electric floor fan in this beautiful tent.    Adventures in the Conservancy in the next blog. Nancy