Masai Mara Safari - Day 3 in the Wilds

Day 3

On our third day at Masai Mara, we woke up  to see two Hippos fighting, out of the water and a baby Hippo amongst them. The Hippos loved the water so much it was difficult to see them out of it. They are called "jalahasti" in Odia (translated to water elephants) for a reason, I guess.  Dik Diks (little deers) roamed around the camp leaving their traces in between and marking their territory! The robins, starlings and the swallows accompanied us as usual at breakfast. The chef Julius at the camp was a genius and provided us with amazingly well prepped meals every time. That required some commitment since we were the only guests at the resort as it was the middle of the week of an extremely lean rainy season.

The rains ensured that the grass was long, which hindered game viewing. Cheetahs were harder to spot this time of the year. The staff wished us luck in spotting the elusive Rhinos and Cheetahs as we started on the third day of the drive. 

The drive took us to the banks of the Mara River. We went to the Mara Crossing, the place lakhs of zebras and wildebeests cross over from Serengeti and then make their journey back in July - September.  The place is infested with crocodiles during the crossing season as they prey upon the wildebeests crossing the river. We spotted a huge crocodile basking on the shore while a team of Hippos lazed around the other bank. The area during crossings must be a sight to behold teeming with wildebeests, crocodiles, zebras, and hippopotamuses.  We had our lunch on the banks, under a tree. 

The second half of the drive was spent trying to spot a Cheetah. Peter followed the tracks, the movement of topis and impalas, the wind direction, trying to hush up a Cheetah. However, the grass was too long for the low slung stealthy and shy creatures to be spotted. We did get to see the Rhinos, magnificent two horned ones, at the Nairobi National Park. We managed to catch pictures of the variety of antelopes and gazelles as they pranced about. We came across a large herd of elephants including a days old baby during our Cheetah search. 

Our adventure was not yet over though! As we returned and were almost near our camp, Peter slowed down as he saw a herd of Topis on extreme alert. Then we spotted the lions far off, coming out of the trees, towards the Topis. The Topis waited as they tracked the lions with the last one on guard. Peter told us that the lions would not be attacking them as they had been spotted. true to his words, the lions moved towards the antelopes and then veered their course. We watched all this from our open vehicle. Then the lions started coming towards us. As we sat frozen, they majestically moved towards us and veered around the jeep and crossed the road to the open field across. Definitely not a sight to be forgotten in a hurry!

Peter our guide seemed totally unconcerned about the lions being so near. Once when a male lion became slightly aggressive when we came across some lions before lunch, Peter eyeballed him and the lion settled down. I am sure of that though my husband was not inclined to believe me! The Masais, the rangers and guides and the wildlife seem to have some understanding, here.

We made our way back to the small airstrip the next morning bidding our goodbyes to the dancing Thomson gazelles (or dumsum gazelles as we heard our guide say), the shy warthogs, the observing giraffes, the elephants, the wise baboons, the sturdy zebras, knowing we would be back again. 

One last trivia. All the zebras’ prints are different like fingerprints on a human. How cool is that!