Jake & Stevie in Africa!!!: The Serengeti

Cheetah's, Maasai Mara, the beautiful Serengeti and a Grade 3 boy's childhood dream comes true.....

 Imagine!!!! I thought to myself as I sat crunched into my undersized little desk in a tiny North Vancouver Island Grade 3 classroom. I'm sure my teacher Mrs. Fisher interrupted my daydreaming a number of times that day gently encouraging me to return to my work. It was a book report on the Cheetah I was working on and my mind had drifted. You see, I was there...on the Serengeti. I was that Cheetah readying myself and selecting the hapless victim. Soon I'd spring and my body would burst forward reaching tremendous speed...the fastest of them all.....the sleekest of them all....the most beautiful of them all!

What Mrs. Fisher was unaware of, was that in those moments (where I appeared to be daydreaming)  the impetus for a lifelong dream of seeing a Cheetah on the Savannah in Africa was being formed. As I cut out the cheetah image from an old National Geographic magazine and pasted it into the pages of my report, I can still remember the little green bottle of white paste and the peppermint smell that filled the air as I stuck the image forever in both the book and my mind.


 


Maasai Mara is arguably the best of the parks in Kenya. It is the Kenya part of the Tanzanian Serengeti, the site of the wildebeest migration and home to many many cool animals. It was like Mother Nature showing us into her pantry and there on the top shelf usually out of reach, was where she kept all the good stuff only reserved for special guests. For these 3 days we were those special guests. On the right below, I sketched the route we took over the 3 days.If you look at the left arrow  directly below you get a sense of the enormity of the reserve. We drove for many many kms only seeing a portion of the area. It's surprising just how many animals there are and how they are all together. Lions often only 30 meters from Grant's Gazelles and Cheetah surrounded by Topi....

Our route into and out of the park over 3 days

Maasai Mara to the left

Stevie snuggles down for a peaceful sleep. Clearly she did not see the giant insect I just saw at the other end of the tent

We chose a safari that was basic, authentic and  to be completely honest, less expensive. Above is the tent where we slept only about 500 meters from the park gates. Now...at these "economy" accommodations there are no fences of course, so we relied on the Maasai guard pictured here and others for our safety. The fellow pictured along side S&J was outside our tent all night to make sure there were no intrusions. Elephants and Buffalo would be the least invited guests though I can think of a number that follow closely behind. I've mentioned the Maasai before and talked about their unique culture and their fierce protection of it. While we were there, a commercial bus hit and killed 27 cows on the highway near the park. Over 1000 Maasai were reportedly on site within an hour barring the highway and demanding significant compensation. In the end, after 8 hours of the highway closed to traffic in both directions, they settled for 1.3 million shillings....about 5x the value of the cows. Shrewd. The Maasai walk through the park with no concern for danger. I asked our tour guide about this and was offered the following explanation; the animals have learned that this tall awkwardly moving red object will kill you so leave them alone. Truly, until recently, young Maasai men still had to kill a lion and have the end of their penis cut off without complaint to enter into manhood. It was only because of the number of lions that were dying was the Kenya Wildlife Service able to persuade the Maasai to do away with this practice. These guys are tough. Forget your Hell's Angels and LA gangs....these guys are the real deal in their quiet simple respect for the land and one another.

S&J pictured in front of our 4- wheel drive tour vehicle. It was really good at getting us through the mud and uneven terrain. The driver Charles, was a 10 year veteran of the park and seemed to know everything about everything. The guide is crucial to a rick experience in the park.

Below  - I'll let the pictures talk for themselves. Do I really need to say anything?

Hey  Joe, Do you know were my sunglasses are - I thought I left them in my trunk

Harry - you are suck a pain in the neck.....just look at me!

S&J with the armed guard to get close to the hippos and crocodiles. Just Hippos today!

I should really get out of the sun.... I burned yesterday even with SP50

Huh ? Huh? Huh? What? Huh? Sorry? Huh? Huh? What?

One of the 3 leopards we saw in trees during our time. This one decided it was time to go for a walk and we got to see him or her climb down from the lofty perch. Bigger, actually much bigger than I expected, and so graceful for a big animal. We did not see a white or black Rhino during the trip but they are rare and for all too familiar reason. Imagine the stupidity of our fellow planet dwellers so selfishly engaging in the destruction of these magnificent animals for their own selfish and fallacious beliefs. They are fools as are we for allowing it to continue. Do what you can to support the extinction of poachers rather than these magnificent animals. This may be the first time I have been supportive of capital punishment.

The best moment for me was "a male lion in the bush". We got to within about 3 meters and could make out something tawny under a bush. It was our first sighting of one of the big 5 so we were understandingly pumped. Hmmmm that must be a leg..and that his back, and ...well hard to say what's what. A bit disappointing...you want to honk the horn or yell "Hey Mustafa" or something to get him to move. Then, quite suddenly,  he lifted his head...and what I thought was the whole animal was only his massive head. The adrenaline surged though me accompanied by fear... A woman in Kruger National Park had just been killed by a male who jumped on the van and came inside to eat her. That came to mind....and then just the amazement of seeing this fine fellow in his world.

Night fall over the park.....another adventure in life that will be treasured and fondly remembered.

Thanks for reading, thanks to J&S for coming all the way to Africa, and thanks to those brave men and women who fight to save these important treasures of humanity. Long may they last.

Thanks for reading......Layno