It's time for Africa - Twende Kenya!

Note: I did not have reliable internet access while I was in Kenya, so these blog posts were written in the Mara but not posted until later (okay, 2 months later...sorry about that).  Enjoy!

Jambo from the Mara!

Spring break 2014 – let’s go to Kenya to visit Hadley Couraud, my best friend from high school!  Hadley is in the Masai Mara National Reserve studying hyenas for a year through a research assistantship with a professor at Michigan State University.  How cool is that?  I figured vising her would be the perfect way to spend my (possibly last?!) spring break.

I first started my trip by flying into Nairobi.  I stayed the night with our family friends, Daksha  Auntie and Anup Uncle.  Daksha’s younger brother is Paresh - my family is close friends with him and his family back in EL.  It was great to be with them, eat a wonderful meal, and see their home.  What a lovely backyard and home!  I had a great time with them and I’m so thankful I was able to meet them all.

Onto the Mara!  To get to this National Sanctuary, I had to take a dinky little plane out of Nariobi Wilson, the domestic airport.  The waiting room is literally 2 rooms – small but cozy.  The washrooms were nice, I must say.  Anyways, I boarded the plane and I was off!  I even got to sit right behind the pilots at the cockpit (there were no walls – I got to see everything).  The airstrip I landed at was the Keekorok strip.  When the Mara was officially protected in the 1960s, the organization that took over the governance made Keekorok the first lodge where people could come and stay.  The airstrip was…just that.  An airstrip and one hut to pay park fees.  Yep, that’s about it.  Hadley was there waiting for me in the research Land Cruiser, stick shift and everything.   Oh yes, did I mention they drive on the right side?  What a baller she is!

It’s hard to even find words to explain the greatness that the Mara holds.  The whole area is a big Savannah with an amazing amount of species ranging from lions to elephants, right down to thousands of bugs, bats, and butterflies.  The landscape ranges more than 1000 km² and overlooks mountains on much of the horizon.  It’s not too far from Tanzania; in fact, I was able to see mountains that were actually in Tanzania in the Serengeti (right next to the Mara, just over an international border).   The distance of how far the land reaches, how much you can see, and how many animals coexist in one ecosystem is stunning.

Enough words, the pictures speak for themselves!  Here are some pictures of of the landscape and SOME of the animals I saw (too many to count!)

The elephants were one of my favorites!

Hyena in the dark

Watch out - the Hippos are brutal

WE ACTUALLY SAW A BLACK RHINO!!! These guys are super rare and very endangered.  Amazing!

Leopard Tortoise! Also very rare and part of the "Little 5"