Masai Mara Safari Day 2 – Various places

An early start, but thankfully nowhere near as early as the previous day, we met up with Ali. I’d wisely decided to go into the bathroom last so I was at least able to muster some tepid water out of the shower head. All freshened up it was time to brave the mean streets of Nairobbery in search of some breakfast. Jill and I had made it about a couple of hundred yards when we bumped into to Timmy who was on his way to pick Kristin up from the bus terminal. The plan was to then come pick us up from the hotel before heading out of the city centre to pick up the final three members of our tour as they were living in Nairobi already.

After a short drive in our converted combi-truck, we hit up a small local place for some breakfast. I can’t quite remember what I had, probably some version of a full English. The bread was horrible, the mango juice amazing, and the rest was no es gran cosa. 2 out of 5. Back in to the van which is just like a matatu minibus, but with only 7 seats in the back and a fancy expandable roof that allows you to stand up and have a look through the nice gap. We went off to pick up Emily, Leslie and Stephanie from a swanky shopping mall. I was far too excited for my own good by the appearance of an actual KFC, thankfully I didn’t pile in to a Zinger burger, but I bet it would have been good. Much better than ‘Mr Tastys’ or ‘I feel like chicken tonight’ and yes that is the name of a fast food chain in Kampala.

All aboard we headed out of town towards the Masai Mara. Another long drive, but pretty comfy all along and nowhere near as long as the previous days effort. The first bit of tourism that we got to was after the road emerged on to a massive escarpment with amazing views for miles over the Great Rift Valley. It was simply stunning and a good introduction to some of the awe inspiring sights to come over the next couple of days. After a brief break to admire the views, take pics and spot some monkeys and rock hyraxes, it was off to Narok. The last proper stop before we reached the Mara.

Our lunch stop was one that seemed to also cater for lots of other safari goers. I ended up having peas, rice and chapatti. 2 out of 5. Pre-warned that the camp we would be staying in might be more expensive I loaded up on some cold Tuskers. Turns out that the campsite was significantly cheaper! After some increasingly bumpy roads we arrived at the Oloolaimutia Gate entrance to Masai Mara a bit after 6. Luckily we could still go in for a quick game drive before sundown. During that time we were lucky enough to see, wildebeest, cape buffalo, zebra, impala, topi, giraffe, gazelle, a lioness on her own, some funky lizard, grey crowned crane, elephants, a beautiful sunset and about 50 4x4’s full of humans.

We headed back outside of the park to the nearby Rhino Tourist Camp and got our rooms sorted out. Ali and I shared a massive four-bed dorm and my clever tactic of using the shower second led to a warm shower this time. After freshening up it was off to the restaurant area for the buffet dinner on offer. I had some mince type dish with boiled potatoes, it was pretty tasty. 2.5 out of 5. After a few more Tuskers it was time for bed after another long day.