THE EAST AFRICAN SERIES, DAY 20 & 21
Karen – Masai Mara Conservancy
The Masai Mara. We set off from Nairobi early doors, our trip to the Masai Mara would likely take us the guts of 5-6 hours.
ITS AMAZING TO SEE THESE ANIMALS IN THEIR RAWEST FORM
During our drive we had a quick stop for views from the Great Rift which stretches from Jordan to Mozambique and a little taster to the landscape that awaits us in the bush.
WHERE IS KAREN BLIXEN CAMP?
Karen Blixen Camp
KAREN BLIXEN CAMP
The drive wasn’t too bad, it took 5 hours and 2 of those were on dirt roads which our guide Michael took no shit from but eventually we arrived at Karen Blixen Camp, a great camp which overlooks the Mara river and 25 hippos who never seem to move.
The tents are great, very spacious, 2 sinks, a great toilet and an outside shower which goes as hot as you like. The cherry has to be the hot water bottle you get every night!
DAILY INFO… DAY 20&21
- HOTEL – Karen Blixen Camp
- ATTRACTIONS – Safari
- STEPS – 16,000 & 9,700
- MILES – 192.6 miles
EVENING SAFARI
Arriving in time for lunch meant we could also enjoy the evening safari, our first taste of what was to come.
After just 45mins and meeting the usual suspects of elephants, giraffes and impalas we arrived at a pride of lions keen on getting their morning snacks (their morning is around 5pm). Unfortunately there wasn’t much action but could take plenty of photos.
We spent most of the evening with them and then headed back to the camp for dinner and bed
The Masai Mara
RELATED READ: THE BEST BACKPACK FOR TRAVELLING
DAY 21
Game drives are always done first thing in the morning and in the late afternoon, this ensures you have the best chance of seeing most of the animals who sleep during the heat of the day. So by 6:30 this morning we were off for our drive around the conservancy. The conservancy is quiet and restricted to those who are staying in the camps within that area. This is compared to the Nature Reserve, which is open to whoever so numbers are often a lot higher.
Game drives can often be very similar but I could see the same thing everyday for a month and not get bored, it’s an amazing place.
The Masai Mara
SUMMED UP….
- HIGHLIGHT – lions are often the highlight
ALPHA LIONS
Again we bumped into the pride of lions and watched a chase that ended unsuccessfully for them against a small warthog, something that would barely fill 1 lion let alone the 12 in this family.
We also visited the 2 males who are brothers but prefer to keep their distance from the rest of the family (sounds like they know what they’re at). We thought 1 was limping slightly until we seen the other which couldn’t rest it’s foot on the ground, easy pickings for a group of Hyenas but with his big brother around he wouldn’t be in any danger.
The Masai Mara
TODAY’S YOUTUBE VIDEOS
If you want to see today from a different perspective, and catch a few different stories from the front row, then check out today’s YouTube videos below.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Great to be back in the land of the Lions but the real flavour comes when we see the 10s of 1,000s of wilder-beasts at the National Park tomorrow.
NEXT UP
Getting out of the private concession and to the Nature Reserve to hopefully see some river crossings!! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
157/229
This post is part of The East African Series, for the entire series click here or for episode 1, click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
