My African Safari

Amazing Masaimara

2009-11-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

Last month my friend and ex-colleague ,Mrs.Gopa Nag wrote a mail to me saying she is visiting Kenya in October.I requested her to postpone the trip as i was planning to go to India during this period.But both of us couldn't change our program due to various reasons.

After her Kenya trip ,she wrote to me----

''we enjoyed d trip very very much.......before this we went to Bangkok ,Singapore,Mauritius,Dubai,Egypt.But this is our most remarkable trip''....

She attached few snaps with the mail .All the snaps are awesome..

All the photos in this post are taken by her during her visit to Masai Mara national park [in Kenya]

Elephant Orphanage n Giraffe Center

2009-05-21T02:17:00.000-07:00

Elephant Orphanage is the place i love to visit as it gives me immense pleasure.Its only 20-30min drive from Nairobi city[Kenyas capital].In Elephant Orphanage , orphan baby elephants are taken care and when they are old enough to survive they are left in the forest--Its amusing to see them drinking milk from bottles,playing foot ball , taking mud bath and interacting with their caretakers.

Giraffe center is another attraction in Nairobi.This is the only place where you can feed Giraffes from your palm.We can stand on a platform and feed them with pellets of cattlefood.Giraffes come from the forests to get this tasty meal.Its a pleasure to feed them.

Our Adventurous Gamedrive in Masaimara

2009-04-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

                Guide Cum Owner of the Vehicle

Early morning[on Easter Sunday] our guide came for taking us on a game drive. Our driver cum guide dressed in his tribal attire was a Masai with Oxford English accent.

Thousands of Zebras,Gazelles n toppys [kind of deer],wild beasts,...grazing on vast area of grassland was an amazing sight.we saw almost all animals during our drive-lions,groups of elephants,hippos in the river...just unbelievable.

             Our Game Drive

I felt that iam watching ANIMAL PLANET channel .
As there was not much rain that day after breakfast we started our journey to Olare safari tent.There was no proper roads to the tent.On the way we could see various animals even crossing our vehicle.

We reached Olare camp by lunch time.We liked the beautiful tents inside the prestine Olare conservancy.Our plan was to go for night drive but couldn't due to heavy rain,we cancelled it.

Next day [Monday]we got up early n by 6am went again for a game drive.Came back n had breakfast n packed luggage for our return trip.There were altogether four 8seater vehicles going back to Nairobi[Kenya's capital].As it rained heavily and as the soil was very sticky driving was very difficult.

Many times we got stuck in the sticky fine clay.Every time young boys n girls[natives] got down from other vehicles and helped each other!!They cut small tree branches and spread on the way n pushed the vehicle.Finally it became a team effort--All started helping each other.

On the way we have to cross a narrow river[looks like a canal].But Alas---The river was flooded due to previous days heavy showers.Our effort to cross the river continued till evening in vain ,from various parts of the river .It was almost sunset--some of the vehicles fuel got over.Our mobiles got discharged.We stopped near the river in utter desperation .

We could see a Masai village nearby.They came with boiled milk and ugali[Kenyan staple food-made of maize flour].But we managed with some snacks n little water we had.Masais put bon -fire near our vehicles and stayed awake till morning to protect us from wild animals.!!!true warriors.We spent sleepless night in our vehicle.

                            Masais coming to help us

crossing river

God listened our prayers.The river water level came down next day.By 11am we crossed the river.Reached nearby town by 3pm and broke our 24hour fast.By 8pm we reached our Nairobi[capital of Kenya]apartment.Ooh--what a relief.
Looking back i take it as a nightmare.

Our Masaimara Safari--in Kenya

2009-04-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

FIGTREE TENT

It was in 2008 Easter vacation.We decided to go for a package tour to MASAI MARA[in Kenya] which is famous for migration of animals during July August every year.Thousands of wild beasts migrate in a line from Masaimara to Serengeti safari park in Tanzania.Many foreigners visit this country during this period to see this amazing phenomenon. Masaimara is a vast grassland with few bushes in between where you can see thousands of various kinds of animals like zebra,giraffe,various kinds if deer,wild beasts ,lion,.....etc.

We booked in Olare safari camp-it contains luxury tents with double bed n attached bathrooms.The package tour includes picking us from Nairobi house in a van,full board accommodation,and game drives.[taking us in four wheel -drive vehicle for seeing animals] and dropping us back home .It was a two nights n three days package.

I was sooo excited about the whole journey--as iam so fond of seeing animals.We started our tour on good Friday along with our friends family.We carried some fruits,biscuits chips , water n started at 7am.But due to bad road n rain it took more than 8hours to reach there.

As it was raining heavily they made accommodation for us in another tent called Figtree,because Olare was further away and travelling to it was difficult as there was no proper roads n have to cross a river.[normally river is dry but floods when it rains].there was no bridge over river.

Figtree is a big hotel with many luxury tents all on the banks of a narrow river. Just 5feet from our tent was the river--there was no barricade !!!!!!!!other side of the river was the forest where we could see giraffes grazing.

we relished the buffet dinner having various continental items followed by Masai dance.MASAIS are tribal people in masaimara.

As we were too tired we slept by 10.30pm. By 3.30am we got up with a sound.when the sound repeated my husband asked me 'is it the sound of a lion'--we just whispered each other due to fear--we could hear the roaring sound clearly--as if its standing in front of our tent--my heart was pounding like the drum beat.

Both of us ran in to the bath room [as it was built in stones ]and closed the door--but the tent was made of thick tarpaulin! night was sooo cold that i started shivering hiding inside bathroom.we didn't dare to take blanket from the bed.We tried to call our friends who are in the next tent.But there was no signal for the mobile. The roaring sound continued...

HIPPOS IN MARA RIVER

By 5am roaring reduced and we could hear some people talking outside. Regaining courage we peeped out--

then friends told us that it was hippos sound--their sound resembles lions roaring. Hippos come out from water at night only.There were many hippos in the river just in front of our tent.But guard said they cant climb up due to their weight and short limbs.But hippos are the first killer in Africa--as they crush out whatever coming on their way!!!!!

This is one of the most hilarious incident in our life.