Crossing to Masai Mara, Kenya

Some mornings at breakfast we see giraffes below our dining deck, this morning there were buffalo. Then Raja took us on the bone-jarring, tooth-rattling, tailbone-bruising 45-minute ride back to Kogatende airstrip (which does have an inside waiting room after all). Our plane was a Cessna Caravan, with only 3 other passengers until we stopped at Lemai airstrip and picked up 2 more. At Tarime airstrip 6 of us deplaned and hopped into a van to cross the border by land. Thank goodness the road here was paved!

It was about a 20-minute drive to the border town, where the exit Tanzania/enter Kenya process was quick and efficient. 30 minutes later we arrived at the Migori airstrip (which is labeled on google maps as an “international” airport — maybe because it’s paved?!). Our next flight was also a Caravan, room for 12 passengers, with a center aisle barely 6” wide! We got off at the 2nd stop, our camp’s private airstrip, and were greeted with drinks and washcloths (the greeting at every lodge as well). Our camp, andBeyond Kichwa Tembo, was only a short drive away, in a beautiful wooded area at the base of the escarpment. We are now on the Masai Mara, where those wildebeests on the Serengeti were headed when they crossed the Mara River.

After the orientation we were walked to our room, most of which is a canvas tent with screening for windows — but pretty comfortable inside! After a buffet lunch in the open dining area, we met our guide Charity — one of the very few female safari guides in Tanzania or Kenya. We shared the late-afternoon drive with a couple from Annapolis, Susannah and Chris. Right outside camp there were a *lot* of giraffes, but our favorite sight was the “necking” giraffes — young males trying out the dominance behavior that they’ll use as adults. Just before dusk, we went speeding over to the area where black rhinos had been spotted. There were five that we could easily see before they headed for the bushes, but it was too dark to take photos. Charity told us that with all the wildebeest that are here temporarily, the rhinos are a little more skittish than usual.Okumaya devam et