Lotus Island

We had our final game drive in Maasai National Park, and it did not disappoint. We started early to get as much activity as we could while the animals are at their most lively. As the day progresses, the heat slows them down into an almost hibernation state. Right out the gate, a whole pride of lions had accumulated around what looked into a dead zebra, likely a fresh catch from the night before. This was the first time we saw the whole pride (or at least most of it) all together, and it meant that there were multiple males, many females, and so many cubs. The cubs were incredibly curious and walked all the way up to the row of cars that had formed along the road. Eventually, mum came and helped escort them across the road. We followed the cubs where he led us to a small family of cheetahs, likely the same from the first day. They were sitting utop a small mound, looking out over the landscape. We then bolted across the National Park, giving us hope that a Leopard was in our midst. We had specified to the driver that our last target was to see a leopard, and so he made it his main goal for the trip. After being thrown around the truck for about 5 minutes, we arrived at a fragmented piece of vegetation. The driver was trying to drive straight through the landscape to get us as close as possible. We then spotted an old Leopard meal that was hanging from the tree. We knew we were close. After 30 minutes of looking, we gave up and headed away, but after about an hour, there was another report of the Leopard back where we had just been. When we returned, the impala carcass that had been hung on the tree by the Leopard was gone, and we knew we missed our opportunity to see a Leopard. But we persisted and tried our best to keep look out. We were sure he was close. At one point, the driver drove us right into the middle of the trees. I was in the front seat and so could see best into the bushes. A moment that gave me chills was spotting the Leopard in the thick vegetation, looking directly at me and the truck. I then tried to tell others but must have made too much of a commotion as he then bolted through the bushes to somewhere safer. Luckily, everyone from my truck saw him, even if he was just a blur, as he ran away. I was lucky enough to have seen him in full detail up close. Even if still not for very long. The rest of the group from the other truck did not get so lucky and never got to spot him throughout the rest of the day. After all this, there wasn't much time left in the day to be fair, and so we headed for the exit. We then met with the truck to head to Lake Naivasha.

We didn't have a long drive, and so we were able to also squeeze in a sunset hippo tour in Lake Naivasha. This was quite cheap and went for a couple of hours, and it was a nice way to end the day. It was relaxing. We just floated around the lake, spotting Hippos and watching Eagles hunt fish. We then parked up toward the middle of the lake and watched the sunset to round out a nice afternoon. After this, we went back to camp to discover a group of school kids would be occupying the camp site right next to ours. This was annoying as they had to come through our camp site for water, and we would be able to hear them late at night and early in the mornings. We only had 2 nights here, but it was going to be clear that sleep might be hard to come by.Read more