Kenyan Safari
In those twenty to thirty minutes, we were all aligned in one common goal, united as one front and bound by purpose!
By Shri & Firuza
Intro
We wanted to give a brief insight into our experience in Kenya and what it’s like to be on an African Safari! This will be a relatively short blog, as most time went into writing the Kilimanjaro climb, but we’re sure we can still wet your appetite and give some good tips!
And so let’s head over to Mother Africa, and begin at Nairobi airport!
Arrival
Once we got out at the airport, we struggled for a few minutes to find our driver – turns out they had a sign which said “Firuza and Friend’ which was not specifically enough for Firuza who was expecting to Shri’s name up there with hers.
We had booked a safari tour through a mutual friend of a friend who referred us to the tour operator and we organised this pretty last minute via WhatsApp. It turned out we would have our own driver who would take us from Nairobi airport all the way to the Masai Mara park (about 6 hours away) as well as on a private safari tour for 2 and a half days. The whole thing including 3 nights accommodation at the Mara Sidai camp (tent glamping) cost us $500 per person which for a private tour is not bad. Let us know if you want more details on the tour company.
During our 6 hour ride to the park, we encountered road blockages due to cows crossing our path and plenty of zebra and wildebeest along the way too. When we finally arrived we quickly learnt that it would have been better to have dollars to pay for park entry ($80 per person) as opposed to Kenya Shillings – it somehow works out cheaper this way and dollars are a preferred currency. After that we were in!
Jurassic Park Moment (Giraffes)
As this is a short blog we are not going to run through everything day by day but instead go animal by animal which is also an easier way for us to remember. As we entered the park, a few minutes later we had 2 giraffes cross our path, elegantly moving two sets of legs at the same time and carrying their long necks so gracefully. For us, this was a Jurassic Park moment which we compared to the film when the team first lays eyes on the Brachiosaurus herd. Even though we’d previously seen giraffes in zoos, it’s just a totally different experience seeing them in their own habitat marching around in their home. The experience may have ruined zoos for us forever now!
Over the course of the whole trip we saw loads of giraffes, more than we can remember. We agreed that watching them was probably the most interesting animal other than the predators purely due to their gracefulness, their height and size and the way they move.
The Big 5
In Africa you will regularly hear people on safaris refer to The Big 5 which basically consists of the 5 animals which are all a danger to each other and most dangerous for humans to hunt. They are: lions, rhinos, leopards, elephants and buffalo.
Lions
We had to start with these guys! Up until this point, our view of lions was based mainly on the characters of Mufasa from Lion King and Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia – wise, cool-headed and definitely in favour of peace! In reality, in the wild, lions are responsible for a lot of death out in the planes and so although we knew this would be the case, it was quite interesting to see them in this different light – which is probably how we should have seen them in the first place!
We came across a small pride in the early morning of our second day where we veered off the normal path and onto the grass. When we got close up we saw the group were busy dismantling the body of a wildebeest (which we soon learned were the easiest prey for lions to catch that still made a good sized meal). We barely had time to take a quick snap when our vehicle suddenly started up again and our driver sped off in another direction. At first we were confused but we later found out the park rangers were on their way and that our driver would have been fined had he been caught off the path. A tip in case you ever decide to rent a vehicle and do your own safari – don’t stray from the path unless you’re prepared for a hefty fine.
On the same day, a little later on we managed to find a lion couple who appeared to be mating until we got close with the car. They then proceeded to carry on before stopping again – unsure of whether to continue with the bemused audience in attendance. It must be tough, trying to go about your business but being regularly ogled by human tourists – unless of course they are into that kind of thing…
We also found one, which had killed a wildebeest near a small lake, but seemed to be saving the meal for later. And then one evening upon leaving the park we came across another pride which had brought down a wildebeest and were proceeding to eat it in its entirety sparing nothing, even the eyes! It is worth noting that we didn’t actually manage to witness a kill while there and from what we have learned, if this is something you’re interested in then you’re best to be in the park early morning around dawn and shortly before dusk as these are popular times for the lions to strike.
Can you spot the wildebeest carcass in the tree…?
Leopards
We only managed to see one leopard during the whole safari and this was after searching for some time. Our eagle-eyed guide spotted the leopard high up in a tree (although to be fair there were also 3-4 other cars camped around that tree – a lot of animal spotting comes from following other cars or the drivers all talking to each other).
This leopard was sleeping and it seems they are normally more active at night time. We later also found the remnants of a wildebeest that had been dragged halfway up a tree by a leopard, but the leopard was gone at this point.
Having had a lion walk right alongside our car at one point, our guide did stress to us that we wouldn’t be able to ride alongside a leopard. He said that the lion would not be able to jump and get into the car (contradicting another Lion King expectation for lions) but the leopard would, as we had an open top safari vehicle. When we asked him what to do if a leopard got into the car, he said: “don’t worry, you won’t be able to do anything”…..
Rhinos & Elephants
We unfortunately didn’t see any rhinos on this occasion. Our guide mentioned he hadn’t seen any for a month or so in the Masai Mara, mainly because of the time of year (October) and the wildebeest supposedly being an annoyance to the rhinos due to their smell and noisiness. Nevertheless, we did meet a couple of Dutch travellers on Kilimanjaro who did manage to see all of the big 5 including rhinos in the neighbouring Serengeti park down in Tanzania. We’re not saying go to Serengeti instead and you’ll definitely see them- just pointing out what happened with us.
As for the elephants we saw plenty of them and even witnessed a very brief little scuffle between a few of them just before dark.
How To Urinate On Safari
A brief pause here while we cover the question you’ve all been thinking about most. How does one relieve themselves when on a safari?
When we first entered the park we were told under no circumstances should we get out of the vehicle as it was for our own safety. However, when we later asked what the procedure was for needing to pee, our guide said quite simply, “we have to go in the bush”. So, basically when he said under no circumstances should we get out, he meant “except in this case”.
For Shri’s first piss, we stopped in a fairly open place with only one or two bushes around so as to avoid potential animals hiding in dense vegetation. During these moments, he took probably what was the longest piss of his life, not because there was a lot of urine but because he was constantly scanning the scene checking for any incoming predators. Not stage fright as Firuza may claim!
For Firuza’s first piss, she actually made Shri go with her and stand guard. Not entirely sure what her thinking was here, as Shri would not be able to do much against a lion or leopard, unless she was counting on the 50% chance that if Shri was also outside he might be eaten instead of her…..
By the second and third days we were not only leaving the car for toilet breaks but also to take quick selfies with dead carcasses (yes it is quite a carnage scene out there) at the suggestion of our guide – yes the one who previously said don’t get out under any circumstances!
On the final day he prepared a picnic and setup a blanket on the grass in the middle of the park. It me be debatable if we spent more time in or out of the car. But at least now you know what the toilet situation is on safari.
Buffalo & Wildebeest
We did manage to see a fair number of buffalos who could often be found near either wildebeests or zebras. Our guide told us that they are quite difficult for predators to take down and often it requires a few lions, including a male one to better a buffalo completely. As for the wildebeest, well you already know they are one of the easier targets (and for once this is reflected appropriately in Lion King)! We were lucky to see part of a wildebeest migration between Kenya and Tanzania at this time as you’ll see in one of our clips. This truly is a brilliant thing to watch if you ever get a chance around autumn (or spring, sorry if we offended anyone who lives in the Southern Hemisphere).
The Best of the Rest!
Not trying to validate George Orwell’s saying of “Some animals are more equal than others” but when it comes to African Safari, the above animals for us definitely were the most interesting. As for the rest they all get a few credits below:
- Warthogs – mainly ran away from the car but in circles so they didn’t really get away. Good luck with a real predator!
- Cheetahs – yes they are fast but you won’t always find them running. We saw about 5 who were always asleep and kept in groups of two or more
- Crocodiles and hippos – these guys supposedly had non-written and non-verbal agreements to not mess with each other in the water
- Vultures – they were pretty interesting actually – especially when they were making a move on a fresh carcass
- Hyenas – we saw a few and were told they have some really good stamina and can chase prey for a long time until they wear them out. For some reason Shri has recently taken to watching YouTube videos of hyenas fighting with lions or leopards. Just don’t ask why!
- Zebras – we put them last because they begin with ‘Z’, and we couldn’t think of anything else funny or amusing to say about them other than they were quite elegant
Bound by purpose
On the very last day, while searching for leopards and driving around some very questionable bends and doing lots of reversing we eventually got stuck at the bottom of a ditch. When people think of safaris they often think of all the animals they may see, maybe a kill, maybe mating, but nobody usually considers the scenario where they get into trouble because of the car not being able to move!
After 5 minutes of hitting the gas continuously (accelerator for non American readers) and trying to steer out of it, our guide eventually got out of the car. Firuza told Shri to go and help him which he did straight away. The angle we had gone down in meant we were stuck at the bottom and would need to try and reverse before moving forwards while steering in another direction if that makes any sense?
In the end, we had to get Firuza to reverse the vehicle while Shri and our guide pushed the vehicle from the front. Only after about 20 minutes of attempting this did it occur to Shri how exposed they were and that they hadn’t even been looking around in case there were any approaching animals. He quickly started making mental visualisations of how he’d run up and vault himself onto the vehicle should the need arise but luckily it did not.
About ten minutes later, the car was successfully reversed and in a position for our guide to take over again and get us out, We all shouted in joy and quite possibly in relief too. We high-fived each other and set off on our way. At that moment, we had not achieved something that would make any dent in the universe, or bring us any glory, no. But what we had done was to solve a problem as a team. In those twenty to thirty minutes, we were all aligned in one common goal, united as one front and bound by purpose!
Back to Nairobi
After the safari, a few days staying at Diani beach near Mombasa and a hike up a small Tanzanian mountain (see the Kilimanjaro Blogs if that’s of interest to you too!), we headed back to Nairobi for our return flight to the UK. Instead of a very long layover, we opted to stay one more night in Nairobi after coming back from Tanzania. Unfortunately, we ended up booking a hotel room which was directly above a nightclub, so we felt the bass for much of the night and the tiredness of the trip prevented us from joining in with any of the fun.
We decided to take an Uber to the airport the next day, mainly because the guy who brought us to the hotel the previous night had charged almost double what the Uber price was. Once we had ordered the Uber, we waited about 10 minutes for the driver to arrive and it seemed he got lost once or twice on the way. When he finally arrived Shri had to chase after the driver who overshot us by almost a block.
Once in the car, we spent about 5 minutes driving before the driver started pulling up to the side and asking pedestrians how to get to the airport. This then happened again a few minutes later. And then again. Within twenty minutes it felt as if he had asked a quarter of Nairobi which direction the airport was. He eventually seemed satisfied with an answer and headed in the correct direction. This was our very first experience in an Uber where there was no navigation system or a phone that the driver used to map their route and was definitely something of a phenomenon to us.
When we really got going we almost went into the back of a group of cows, with the driver going way faster than should surely be allowed on a small road and just barely doing an emergency stop right in front of the cows. This drive seemed more scary than the entire safari! When we eventually arrived at the airport, Shri was in half a mind to not give the driver a good rating as he had driven past us to start with, not known where to go, not offered to help us with our bags when we got into the car, almost run over a bunch of cows and been a very sharp turner. But when the man stepped out of the car, aided by a walking stick and wished us a safe flight and thanked us for visiting his country, suddenly we forgot any bad feeling towards the drive and it became just another part of the adventure. We later gave him a nice review.
And so our first East African experience was over, as too was our first real safari experience! We had a great time and highly recommend a trip to the Masai Mara and Kenya too: As for that final drive back to Nairobi airport, well, it epitomizes a saying that we’ve seen some of our friends from Africa use in GIFs and social media status updates: “Only in Africa!” I think after that and our experience in Tanzania we can finally relate 🙂
Until the next time!
