Maasai Mara and the abrupt trip home

Hey Guys!
When I was writing the Diani Beach blog, it seemed totally out of the realm of possibility that it would be our second last blog. However, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Read on for what turned out to be a very eventful last week in East Africa.
For most of February, we had been in a somewhat blissful 'COVID-19 free bubble.' There were no reported cases in East Africa, and you really had to go looking for news about the virus. We knew it was quite a big problem in China and was gaining ground in some European nations. We had our eye on it, but didn't really think it would affect our travel plans. It continued like this into March, as we merrily made our way through Tanzania, passing into Kenya on March 12th. We really saw no need to rush through Kenya, and spent a relaxing few days making our way to Nairobi. The plan after that was to visit the Maasai Mara National Park before seeing some other places in the country like Lake Naivasha, Meru or Mt. Kenya. We really hadn't planned out this part of the trip. We were back in 'back-packer mode' where you go somewhere, talk to other travelers and shape your trip day by day.
However, the news of travel bans started coming in hot and heavy. Within a few days, we went from starting to consider that we would have to go home a week early, to cancelling our layover in Amsterdam, to booking the soonest possible flight home. Well that escalated quickly!
The last thing we got to do in Kenya was visit the Maasai Mara. As far as something to end on, this was superb. The landscapes were gorgeous, and we saw such a fantastic amount of wildlife. It was only a three day safari, but it was jam-packed with amazing sights.

Maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself! The first day was actually a bit of a rocky start. We were on a budget safari which we shared with 3 other people. Organizing more people takes time, and we were late getting into the park that first night, and it started raining almost immediately. The picture above is of some very wet and annoyed looking zebras. The rain really started coming down. Then we got stuck. 

Looking back, none of us should be surprised because we were actually in the middle of a river. One of our guides' buddies came and pulled us out, but by then it was almost dark and that was the end of that game drive. We had lots of room for improvement the next day. 

Here we go, off on safari!

We woke up to a beautiful bright and sunny day. We were greeted by giraffe out on their morning stroll. Our guide seemed to really be driving somewhere with purpose, as we saw hippos and elephants but didn't stop to take pictures. This was a good sign, because it meant he had something even cooler to show us. 

We drove up to the Black Rock Pride, and counted over 15 lions!  

They were all around the safari vehicles, just going about their normal business. 

This female walked right beside us!  

Look at how cute this little young one is. He was trying to nurse from mom.  

Now getting cleaned up

The two young cubs. The one on the left just can't wait to be king. 

Just LOOK AT THEM

Relaxing on the road

The lions were quite active because it wasn't that hot out. On the left, one of the little cubs was learning how to scratch on the same tree as the larger lioness. 

We eventually left them behind, though that was hard to do!

Spotted hyena 

Jackal

Lilac-breasted Roller. Did you think I could refrain from a single bird picture? Not a chance. 

This is the border marking with Tanzania. After 200 m, the Serengeti National Park starts

Our safari van was no worse for wear after being stuck yesterday. Just a little muddy. 

We watched some hippos on the Mara River. This is the same river where millions of wildebeest cross during the Great Migration (July to October) in search of green grass. 

In the afternoon, we got the thing I had been most hoping for- cheetahs! We had not seen these guys in Serengeti, although we had been lucky to see pretty much everything else. 

Here we ran into the 'Sopa boys,' named after the area that comprises their territory. One of them is peeing on the tree in this picture, something they did obsessively while we observed them. Cheetahs remind me of domestic cats much more than lions. 

Jared and I with the Sopa Boys

They moved to a grassy knoll to survey their turf. 

It was great to watch them stalking through the grass. At one point we hoped they had sniffed some prey, but they were just looking for more trees to pee on.  

Such beautiful landscapes for us to enjoy 

Surveying his domain  

They eventually slunk back into the grass, and we couldn't see them anymore. What an amazing experience. 

Speaking of amazing experiences, we were heading back out of the park when we stopped to observe a herd of African buffalo. I spotted what looked like hooves sticking out of the vulva of one of the cows. Looking through the binoculars confirmed that she was indeed calving! She walked around a bit before lying down to push. She was up and down  a few times, but she had the calf out in less than 10 minutes! Talk about an easy calver. She was up to lick off the calf right away, and it was sitting up in good time. The other people on our safari were totally grossed out when she delivered the placenta about 5 minutes later. How lucky were we to see that? 

We admired the big herds of grazers as we drove out of the park. Here are impalas. 

Topis

Hartebeest

Gazelles

It was an amazing experience, a great cap to what was an unforgettable trip to East Africa. It was sad to end here, as I can only imagine the amazing things the next 2 weeks could have brought. However, this was totally out of our control. COVID-19 is bigger than all of us, and it was time to head home. 

We flew uneventfully from Nairobi to Paris, though it was a little strange to see so many people wearing masks and disinfecting like crazy. Here we are on our plane from Paris to Vancouver. We were sitting in Sky Priority, and got served champagne and paté. It was an unexpected bit of luxury. 

Boarding the little hopper plane to Comox. We got some great views going across the Johnstone Strait. 

We settled that night into our Air BnB in Fanny Bay. Here we will observe a 14 day quarantine. Hopefully we can get this pesky pandemic under control, because there are a lot of amazing things to do and see in this world- and some of them are in our own backyards. 

Until Next Time! 

Diani Beach

Hey Guys!

After a great time in Zanzibar, we left Tanzania and headed for Kenya. We had heard good things about Diani Beach, so decided to stop there on our way to Mombasa (and eventually Nairobi). It is a beach town as well, but with some fun extras. 

Speaking of fun extras, here we are feeding bush babies (galagos) at our hostel. About 50-60 of these bush babies live on the grounds of this hostel, which is a bunch of tree houses nestled in the forest. They feed them at 7 pm, which is when these nocturnal creatures are just getting up for the 'day.'

This was beside a hardware store, a bunch of goats were just sleeping in the heat of the day. 

We visited the Kaya Kinondo, which is a sacred forest for the Digo peoples. It is still in use today for ceremonies and as a place to pray to the gods for things like rain and good fortune. We learned all about various medicinal plants, and the belief system of the Digo. They prohibit the cutting of tress in this forest, and we were not allowed to eat or drink anything, other than water. Kissing or PDA was also prohibited. 

There were some amazing vines to swing or lie in. Our guide told us about how it was wrong to cut even a small vine, because you were interfering with the tree's plan. In this case, the vine went up, came down and wound back on itself, making a seat for a person. By cutting this vine earlier, we never would have know what the tree had in store for us. 

On long walks through the forest, it could get pretty hot. The Digo used to stand and 'hug a tree' for 5-10 minutes to cool off, which actually worked. It was super hot and muggy, but it felt nice to lean into the tree for a few moments. We are also wearing black robes, which is part of the traditional dress of the Digo, and all visitors to the forest must wear.

This is coral rock, because this segment of the forest used to be underwater, and this would have been a coral reef. The Digo predict this land will return to the ocean one day.

This was a replica of a house the Digo would have lived in traditionally. Our guide, Hamsa, was of Digo ancestry. 

There is a Great Hornbill in this picture, though it is a bit hard to see. There were over 10 Hornbills flying above our heads while we took this forest tour. It was absolutely fantastic. 

Here I am in front of a baobab tree. This was near our hostel, one morning before we headed to the beach to watch the sunrise. I didn't know this, but baobab were introduced by the Arabs and are not native to Africa.

After Diani Beach we headed to Mombasa, with plans to take the train to Nairobi tomorrow. What used to be an 18 hour bus ride is now a 4 1/2 hour train journey. Sign me up! 

We had lunch in a Hare Krishna temple, and the food was fantastic. India, I am coming!

Ready for the train the next morning. Security was actually quite tight, and they found ALL FOUR of Jared's knives and multi-tools while scanning our bags. I knew he had a few, but I didn't realize he had 4! When asked why he needed all of these knives, I asked the exact same question to myself. Luckily, they didn't confiscate them. They 'escorted' them to Nairobi with a security officer, and we got them back when we reached the end. 

Until Next Time!