After finishing my project in Nairobi, I spent 3 days in the Maasai Mara to catch my last glimpses of wild animals. I was with a group of 3 American nurses and 2 Brits, all in their 20s. We were staying in a fixed tent camp, which was great - they slept 4 with proper beds and an ensuite bathroom with a proper hot water shower - luxury!! It was a great place and the food was good too - very unexpected, given how little I paid for the trip. On Friday evening we went straight out for a game drive and within half an hour we had spotted a cheetah lying in the grass - fab! We saw some zebra and wildebeest (although most have now migrated to the Serengeti), buffalo, elephants and giraffe but then the heavens opened and it was almost like monsoon rains - we couldn't see out of the van windows - so we headed back to camp. On Saturday we spent the whole day (around 9 hours!) out on a game drive and saw a lot, including lots of lions (2 males which were fantastic!), another cheetah, this time running across the grass, and a whole load of other stuff. On Sunday morning we headed out again for a final 2 hour drive, really to try and spot a leopard and hopefully a rhino. We saw another cheetah, a lioness guarding a recent kill for her pride and a beautiful owl, amongst other stuff but sadly no leopard. I liked the 'Mara' but think the Serengeti and Ngorongoro might have pipped it to the post in terms of volume of animals and sunning landscape.

On Tuesday, I bid farewell to John and Lydia and headed to Doha for an overnight stop. I was very impressed with Qatar Airways and would definitely fly with them again although the staff in Nairobi did screw up a bit.I asked them not to check my bags straight through ad they said they couldn't (eh?!) but that I could get my bags back at the transfer desk in Doha. Yeah, that was rubbish - they said it was possible but it would take 3 hours. Hmmnm, er....no! There aren't any hotels in Doha airport (which is odd since it's a bit like Dubai in that it's a real transit airport) so I had booked something in town. Armed with my visa, off I headed into a mini Dubai and to my hotel where I had room service and that was about it. At 4am, I was jolted awake by my door opening. By the time I got out of bed to have a look, whoever was there had gone but it really freaked me out and there was no chain on the door (but it had been locked so obviously it was someone with a key). I put a chair there sp that at least I would hear if someone came again but then I couldn't sleep! After breakfast I went for a wander down to the corniche (the view of the main city was pretty impressive and they are building like crazy) and the Islamic Museum of Art looked nice but it didn't until mid-morning. Doha didn't look as though it had that much to see but it's a modern city that looks fairly easy to live in, apart from all the tea towels and ninja suits!!

Anyway, back to the Mara - lots of photos on picasa (www.picasaweb.google.com/lindylou73 and I've also uploaded a video from way back in February when Kian and I did the lion encounter in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe. It's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qPR_hhv3xI

Enjoy!!