Hello all. The blog is a bit early this week, sorry about that, but I want to get everything I need to do in town done today so I can chill at the local pool tomorrow. So, I have lots to talk about, what with our little safari excursion and also a bit about the work this week.

Now then, I believe I left off last Friday, the day before departure to the Maasai Mara. We left nice and early on Saturday and hit the road, we travelled in 2 mutatus (clapped out mini buses) and were soon cruisng along. We were told we had a couple of stops planned on the way before lunch, the details of which remained somewhat mysterious. However, they turned out to be worthwhile and soon enough we were seeing the sights of Kenya as we went past a great view of the rocky, jagged peak of mount Kenya. It did not seem very high, partly because we were already umpteen thousand feet up and partly because it is just one peak among a bunch of hills and peaks around it. It was shortly after this that we made our first stop, at the equator, where we were treated the old, water spinning clockwise in the north, anti-clockwise in the south trick; the coriolis effect((?) the internet is too slow to check whether that is correct/spelt correct, but its something like that). The stop was brief and were soon back on the road and driving through a game reserve on the way to our second stop. This was excellent as got to preview some of the animals we would see on the safari as we drove past. The highlight of this was spotting a good view of a Rhino as we did not get such a good view at the Maasai Mara, other wise we saw Gazelles/Antelopes, Camels, Zebras, Giraffes and Elephants. It certainly whetted our appetites.

Our Second stop was a while after this, at a great big waterfall, called Thomson's Fall, which was obviously a little bit used to tourists stopping on their way to and from safaris, so it seemed that everywhere you looked was a trap to coax money out of you. Having said that, we viewed the fall and took a few photos and managed to get back in the mutatu without spending a bob (Kenyan slang for a shilling, which they commonly pronounce bub). The waterfall was pretty stunning and much larger than the one viewed earlier on the trip, but we only saw it from the viewing deck and it paled a bit of an insignificance with the rest of the weekend. We got back on the road fairly swiftly as lunch was approaching, and got to our destination for lunch and the night a short while after, a little bit late, at the Flamingo Lodge which sits on the shore of Lake Elementaita. The Lodge is so-called for good reason, as thousands of Flamingoes give the lake a pink shimmer. The lake itself is the saltiest lake in Kenya and white salt crystals are deposited all around the shore, it is also at any point a maximum of waist deep, identifiable because the Flamingoes were standing in it all across the lake. With the colour of the birds, the white salt deposits and the steep hills surrounding the lake on almost all sides, it was a thoroughly picturesque place to spend the night; especially on the open terrace at the back of the lodge facing the lake.

We woke up nice and early again, to more fantastic views of the lake in morning sun, had a bite to eat and hit the road again. The plan: to arrive at the Maasai Mara for lunch, settle in, then get a safari drive in before nightfall. With the exception of the minor hindrance of a burst tire (which was changed at world record speed by Simon, our tour guide and driver) this all went according to plan. The accomodation at the Maasai Mara was great, we had 2 in a tent, with plenty of room and a full bathroom, with warm shower on the back!! It was immediate general consenus that we would like to stay there for the remainder of the time in Kenya. The camp was situated on the very edge of the park and was surrounded by trees and shade. To add to the atmosphere of the place, Maasai tribesmen were wandering about everywhere, unmistakeable in their robe and carrying a spear. The Maasai helped to give the whole area a sort of aura, only slightly disturbed by one of them on their mobile. The first Safari drive was spectacular. We saw almost everything you could wish to see, and I would probably have been content to have gone home then. It seemed like we were building up through the ranks of animals and peaked at the end, with the ultimate. So first off we saw Wildebeest (by their thousand, stretched out over the whole plains), Gazelles and Antelopes, shortly followed by Zebras, which, for some reason, are a lot cooler when seen in the wild in real life, rather than on tv. These were then closely outdone by Elephants, who seemed a bit shy and moved away out of site fairly quickly. Again, this was trumped by a family of Giraffes, stood on tiptoes, eating the tops of trees. After this we got onto the serious buisness. Over in a quiet corner, at the foot of a slope, we spotted a couple of Cheetahs, snoozing in the afternoon sun. They were, seemingly, unfazed by our gazing at them and close by engine. The male, after a while, slinked off on the prowl but gave up and had another kip. This was a rare and hypnotising view. Once again, however, this was outdone, and we were soon racing off to see our fist glimpse of a lion. We saw this in some style, as we trundled upto them, and stopped to watch and take photos, it became apparent that it was mating time in the Lion world. What happened next is strictly for adults only. After a few cheers and wolf whistles from the crowd watching, the male rolled off and went back to sleep, and the female continued to look uninterested. Even though they werent doing anything exciting, just lying around, I found the Lions mesmerising, and could have watched them do nothing for hours. After watching them for a while, we were off for our second Lion spot. Which raised the bar once again, as we came to a stop, we had a Lion a little bit away under the shade of a bush, chilling out, and just in front of us, a few metres away, was a male Lion, munching on a dirty great big Wildebeest- whic was well dead, guts hanging out and everything. It was super cool. Every so often the Lion looked up at its spectators, a little smugly, to suggest that we should all be jealous of him and his feast. This was my favourite moment, of the trip, possibly ever.

After that, we were heading back to the tents, thoroughly satisfied with our first taste of Safari. The next day, we were up early again, before breakfast, to go on an early drive. This time we saw everything again, plus Buffalo (one of the big 5 apparently) and a Rhino in the distance. We also saw another Lion kill. This time a Lioness was munching on a Wildebeest, only a short while though and then started dragging it back to her Pride. She had an injury on her hind leg which we assumed was freshly given to her by the Wildebeest being dragged on the floor. Driving through the Maasai Mara with the sun coming up, surrounded by some of the most stunning landscapes and exciting animals was an experience I will probably never forget, it was impossible to look anywhere and not get incredible scenery. There is a reason that the BBC and any other documentary producers flock there at this time of year to film 'the great migration'. It is one of Nature's greatest theme parks, and home to one of its greatest events (in the words of David Attenborough). Although we didnt witness it all, we saw enough to go home satisfied and more than content with our weekend away. Despite all the travelling, and the terribly long time spent in a cramped mutatu, it was all worth it for that 20 hours spent at the Maasai Mara.

After the safari drive, we had breakfast and hit the road. It was a very long day stuck in a mutatu. We drove past the tip of the Great Rift Valley, but didnt have time to stop, and got back home late evening, in need of a rest.

We were back at work for the second half of the week, at the forest nursery. The job we were doing there was mainly just maintenance of the nursery, weeding and watering. It seemed a bit of a contrast to the weekend where we were constantly moving around between sites of beauty and excitement. On Friday we returned to the site we worked at for the first week or 2 at the church to do the same at the nursery there in the morning. In the afternoon, we went back the school we visited before to do some more teaching. I was appointed some younger kids than last time, which was good but their English was less advanced and this made communication harder and in the end we had to resort to just playing and running about outside. The kids were well behaved in the classroom, but once outside went wild and used us as their own personal climbing frames.

Thats about all I have time for today I am afraid. Sorry I didnt go into more detail, but time is an issue and I have been here for a considerable time already. As it happens I need to get to a Dowry agreement, seriously. I'll let you know how many cows this woman is worth next week. In a bit x