Hey All! I knwo it's been a while, but internet access is pretty slim when your trucking around or are on safari! Yay! Africa, as you may imagine is amazing! We flew in with Emirates who we said 'were fantastic' until we landed in Nairobi and Ruth's bag was lost in Dubai - YAY! Don't worry she got it back. Anywho, we left Nairobi and went to Lake Navaisha which is where are first 'Crayfish Campsite' was. At the bottom of the campsite was a HUGE lake filled with over a 1000 Hippos, of which around 10 were nestled away from the shoreline of the lake. (Apologies for Typos, but you never know when the system might crash.)Anywho, after setting up the tent, we mingled with the group, drinking Tusker beer (V.Nice) and realising that there was alot of tension in the air. Basically, we joined a group that had already been on the road for 2 1/2 weeks together, so they were pretty tight. half of their group were to leave the next day, whiclst 7 of us joined to make a new group. Let's just say we are glad now that the whole of the old group have now gone apart from 2 nice people, as they were so ANNOYING and V.b****Y within the group - they MOANED constantly. At the end of it, the goup we now have is very nice, and I'm sure all 9 of us will get along swimmingly. So the next day, post struggling with putting up the tent, Ruth and I headed off to Crater Lake with some of the others. We saw Giraffes up close, and Zebras and Pumbas. It was amazing being able to get so close up to them, and seeing so many in their natural habitat. On the way back acoss the lake we watched a Fish Eagle grab it's prey, with such grace and skill. We left Lake Naviasha and headed for a long and bumpy trip to the Masai Mara. Here we set up our tents, in a campsite protected by genuine Masai people with bows and arrows- all v.exciting. We head the sound of hyenas in the background, which was very cool as you fall asleep. The next day we went to a Masai village, and were welcomed by the men and the women. When I say welcomed I mean sang to, danced in front of and jumped at - bit different. It was very interesting, and an insight into the tribal life. For example a Masai boy only becomes a warrior, and can marry his first wife if he solely kills a lion. After this he can pick as many wives as he likes, and they live in individual huts, around which he will roatate of a night. Yes, they only live on meat, blood and milk - we didn't try any! After the Masai camp we headed for the Masai Mara, where we did a gamedrive for the afternoon and early evening. We saw loads! Highlights were 3 cheetahs eating their prey, a herd of elephants, a leopard in the tree and a ranbdly wilderbeest mounting any femals he could - nice! The most enjoyable bit was standing up in the hole at the front of the truck, wehre you can listen to everything, and see the whole view really clearly. Ruth and I were there when we saw the lion and lioness sleeping in the afternoon sun - v.cool. That night we camped in the Masai mara, again with masai men protecting us as we slept - crocodiles live nearby in the river running through. I had a masai man help me put up the tent - how cool is that! Yesterday, we came back to Nairobi, which was a real long drive. We went through the park on the way back, and spotted a hyena and jackal, another pride of lions and the mass of wilderbeest. The drive back was 6hours long and took ages - as may be expected - along very sandy and bumpy roads. The only enjoyment is waving to the locals as we drive past and have them grin back at us. We arrived at the campsite, quickly got changed and them went to 'Carnivore' one of the top twenty restaurants in the world. It was so posh, you wouldn't think we wer ein Africa. It was an all you can eat type thing, where until the last person who is eating will put the flag down and meat will finally stop coming to the table. You sat there, whilst meat was brought to you on skewers and sliced onto your plate. A selection of vegetables were in the centre, and we had a soup to start. I ate loads of different meat: Camel, crocodile, beef, ostrich, pork, chicken.... It was amazing, and topped off with apineapple pie with Mocha Ice cream - you all know how I like pineapple! Today I went to a baby elephant orphanage, and got to see them up close and touch them. It is amazing to watch them as they interact with each other and their keepers. V.playful and gorgeous! I am now in Nairobi, and tomorrow we cross the border to Tanzania and get to go to Zanzibar. It's all going well, and the group is getting along well. Camp food is good, and tonight it;s my turn, so I am creating (or attempting to) sweet and sour chicken with rice. Yay! Update soon. Wish you all well, and hope that everyone is okay. Lots of love. Stacey.xxx