"The longer you wait for something, the more you appreciate it when you get it, because anything worth having is definitely worth waiting for" ~Unknown
Wednesday:
Today was our very last game drive. We met up with Edwin at 6:30 this morning and headed out for the day. It was nice and cold when we got out there.
The early morning was very eventful! First, we saw two momma lions with 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 month old cubs. There were five cubs, and they were absolutely adorable! They really wanted to play, too. They reminded me of Winnie and Zoey... I miss my puppies so much!
We also got the rare opportunity to see a serval, not too far from where the lions were. They usually only come out at night, and having the sighting that we had is pretty much once in a lifetime.
We stopped to eat a picnic breakfast by a hippo pool. That was really fun. It was interesting to watch the hippos interact with each other and to hear the different sounds they made depending on what they were feeling. To be perfectly honest with you though, most of their sounds resembled the sounds of passing gas. It made me giggle. This is another reason for me to believe that I really am a five year old boy at heart.
After breakfast, we headed even further into the park, passing a lone male hippo who had found a nice muddy area to sleep in last night. When we came across him, he was standing up next to the mud hole, absolutely lathered with mud from the waist down and all over his face.
He decided to get back into the mud, so we moved on.
Down the road, we saw a group of three hyena that reminded me of the group of hyena from The Lion King. They were kind of goofy. They used the sides of the termite mounds as scratching posts, and kept pushing each other aside to find the ideal scratching spot.
From there, we moved on toward the Mara River, where we are supposed to see the migration of the wildebeest. This is the ultimate sight on a visit to Africa. The Great Migration is such a phenomenon because the animals follow approximately the same path every year, and simply go in one big circle in order to get food. This happens nowhere else in the world.
We got to the river at about 9:00am, and we could barely see the wildebeest peaking up over the edge of the hill. Edwin told us to be patient, that sometimes it could take the herd the better half of a day to decide to finally cross the river. They started coming closer to the crossing area about twenty minutes later, and we started getting really excited. They lined up in a single file line and everything. But alas, they turned around and started moseying the other way. It was very frustrating.
Today was our very last game drive. We met up with Edwin at 6:30 this morning and headed out for the day. It was nice and cold when we got out there.
The early morning was very eventful! First, we saw two momma lions with 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 month old cubs. There were five cubs, and they were absolutely adorable! They really wanted to play, too. They reminded me of Winnie and Zoey... I miss my puppies so much!
We also got the rare opportunity to see a serval, not too far from where the lions were. They usually only come out at night, and having the sighting that we had is pretty much once in a lifetime.
We stopped to eat a picnic breakfast by a hippo pool. That was really fun. It was interesting to watch the hippos interact with each other and to hear the different sounds they made depending on what they were feeling. To be perfectly honest with you though, most of their sounds resembled the sounds of passing gas. It made me giggle. This is another reason for me to believe that I really am a five year old boy at heart.
After breakfast, we headed even further into the park, passing a lone male hippo who had found a nice muddy area to sleep in last night. When we came across him, he was standing up next to the mud hole, absolutely lathered with mud from the waist down and all over his face.
He decided to get back into the mud, so we moved on.
Down the road, we saw a group of three hyena that reminded me of the group of hyena from The Lion King. They were kind of goofy. They used the sides of the termite mounds as scratching posts, and kept pushing each other aside to find the ideal scratching spot.
From there, we moved on toward the Mara River, where we are supposed to see the migration of the wildebeest. This is the ultimate sight on a visit to Africa. The Great Migration is such a phenomenon because the animals follow approximately the same path every year, and simply go in one big circle in order to get food. This happens nowhere else in the world.
We got to the river at about 9:00am, and we could barely see the wildebeest peaking up over the edge of the hill. Edwin told us to be patient, that sometimes it could take the herd the better half of a day to decide to finally cross the river. They started coming closer to the crossing area about twenty minutes later, and we started getting really excited. They lined up in a single file line and everything. But alas, they turned around and started moseying the other way. It was very frustrating.
It was a good thing we didn't each our whole breakfast, because it gave us something to snack on while we waited. We noticed many many crocodiles on the banks of the river, basking in the sun. They were huge!
We also saw vultures circling over the river, and we thought that was a sign that something might happen soon. But it wasn't. We kept waiting.
We ended up waiting there for about five hours. The wildebeest and zebras kept going back and forth, teasing us the whole morning and early afternoon. Thank god we had that extra food from our breakfast! It was amazing to see the amount of safari vehicles that gathered around for the show. We could tell that everyone was getting impatient. Some cars actually had to leave because they had to be back to camp at a certain time, and it took them 2 1/2 hours to get there in the first place.
When my mom finally mentioned having to "check the tires," or use the ladies room, we went it a remote area and my mom and I went and found what seemed to be a good place to relieve ourselves. When we finished, we were hurried back to our vehicles, because Edwin and Paul were being radioed that the wildebeest were on the move, and that it we didn't hurry, we were going to miss it. So we ran back to the car, and practically cut off the herd of wildebeest trying to get into a proper position. We parked just in time to see the first wildebeest enter the water, and everything happened so quickly from there!
It was amazing to see how hard they pushed each other to get across the river. I mean, I guess it's understandable...it is, in fact, crocodile-infested waters. My mom and I were so nervous, worried that a croc was going to snatch a baby, but we were so relieved in the end that everyone made it across unscathed. We actually both started crying tears of joy. No joke.
Look how close this croc was to snatching one of the zebras!
Once the crossing was over, we headed back to the camp, sighting a few more animals along the way.
We spent our afternoon and evening updating our blog and reading our respective books, rel axing out on the main deck area of the camp. We both enjoyed some glasses of white wine and reflected on how amazing our time in Africa has been. I can't believe tomorrow is our last day!
Cindy:
Wednesday:
We are off for a full day of game drive, mostly to watch the river crossing.. This is an event that happens yearly during the migration. Herds of wildebeest, topi and zebra cross the rivers in the plains of Kenya for different grazing lands. The predators, mostly crocodile are waiting for the crossing and we have a sense of doom for some these animals.
Also, it feels scarier here than in the Serengeti for the animals. I can't put my finger on why. I guess seeing what they are facing. We've counted at least 10 huge crocodile .......maybe 12. They are fat and happy sleeping the sun, maybe they won't notice the crossing too much.
This crossing is going to be bad for some of these animals. Hope we can handle this. The crocodile are ready.
Here come the wildebeest - this is going to end badly. Here come the jeeps......and the wildebeest stop........I'm sure they know what they are facing......
And the birds have moved in. Fish eagle and vultures. The wildebeest have moved off to the right and stopped again. This is really scary but it's all working the way it's supposed to......
They keep circling. Back and forth, back and forth.. All of a sudden another huge group of wildebeest heads for the water. They join with the first group. I think this is finally going to happen. We have been waiting for over 4 hours....and, they turn away yet again, so I take this opportunity for a potty break, thinking we have time, based on earlier experience. Paul and Edwin agree that we have time, so off we go............yes, as soon as Nicki and I start heading back to the jeep, Paul gets a flash of the headlights and a call on the radio- IT'S HAPPENING!!!! We rush back to the viewing area, almost cutting off the herd, get in place and .........
Ok. Here we go.
This was like being a mom on the underdog team and having your child's team win the grand championship!!!!! We had a clean crossing- no beast or zebra left behind.......so, so scary and emotional.....we almost lost a young zebra to a crocodile ......everyone was rooting for the little guy and he made it!!!!! We were so drained, so emotional, we had tears in our eyes. WOW is all I can say. This was an experience of a lifetime!
We head back to the lodge as we are drained and need some down time. Tomorrow is an early day- our last day in Africa and we are capping off our trip with an early morning balloon ride - yep, I'm going to do it!!!!! More tomorrow- miss you all.
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