Just a warning - there are soo-ooo many photos. I just couldn't leave too many out as they were all so memorable but skim-away as I won't grill you on any of these.
We spent four days in the Masai Mara game reserve at the Mara Intrepids Camp and had another vacation highlight on this trip. All the girls loved seeing all the animals. We worried about Anna but she just promptly made herself a little pallet on the floor of the range rover and took a little nap when she was tired!
We had two or three game drives each day and got a very early start each day (6:30 a.m.). We offered to let some of the kids sleep in one day but no one wanted to miss anything. So each day we were up by 6 a.m. and since dinner wasn't served until 7:30, we were late to bed. The girls were all very tired by the end of this busy vacation.
The Masai Mara Game Preserve was stunning - so gorgeous views of the plains with the unique trees dotted across the horizon. We even got to see some of the Great Migration since it was delayed a bit due to extra rain this year. Overall another amazing bucket list vacation that I know the kids will talk about for a long time.
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| Off we go from Nairobi in this tiny little plane |
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| We flew pretty low on the prop plane so saw a lot of Nairobi on our way out |
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| Our welcome party of Land Rovers picking us all up on the dirt runway |
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| The airport! |
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| Our Land Rover for the new few days |
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| Anna is happy to be here with her monkey, Steve |
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| Giant Mancala game in the camp reception. Jane and Jake hid a bug in one of the holes and played a little trick on me. Ha! Ha! (NOT funny, Jane!). |
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| Master bedroom in our tent. A bit of a step up from a regular camping trip. They fill the hot water bottles in the evening so that we have nice snuggly beds. |
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| Kids' tent |
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| Front porch overlooking the river where hippos would frolic at night. They splashed and grunted a lot. Given that hippos kills more humans than any other African animal, the tiny electric fence looked pretty darn small. Fortunately they only seem to be bothered by humans when we get in their space and we happily stayed on *our* side of the fence. |
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| Off we go! |
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| Our first animals! |
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| Enjoying the tall, lanky giraffes |
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| The kids loved hanging out of the vehicle when we stopped |
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| Wart hog! |
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| Driving through Hippo Pool. This was a bit nerve-wracking the first time as the water is pretty deep, the rover leans quite a bit on the rocks under the water and hippos are *really* close! We made it through just fine this time and all the other times as driving through the river seemed to be a favorite short cut of Rafael, our guide. |
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| The hippos are mostly hiding! |
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| Holding hands as we drive through the water - eeek! Although you can't really tell from the photo, the vehicle is leaning a bit |
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| Guinea fowl |
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| Female ostriches. We saw males, too, later. |
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| Topi antelope (also known as "Blue Jean" due to distinctive coloring on legs) |
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| Our first lions! We were so fortunate on this trip to see so many lions. This is a honeymooning couple. |
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| Masai buffalo |
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| Hyena |
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| Young hyena |
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| Napping Anna |
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| Dik Dik - smallest of the Masai antelope |
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| Impala |
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| The weather was a bit all over the place. We bundled up in the mornings for our 6:30 a.m. game drive but shed most of our layers by the time we came back around 10:30ish. On our afternoon game drives we started off with as few layers but gradually added sweaters and blankets as evening approached. |
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| Sunrise |
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| Hot air balloons over the Mara |
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| The first of the migrating wildebeest |
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| Hyena |
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| You'll have to take my word on this but there is a leopard in there! |
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| Ok - this is better. You can see our leopard friend in this picture. |
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| Picnic breakfast |
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| Not a bad spot for a picnic |
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| Super Dad! |
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| Our favorite baby elephant |
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| This little guy was so-oo cute. He was learning how to use his trunk and we loved him. He tried to pull up a small stalk to eat but even after tugging and tugging, he just couldn't do it. He bleated at his mom to come help and she promptly pulled up the stalk and ate it herself. Another favorite moment was when he did get a stalk to eat but couldn't figure out a way to get it in his mouth - he would swing his trunk to the right and miss his mouth, then to the left and miss his mouth again. We also loved his adorable sneeze. He was probably our favorite animal of our whole trip. |
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| Wait on me, Mom! |
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| Time to nurse |
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| Tortoise |
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| Warthog family |
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| Incoming plane on our little landing strip |
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| Camp pool |
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| Geronimo! Meredith (again) was the only one brave enough to get into the cold water |
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| Regan reading - just like mom! |
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| Pretty high altitude |
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| Camp visitor |
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| Where we spent a LOT of time over our four days |
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| With Rafael who was our trusty guide for the week. He was so wonderful - so knowledgeable and just so pleasant to be around for hours at a time. The girls had a running joke with him when he would ask what they wanted to see that day.... "A unicorn!" the girls would shout. |
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| Naptime again! |
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| Hyena family |
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| Crocodiles! This is the famous Mara River where a lot of wildebeests get eaten by crocodiles when they cross during the Great Migration |
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| More crocodiles sunning on the other side |
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| M-o-r-e crocs (shudder...) |
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| Some kind of monkey but I can't remember which kind... |
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| Mara River |
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| Hippos! |
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| One of my favorite photos of the trip |
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| Pride of lions! |
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| Each night one of the guides did an educational slide show. We were loyally there each night! |
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| Masai dancing at dinner |
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| Regan and Jane got plucked out of the crowd to join them |
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| It's the jumping dance - you'll have many girl (boy?) friends if you can jump really high. Regan gives it her best. |
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| Sun rise |
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| The Great Migration is underway |
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| Lion with a tummy-ache. He was eating grass to help him throw up |
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| Another honeymooning lion couple |
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| Wildebeest on the move |
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| We saw zillions of these Thompson Gazelles but I managed to not get many photos. They were our favorite of the antelope family with their fast-moving windshield wiper like tails. |
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| Lioness |
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| Secretary bird - our favorite bird. They walk around stomping on the ground trying to scare up grasshoppers and bugs. |
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| Another picnic breakfast spot |
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| Breakfast |
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| These rocks made for a fun playground for the kids (while we plied our eyes looking for predators!) |
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| Fresh kill. Regan wasn't too excited about seeing this! |
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| Masai village |
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| Meredith doing the jumping dance |
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| Regan's turn |
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| Jane - they got some air on this jump! |
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| Building a new traditional house |
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| Inside a traditional home. It was dark and had short ceilings - Jake had to duck |
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| Girls and I on kids' bedroom platform overlooking the kitchen area |
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| My turn to dance |
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| Village chief |
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| Awww - village puppy. His name is Police and he loved hearing that we call dogs, "Man's best friend" |
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| Meredith and Police |
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| Chickens in the village - although they don't eat eggs or chicken. They just sell the eggs and chickens to raise money for the kids' school fees. They don't grow vegetables either - the Masai people tend to eat meat (goat, beef - mainly smoked), milk and blood. I don't know how they survive with no vegetables or fruits but I guess if their animals eat wild grains, then maybe their meat and milk is healthier? |
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| Candelabra Tree in our camp |
Our of order Masai Village photos:
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| Crepes at tea time |
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| Lioness |
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| Highest point in the Masai Mara |
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| Beautiful view |
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| Recent kill before the hyenas get to it and scatter the bones |
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| Plastic windows are down to stay dry in our rainstorm |
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| Rainbow |
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| This is what our wake-up call was each morning by 6 a.m. Hot carafe of coffee, one of hot chocolate and cookies with a friendly, "Jambo" |
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| Crocodile sliding down the ravine into the river |
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| Swinging bridge at the camp |
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| At the camp |
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| Good-bye Masai Mara and Mara Intrepids Camp |
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| Bigger plane this day to take us back to Nairobi |
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