Kenya and Tanzania 2008: 8/10/2008 Drive Nairobi to Maasai Mara, Mara Sopa, game drive

The official tour begins today. Breakfast at our hotel. In the lobby at 7:00 am we meet the other couple that will do this tour with us. Ed and Karen from California. Unfortunately their luggage did not make it from Paris to Nairobi. For the Kenya part of our trip we have Pollman's Tours and Safaris. Our Pollman driver/guide is Givan. It will take us 5-6 hours of driving to get to the Maasai Mara and our lodge. We drive out of Nairobi through Kikuyu farms dropping into the Eastern Rift Valley. The valley is very scenic. Driving via Loita plains and on to Narok town before arriving at the famous Maasai Mara game reserve. The Maasai people are known for being owners of cattle. Sometimes this causes a problem with the predators like lions, etc. that have preyed on the Maasai cattle.

The buffs (can cover your mouth and nose) help with the dust. Because of the dust the windows are closed and the A/C is not that good. It is warm in our vehicle. However because there are 4 of us instead of the maximum of 7 we do have more room to try to be more comfortable. We make a stop for gas and get some drinks and snacks.

We arrive early afternoon to the Mara Sopa Lodge which is very nice. Lunch. Plan is to meet at 4:30 pm for our first game drive. We have time to dip our feet in the pool!

Postcard

Lobby

Pool

We have our first game drive. We see Thompson's gazelle-black side stripe, male and female impalas, wildebeest, plains zebras, Maasai giraffes, Grant's gazelle, topi, 2 sightings of lionesses, cheetahs-maybe 2 siblings, elephant, banded mongoose. A successful game drive with plenty of wildlife sightings. We return to our lodge just before dark as all have to be out of the Maasai Mara National Park before dark.