DINNER AT INTREPIDS IN THE MARA 26th of 27 Emails

Dear Wonderful People we love back home,

It's the end of another great day here in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. We are quite tired, having been on two safari drives during the day. We are always bursting with excitement from such unique adventure and love talking with other parties to share thrilling sightings and gain knowledge about where to go early the next morning where special kills and sightings have occurred. We've met many different and good people along the way, many from foreign countries, especially Germany, England, Australia, the Netherlands, etc.

It was fun to see a game guide with a BYU shirt on today. When we began singing the fight song to him, though, he looked at us rather strangely and said he had gotten the t-shirt from a donation place because he liked the cougar on it, but really didn't know what BYU was. Well, he does now!

It's been kind of amusing to see the guests' attire. Many look just like Robert Redford in “Out of Africa,” and some of the women wore obviously expensive, exotic African clothes and jewelry. Whereas, we visited Savers and the D.I. quite a few times before coming and found the same type of clothing at a fraction of the price. Frankly, despite what the tour books say, you could wear practically anything on safari...and, many people did!

The day closed with another sumptuous dinner prepared by our excellent African chefs. The different African dishes are delicious and the deserts prepared with unique flair and beauty. The entertainment planned was Maasai dances, but it was rained out by the big thunderstorm that came while we dined. They would have had to walk from their outlying villages through the downpour and it's muddy, red and slick dirt, so it was no surprise when they could not come. We had seen their dancing earlier in our trip, so we were not too disappointed.

However, this part of Africa, the Maasai Mara, is the very heart of their home and we have been seeing them everywhere we go. Their villages surround the park and no one knows how to live and survive in this wild kingdom like they do.

Our waitress, Stephanie, a beautiful girl from the Machakos area, was thrilled we were the ones who worked on the measles campaign and thanked us for what it had meant to her little village. Nelson, a striking 25 year old Maasai was our waiter. He looked like a young Sydney Poitier, the first Academy Award-winning black actor. Each African has an English name, because they are required to speak English in school (if they go). They use those names when working in the hotels and elsewhere. But, they still bear their African names, too, and speak to each other most of the time in Swahili. I wonder sometimes how they really feel about so much English and the modern world being forced upon them. Nelson was very articulate, polished, and at first I thought he was an example of young Africans who were becoming more educated, sophisticated, and “advancing” into the so-called modern world. He would have turned the heads of any bright, young Harvard girl in a minute! BUT, I was not too surprised when he later told us he was taking the money he earned to buy cows so he could get his two wives, start building a family, and increase his herd. I couldn't help but wonder to myself which life would bring him the greatest happiness. He would know now, because he has seen both ways.

During dinner, a big lightning and thunderstorm descended and heavy rainfall poured for the first time in our whole time here in Africa. It was cooling and wonderfully refreshing and a soothing ending to a very exciting, but exhausting day. Our prayers again hoped the dry Chyulu hills and it's starving people were also getting some of these precious, early spring rains. After dinner, we walked to our tent a block away down a path lit only by oil torch lamps and thought about the night hunters all along the way. The zippers on our tent flaps and canvas walls again seemed pretty flimsy related to the big lions & leopards and other predators we've been seeing regularly.

We also thought about the big cape buffalo, giraffe, zebra, elephant, and hippo carcasses and other remains we've seen all over the Mara, and knew that a human would be no match for a hungry, hunting cat! However, overall, the evening was beautiful, romantic, and refreshing in the cool smells and breezes of the new storm. Nevertheless, we flashed our large flashlight down into the river bed and the surrounding trees just to see what might be lurking there.

The big bull frogs and crickets were sounding and some unusual calls of nocturnal birds were uniquely unusual and mostly soothing. As we walked across the the exotic African wood of our tent floor and settled into the clean-smelling sheets of our 4 poster king-size bed and pulled the rather lovely white mosquito netting around the large bed, we thought guiltily about the Maasai people going to bed out in the bush in their small dirt floor huts surrounded by a flimsy stick and branch wall to guard them against the big cats. How in the world could their skinny spears kill a hungry lion going after their goats and cows? And, where did they go to the bathroom at night?

It was again one of the darkest nights out there we have ever known. The large hot water bottle our steward had again put on top of our sheets again felt very warm and cozy. We listened to the strange and fascinating sounds of the night as we began to fall asleep and once again felt so blessed to be in this wonderful place and with one more day to feel and be part of it all.

We love you all very much and look forward to seeing you again. We pray for you often and hope things are going well.

Love,

Dick and Lawana in the heart of the African bush

NOTE: To continue reading the African Blogs, scroll down or click on the "older post" on the right.

LAST SAFARI IN THE MAASAI MARA 27th of 27 Emails

“Jambo!” again from the wild bush of the Maasai Mara!

We were a bit sad this morning as we left our tent for our last safari in Africa. But, the hot chocolate brought to our tent by our steward warmed us up and again was a great start to the day. We were also a bit sober as we thought and said to ourselves, “How could anything top the last three game drives?” BUT, we were wrong!

The fresh air and rain from last night's big African thunderstorm made the morning very cool and refreshing. It was the beginning of a terrific day in the wild! In fact, later that day on the long ride back to Nairobi, our great guide with 25 years' experience guiding safaris, told us he'd seldom seen safaris with so many different animals as ours, and in so short a time.

For example, he said cheetah are only really seen about 10% of the time and we had already seen them on 2 of our 3 drives...and we were about to see them again! And, Corwin & Peggy, who had gone on many safaris on their first mission in Africa, had seen with us several different animals they had never seen before! We all attributed it later again to our being blessed for our work here.

As we drove around for the last time, we saw big numbers of all the “usual common” animals we've been seeing all along. We commented and felt a little chagrined to be thinking that elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, wilder-beast, etc and all the many different species of gazelles, impalas, etc had become “common” to us. I felt especially a little bit like I did when hunting back in Idaho for the big racks of trophy size deer and elk. Only, here in Africa, we, along with the other safari parties hurrying out in their land rovers, were all excitedly talking mostly about seeing more big cats. Rather embarrassed, we also felt that again as we quickly drove past land rovers, with people who had just arrived last night, who were stopped to look at elephants and giraffes and the other animals we were too spoiled to waste time looking at today.
Well, what did we see on this glorious early morning drive? Unbelievably, some of the highlights were:
• Four, beautiful young lioness' hunting through the savanna. There was blood on the ground where they had made an earlier kill, but it was evidently not enough to fill them. Their serious, powerful movements was very different from the sleepy, lazy ways we had seen in the sleeping prides. Animals scattered everywhere wherever they went.






• A huge, Black-maned male lion passed closely by. We could hear him breathing and heard and seemed to feel the padding sounds of his huge paws as he walked within 15 feet of our vehicle.




• A lioness and her kittens playing and sleeping from a couple of vehicle lengths away. We could hear their mewing and playful growls as they played, rolling all over each other and their mother, pulling tails, pouncing on each other and her. And, then, we heard them purring as they drowsed off to sleep, only to awaken again and begin their games all over again. We wondered how she somehow gets enough sleep herself during the day, with all that going on with her little mischievous babies. After all, she is the hunter in the family and does her hunting many times at night. When does she get her rest anyway?

• Four very large cheetahs, far from where we had seen the others, were laying and intently watching the terrain, while lying on a mounded area overlooking the savanna. Their profiles were magnificent and majestic. In a way, they have become our most favorite because of their beautiful markings and sleek, streamlined bodies.







• We looked down upon a pool of hippos, submerged much of the time, and then suddenly rising up and blowing great bubbles away and with startling whooshing sounds. Every now and then, they would yawn and their huge mouths looked like you could drive a truck down into them. These hippos' bodies were pink-tinged and the insides of their ears almost totally pink. Maybe sunburned or just a different species to their cousins we'd seen other places? Jared will probably know. There were about 20 of them, some down in the pool only 30 feet away in the river bed that snakes down this part of the Mara. Part of the water here was green with algae and had a sulphuric smell, which didn't seem too nice to us. But, how were you enjoying it, Mister Hippo? We were very glad we were in the vehicle! These seemingly calm, huge animals in the water are very fast on land. Many human accidents in the wild occur from hippo encounters. They are also funny-looking, too. Where did God get his ideas from when He created them?

• Big, red-headed vultures fed on a wilder-beast kill. Their smaller, whiter-colored cousins were second-class citizens at the feast, not getting much. Their long necks are perfectly formed for scavenging and it was rather gross as we saw them plunge their necks and beaks deep into the animal's bloody body cavity and heard them rip off pieces of meat with their beaks and claws. Rather gruesome and it was easy to see that there would be little of the large animal left in a rather short time. Others of the huge birds glided overhead or skulked above in the nearby trees, hoping there would be a little left for them.

• Elephants feeding above and down in the river bed. We saw and heard them pulling big branches off with their trunks. We were amazed when one large animal climbed up a steep incline to the top of the river bottom, instead of walking back to a gradually sloping area. She was so agile for such a huge animal, even using her knees to get leverage to make the steep climb up the muddy incline.






• Herds of cape buffalo were in the grasses. Several big bulls challenged us as we approached and we wondered if one was going to charge us. Their mean glare was frightening. But, at the last minute they backed off to the side, avoiding the encounter and we were glad.
• Crocodiles were in small pools in the river...the same river that also runs below the balcony of our tent! We wondered how they lived in that shallow of water in places in parts of the river bed, which was lower than usual because of the drought. And, how many small animals met their fate as they come down to the precious water to drink. Different from the alligators we've seen in the Everglades and elsewhere, these animals are very large and their big, jagged teeth can be seen, even when their jaws are closed. They sat many times warming themselves on rocks and the bank in the sun. Then, silently slithered into the water and cruised like giant reptile submarines. Occasionally, they would partly surface to look around and you could only see those evil, menacing, blank-staring dark eyes. I thought about Maasai people we had seen bathing, washing clothes, and swimming in rivers and pools everywhere. I also remembered the big croc we had seen while watching the Great Migration of the wilder-beast & zebras. He was feeding on a wilder-beast by ripping off big chunks of flesh, sometimes twisting his huge body in the water over & over to help leverage the ripping. The crocs capture their pray sometimes by knocking it down with their long tails, then dragging it under with their huge jaws. They are surprisingly fast, so look out!

• Giant maraboo storks, the largest in the world, spread their wings to cool and maybe dry them. The wings are black on the bottom side and white like their huge bodies on the top. They look like huge bombers, except they are standing on the river bank on their long legs. Their wing span is very, very wide and their long legs make them stand very, very tall, overlooking most everything else around.
The Maasai Mara was different in some ways today as we finished our last safari here and then drove the 2 hours out to the gate. The rains had greened it up a little and we could imagine how beautifully green it will become as more Spring rains finally come and, hopefully, end the drought here and elsewhere. With much reluctance, we finally ended the safari and returned to the lodge for another great breakfast...gourmet omelets, specially-prepared to our specifications, delicious African-style crepes and pancakes, all kinds of beef, pork, and lamb sausages, pastries to die for, every kind of drink and fruit you could imagine...passion, mango, guava, orange, pineapple, etc. Even diet coke, which cost almost twice as much as regular. But, why was that such a surprise, when precious water costs more then them both! We would come back to this great hunting tent lodge again and recommend it to all of you. It's especially been good for seeing the wildest of animals, because the lodge itself is so deep (a 2 hour drive) into the Maasai Mara. And, we would also recommend our great safari guide, Pauley.
As we drove out of the Mara and then back home through the Great Rift Valley to Nairobi, very emotional thoughts passed through my mind. They said our lives would be changed here and they were right.
My throat choked up a bit and I hid a few tears as I refused to sit down, but rode the whole 2 hours out of the Mara, refusing to sit, but still standing up looking from the top up and out over the beautiful savannas and hills of the wild. I wanted to somehow drink every last drop of it deep down into the depth of my soul, so it could always be remembered down there and never forgotten. And, somehow it seemed to speak back to me in it's special way. A magnificent herd of tall giraffes seemed to say goodbye to us just a mile or so before the gate.

Their tall legs and bodies, and graceful, high necks were silhouetted against the beautiful African sky for one last picture of this remarkable, wild place. I think I know a little more now why the true story writers of “Out of Africa” and “I Dreamed of Africa” and “Born Free” and Gorillas in the Mist” loved this land so much as they nostalgically recorded their experiences here. Strangely, they were all women. Why was that anyway? Maybe, perhaps, it's because, rather than being big game hunters, they lived here among the people, trying to save these beautiful, wild animals. And, also along the way, they helped the African people, too.

I guess we've done a little of that with our measles work. It will be the thing we will remember the most about this place...and, the noble, kind happiness and friendliness of it's loving, gentle people. It has really been a contrasting experience of uniquely remarkable happenings...the mixture of this country's wonderful, loving people and the beauty of the wild jungles, bush-lands, and coastal areas. We have not seen all of this vast continent by any means, but we have been here long enough, and seen enough of it, to make it a part of our hearts forever. What a great blessing it has been!

We'll be packing tomorrow, cleaning the apartment, changing our shillings back to dollars, saying many goodbyes, and then off to France for a week before finally returning home. We love you all and look forward very much to seeing you again.

Lots of love and “Kwahari” (“Goodbye”) for the last time from Africa,
Dick and Lawana

NOTE TO READER: Please scroll down for some additional wildlife photos. Additonally, we have several separate DVD's we've made which are especially good because they show African native people, fascinating scenery, and wild animals in larger size and video footage.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF AFRICA