Kenya
Chapter two
An Introduction to the Masai Mara.
I am picked up at the hotel for the short drive to the airport. As the crow flies, we are practically next to the airport, but to enter we have to drive the long way around. And while traffic isn’t bad, it isn’t non-existent.
At the airport, I am met by a representative of the airline and escorted through various offices and counters to have my passport checked and tickets issued. I am from there lead right onto the plane itself, a 15-seat prop plane that waits for us on the tarmac. Over the course of the next 10 days, I’ll become accustomed to traveling in these small planes; it’ll be the method by which I’d travel from park to park, offering another view of the landscape and the parks I’ll be visiting.
Our first stop is a landing strip in the bush. A jeep waits the shade of a single tree just off to the side of the runway and we pull up near it. The pilot checks the manifest and calls out two names. A couple alights and their driver and guide are there to meet them and help with their luggage. We’re limited to 15kg of luggage each, so there isn’t much to unload.
From the open doors a breeze blows in through the cockpit and I get my first taste of the bush and views of the sweeping plains.
Once the couple are safely under way, the pilot and copilot climb back into the plane and we are off again to our next stop. My stop is the last, and I enjoy a few landings and take offs before I am to alight myself.
Francis meets me at the landing strip. It’s a popular destination and there are a number of jeeps waiting to pick up guests. A number of locals sit off to the side with blankets in front of them, selling souvenirs to the tourists who come and go. There seem to be a steady stream of flights arriving and departing and scheduled.
We set off for the lodge, and I get my first taste of the Masai Mara. We drive past herds of zebra, buffalo, impala. Trees dot the landscape, clusters of bush gather here and there.
At one point we stop and Francis points out two lions resting in the shrubs. I excitedly take photos, wondering if they’ll reveal themselves further. They don’t; they happily roll around in the shade. It turns out I’ll see a lot of lions over the next few days, but these are the first.
Francis drops me off at the Tipilikwani Mara Camp to check in and freshen up. He leaves me at the end of a covered walk where I am met by someone who takes my bag and leads me through to reception. He takes my bag with him and leaves it in the cabin.
As I walk towards the cabin, I cross paths with a monkey, a baby hanging from her belly.
After lunch, Francis picks me up for our afternoon drive. It’s thrilling to be out in the bush and I do what I can to soak it all in. My world has changed drastically in the past 72 hours, and I’m coming to realize that it’s no longer my world, but their world, and I am just living in it.
As the day comes to a close, we turn back towards the camp. The sun shoots dramatic rays through the clouds, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be back in the bush. In the distance, rain falls. It’s waiting there for me. 🇰🇪
