The Trip To Masai Mara - February 29 2004

Day 43
7:00 Breakfast
9:00 Leave Karen
12:45 Lunch Stop
6:00 Arrive at Masai Mara Park
11:30 Got Into Camp
12:00 Dinner

   "Today was a fabulous day for a leap year special bonus day!!" We didn't know that we would be going to the Mara today, we had intended to go to Loita Hills. The land rover had driven ahead of our caravan of trucks and reported back that the roads were washed out from the rain and that the trucks wouldn't be able to make the trip, so plans changed and we are going straight to the Mara, yay! The roads were littered with potholes and the drive was a long one. At some points the truck drove on the grass beside the road because it was so bad! Sometime in the afternoon it started raining, pouring rain.
   The scenery was amazing, straight out of (you guessed it!) The Lion King. It was flat lands with low bushes and small acacia trees. Wildebeests, zebra and gazelle were grazing in large herds. There were giraffes in great big clumps, their necks bent over the acacia trees. Rays of sunlight were breaking through the clouds, all the colours were muted, yellow and misty hues; it was surreal and beautiful. "There were boma's all over, (in Eremit we saw people around, but their homes were few and far between) and the most incredible thing was that women (always women) were on the roofs of some of the huts and looked like they were fixing them - in the pouring rain - these people are amazing!"
   At six we arrived at the park in which we'll camp. We had to cross a river. The land rover got through the river, but one of the luggage trucks got stuck! After a discussion, the drivers of the passenger trucks decided to go the long way around. The rain had fortunately stopped by now but had left the ground very muddy. We drove by a LION and kept driving! The other trucks stopped and I could see them taking flash photos. We also saw a jackal. I mention this because here's where the best part of the story begins. "It's around 8pm and getting dark. We saw another one of our luggage trucks stuck in the mud. So here we are, three passenger trucks and we can't get to the camp site and both our luggage trucks are stuck in the mud in two different locations. Our truck driver decided to give 'er and we held on tight as we drove straight into a mud puddle. We got stuck. We had to get out of the truck into ankle (sometimes calf) deep mud with no shoes on (because they'd get sucked off our feet) and had to push the truck. Here's the dilemma... we just saw lions not too far away, walking in the same direction we were headed, the mud was so slippery and full of sharp rocks, after each heave the truck would slide backwards and we had to scramble out of the way being careful not to slip... it was scary and exciting! After pushing didn't work we used the sand traction ramps but because of the danger of them flying out we had to stand far back, however not too far for fear of the lions, and now it was pitch dark! I could feel the mosquitoes biting me. John, our camp doctor, was very worried about the situation and decided it would be safer for us to sit on the trucks. The drivers decided to manually switch the trucks to 4 wheel drive and were under the truck with their tools. If they dropped a screw, a nut or a bolt in the mud, they'd have to carefully recover every one. We could hear hyenas and lions calling. Meanwhile the luggage trucks got unstuck and made it to the camp. One of the other passenger trucks got through the mud but then their starter died! So while we were having our adventure they were sitting on a dark truck waiting for auto parts! The third passenger truck was behind our truck and waiting to get through the mud puddle. When they tried, they fishtailed towards our truck and the side mirror got bent! It was such a close call! They managed to back up and using the 4 wheel drive and the ramps, both trucks made it out of the mud. We miraculously didn't get suck again, but it was still a half hour drive to get to the campsite and fortunately it wasn't raining when we set up our tents."10 years ago today I was on the adventure of a lifetime!!