BRAMPTON: Having travelled to various parts of the world over the years, I wanted to experience something different this year.
So I chose Masai Mara. What an incredible experience this wildlife safari proved for us!
In early September, my wife Gurmeet and l landed in Nairobi from where we were picked up by Masai Mara tour operators and lodged in a lovely cozy place in the middle of nowhere.
We were in the heart of the wild country ! At the dead of night, we could hear loud voices of wild animals in the distance.
Over the next three days, we experienced and absorbed so much of wildlife that I will never ever forget.
Early in the morning on the first day, we were taken out in an open vehicle to have encounters with wild animals at close quarters.
We were scared shit when our driver stopped the vehicle almost metres away from a pair of resting lions.
“Roll up the window, please,’’ shouted my wife. “Don’t panic. These animals won’t harm you,’’ said the driver, calming us as I furiously captured shots of the resting lions on my cell phone.
Not far from the lions rested a herd of wild buffaloes. Wow! The hunted seemed to have no fear of the hunters!
Our driver-guide, who was in his forties, told us, “Lions hunt only when they are hungry – which is about once a week. They live up to the age of 15.’’
Once when came near to a pair of mating lion and lioness, the guide said, “When a lioness is in heat, they mate for almost two weeks!’’
Our each day was divided into three outings. The first outing was from early morning to about 10 am. Then breakfast. Again out from 11 am to 2 pm. Then lunch. Once again out from 3 pm to 6 pm. Every time, they drove us in different directions for encounters with different animals.
We spotted stray cheetahs here and there. They looked very alert, wary of lions and ready for the hunt. Our guide told us that cheetah babies can start running at the same speed of mother just minutes after birth!
Roaming herds of zebras were such a nice sight to behold. I wished I could go near them and touch them.
Unfortunately, we also saw a zebra being dragged into water by a crocodile as it came to drink water in a river. This happened when we were watching a hippo going into the river.
Unfortunately also, we couldn’t see real hunting by lions or cheetahs even as numerous herds of wildebeest and gazelles and baboons rested not far from them.
Despite all the mayhem this jungle witnesses in terms of daily hunting, miles and miles of Masai Mara were so clean. The only remains were occasional skeletons and buffalo horns.
Oh my God! We were also shocked to see huge rats. These rodents eat up all animal remains to make Masai Mara look clean.
The greatest experience of this safari was our visit to a Masai Mara village of cow dung huts.
Draped in colourful clothes, Masai men and women greeted us noisily, with their leader jumping into the air. “Jumping into the air is their form of greetings their guests,’’ said our guide.
We went inside their huts and were surprised to know that they don’t cook our kind of foods. “They live off animal milk, meat and blood,’’ said the guide.
We were told that there were about 400 people in that cluster of huts, with one single man siring as many as 49 children! Women wore beautiful jewelry.
Masai men and women demonstrated their many skills. But their most amazing skill was when they lit a fire by rubbing a soft wooden stick into a hard wooden bar.
Our three days at Masai Mara passed so quickly. It was such an enriching experience. The food was so good. We had sound sleep at night. The morning sun was an incredible sight. We felt so much at one with nature.
I intend to return to Masai Mara next year with my extended family.
