David’s mobile camera trap caught a hyena passing by his tent last night and the Askari informed us that we had Lion about 200m from our tents, lazing up on the hill! So we all agreed for that to be our first stop on the way to Musiara marsh (and the home of TV’s ‘Big Cat’ Marsh Pride).
This first drive of the day was a long one - 6am – 330pm, but was well worth it. We found the Marsh pride (14 of them at least, including Romeo, the lead Male) and managed to time our breakfast perfectly by moving off and eating when the group were resting and returning just as they were raising to get on the move again.
As you would expect of a marsh, it is home to a great number of waders, cranes and storks. We settled to watch a Saddle-billed stork do a bit of fishing, and were surprised when seconds later he caught a catfish and dropped it in the reeds where he proceeded to stab it with his beak to kill it before eating it, I always thought they just threw them back still alive!
We went from the marsh to the famous ‘Leopard Gorge’ which unfortunately had no Leopards in it, but a huge number of Rock Hyrax who posed beautifully for us like Mr and Mrs.
Our route back through the Masai North conservancy was agony. My chest couldn’t take anymore. So Sandy called a ladies meeting when we returned to camp mid-afternoon and we all aired our concerns and gripes. It seems I’m not the only one silently suffering! It was therefore unanimously decided to all move seats in the truck and allow everyone a turn at good views and a smooth ride. We all agreed to push David to the back seat and to no longer let him hog the best shooting spot at every stop!
The afternoon game drive was a dream. 5pm – 730pm and we all swapped seats; Marian and I went to the front two seats behind Daniel. Perfect. What a view.
Sundowners were great too – us girls seem to have bonded well over our earlier meeting and the entire sunset was spent like schoolgirls in fits of giggles.
I managed to rip the side pocket off my combats at the dinner table by assuming it was held shut with Velcro. It even sounded like Velcro when it ripped! Definitely need more sleep. Marian suggested I asked the Masai if they had a sewing kit, to which Maurice (‘Mr. Drinks’) replied, “Give me the trousers and I will arrange it all for you, Hakuna Matata.” What service.
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