Last day of Safari

Last safari day. This may have been the scariest, most nerve racking day of the whole trip, lol! We headed out for a very early game drive, maybe get a glimpse of some stalking cats or something. First we saw 7 hot air balloons floating off in the distance, showing off the landscape to those that are willing to pay the hefty fee. Then we saw the wildebeest lined up in packs on the top of the hill. Packed together for as far as the eye could see, keeping a look out for predators, quiet an awesome sight. We happened upon a couple of Jackals, looking for breakfast, one was nice enough to stop and pose for me as we went by. And with great excitement, a pride of lions was spotted and every truck, from all directions, went to see them eat their morning kill. We got there as the pride was finishing up and gnawing on bones and a leg (got a picture of that). The pride moved off to the river, just below where we were, to relax and wash down what they ate. So of course us and other tucks followed them, great spots for pictures and watching these beautiful beasts. We kinda laughed a little at a truck that got stuck in the sand of the riverbanks, while trying get close to the male lion. We commented that it would be a horrible spot to have to evacuate a vehicle with all the lions around. We moved our bus down onto the riverbank, following one of our other buses, and I got wonderful pictures of the male lion drinking from a puddle next to the river and a hyaena that was coming to see if the lions left anything for him. The moment we turned the bus around, to make our way back up the hill, our back wheels spun and spun and sunk into the wet sand. Who's laughing now huh, we were stuck worse then the last truck, oops! The lions perked up and started watching us very carefully. I was so thanking for what I now call the sacrificial wildebeest the lions had eaten around 20 minutes before. They had no real intention of making us the second course. As soon as our driver and guide exited the vehicle, many of the lions scattered. It was explained to us later that they are curious cats, but are frightened by humans, yeay! As another truck attempted to pull us our with a cable, the sand held us tight. Our driver attempted to shovel the sand in front of the back tire, on the "dry" and the tire fully emerged in the river on the other side. No luck, their efforts to keep us passengers in the bus was failing, next step, evacuate quickly to the two other buses. But of course, not before I got some great pictures of 3 lionesses fleeing up river and across, looking back at us on occasion, probably laughing! 6 people from the stuck bus, gingerly exited on the river side, careful not to get our feet wet, as only the back tire was submerged, we had a little sliver of sand under the front passenger door. We scurried to the other buses as they shuffled people to make room for us. With less weight and a little more force, the bus emerged from the riverbanks grasp and was moving on its own. We traveled in the crowed buses for about 1/2 a mile, where we felt it was safe to reload our bus again! Whoa, talk about adrenalin rush, we then made our way back to camp for breakfast and to calm down a little. However, we did pause a couple of times to to get shots of elephants and a really pretty bird that had been eluding us in good sunlight. After a short break, we loaded up again and went to a Massai Village. Greeted by male dancers, we watched as they demonstrated again the jumping "dance", apparently it's a matting dance and its supposed to attract a female. We then got to participate in a woman's dance too, a blessing dance. It was very interesting to see how the nomadic Massai live, in little huts, built in a circle, made from tree branches and cow dung. They bring their cows into the middle courtyard at night to keep them protected, which also means, they live amongst the dung and it smells horribly. We all got to go inside a home and see the cramped quarters and how they cook and sleep, they stay outside during the day. I took some pictures of some mothers with children, the babies are so cute! If they live past 5 years, they are likely to reach adulthood, but malaria and typhoid fever take most of the babies. It's also a polygamist culture and the chief of this tribe had 10 wives, but the village seemed way to small for that to make sense, but what do I know. After a few of the ladies in the group did some shopping, we gave another soccer ball away, to the same amount of excitement as the schools had, it was great. Finally, we headed out for our very last game drive, happy with what we had seen so far, we weren't really in any hurry or anticipation to see anything new. We visited an area where the hippos were "swimming" (they don't really swim, they walk on the bottom of the river), but this spot was safe to take of foot. Gave us a chance to get out of the buses and get a little closer. Our guide kept a close eye on me, not allowing me to get too close to the hippos, as not to let my anticipated death by hippo fantasy become reality. Not that I would really jump into a rive of hippos, but I did almost slide down the steep hill the lead to the water! Haha! Back in the buses, and slowly driving around, looking for animals, I spotted 3 lionesses! Yep, that's right, I got the be the first from our whole group to spot a cat! They weren't very far form the road, but in the shade of some bushes enough to not be seen by the 2 other buses, or 7 other people in mine. We called to the other buses and slowly, very slowly the whole paparazzi was there snapping away, other buses included. Storm clouds were building on the horizon and the wind picked up a bit. This made the lionesses stir and they moved from the bush cover into an adjacent open clearing. Made for wonderful viewing of these fabulous cats, but also kept us watching them until the rain came. We were forced to have to scurry back to the camp, before the roads got to slick, plus we couldn't see out the side windows anymore and the pop top had to be lowered. It was a nice ending to a magnificent trip! I will miss Kenya, our fabulous drivers and guide and all the other people. This country is very beautiful, very accepting, and very giving. Yet it's still developing, poor in a lot of areas and ready to take from anyone. I guess as visitors continue to come and give their leftovers, the people here will take it. Tomorrow we travel back to Nairobi, board a plane and work our way back home. Hopefully I can get these post uploaded to my blog soon, with pictures. I thank you for following another one of my expeditions and I look forward to sharing again soon. Asante Sana (Swahili for thank you very much).