Guest Post By Jon Baggs

While staying at Lake Naivasha, we planned to bicycle through Hell’s Gate National Park.  There were bikes for rent at Fisherman’s Camp, where we were staying, so, the evening before, we checked out the bikes and chose the ones we’d take.  While two of the bike renters competed for mine and Marieke’s business, Steph spoke to another fellow, who appeared to be in charge of the bike rentals. 

His name was Simon and he asked her where we were planning to go after Lake Naivasha.  She told him we were going to the Maasai Mara game reserve to do some game drives.  He said he could arrange a package for us for a good price, directly from the lake. We’d thought we’d have to return to Nairobi for a night to organize our Maasai Mara trip.  Going directly from the lake would be much easier and cheaper.  Steph told him we’d discuss it and get back to him.  As always, Steph was determined to do the math on what an independent visit would cost, but for once, an organized tour just made more financial sense. We decided to go ahead and have Simon book our trip.

Simon was a great person to deal with. He organized our transport, accommodations and game drives package and accompanied us on two matatu rides to meet up with our tour group on the way to Maasai Mara.  

Matatu rides were always a hassle, but it was helpful to have Simon to advocate for us in the price negotiations. Unfortunately, there was nothing Simon could do with the way they handled our luggage and they ended up ripping the chest strap clip right off my backpack as they hauled it out from under the seat.  When we got off the second matatu, we had a short walk to a cafe where we’d be picked up by our tour van.  

When the van arrived the driver got out and gave Simon a big hug.  His name was Robert and it turned out they were childhood friends. It was time for us to pay up and the three of us handed over the equivalent of $900 US in Kenyan currency. (As a side note, rates are always negotiable and based on the time of year you are negotiating + level of experience you want)  

Our tour group consisted of a guy from South Korea, a girl from Holland, a lady from Nairobi and her daughter who was visiting from Houston, Texas.  

The van was much more comfortable and much less crowded than the matatus we’d been taking.  We stopped at a restaurant for a buffet lunch on the way and made it to our camp, just outside the reserve, late that afternoon.  We quickly settled into our comfortable, fixed tents, complete with bathroom and (supposedly) hot shower. Steph had her own tent with twin beds and Marieke and I had one with a queen. 

Soon we were off on our first game drive. 

Arriving at the gate and having the local women press up against the windows trying to sell us things was our first wild experience.  They were relentless, trying to sell necklaces and keychains, poking their long arms through the windows.  It was a relief when the guards allowed us to pass through the gates. 

The landscape in the reserve is stunning.  Valleys with rolling, grassy fields surrounded by acacia covered hills.  The roof of our van lifted open so we could stand up to give us a great view of the animals and the scenery.

We saw Thomson’s gazelles, impalas, hartebeests and a few wildebeests that hadn’t made their migration south to the Serengeti.  We saw a cheetah with two cubs at a bit of a distance, drove through a herd of Cape buffalo and stopped by a herd of elephants.  From there, we drove further into the reserve and stopped in a field of tall grass. “Lions on the right” said Robert.  There were a group of female lions and cubs relaxing just feet from our van.  

These were my first encounters with the Big Five animals.  The Big Five African animals are: Cape buffalo, elephants, leopards, lions and rhinoceros.  This used to refer to the most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot, but is now used by wildlife safaris.  

I had seen three of the five in our first hour inside the reserve.  Marieke had seen all of the Big Five. She’d visited the Maasai Mara eight years earlier on an Overland tour and had done a number of other safaris. Steph had also seen all of the Big Five in different reserves throughout Africa. 

Robert had gone quite far into the park to show us the lions and we had to hurry back to the gate before the park closed at dusk.  We made it to the park gate just as they were getting ready to close.

We returned to our camp for a buffet dinner and charged some of our electronics while the camp generator was running.  The Maasai men, who provide security for the camp, have a nightly bonfire but we were too exhausted to attend, so we went to our tents for the night.  We had been told hot water for showering was available all day, but it only lasted for a minute before it turned cold again.  It was disappointing, but after camping for 4 nights at the lake, it was great to have a real bed and bathroom. 

We had been told to make sure the doors of our tents were closed all the way to so we wouldn’t get a visit from any baboons during the night.  As we lay in bed I heard strange sounds and the camp dogs barking and wondered what was out there in the dark.

The next morning we woke up early to get as much time in the reserve as possible.  We had a buffet breakfast at 6 am before heading out. Over breakfast, the South Korean guy told us he’d had a mouse in his tent that night who’d ripped up his only role of toilet paper. Toilet paper is as precious commodity for backpackers as it’s become for the rest of the world while I’m writing this during the Covid-19 pandemic. Apparently, his interaction with the mouse had contributed to some of the “strange sounds” I had hear throughout the night. Steph showed up, pleased that she had managed to get a hot shower after the previous night’s dinner. Probably a benefit of our tent being closer to the hot water tank.  We headed out, this time remembering to keep our windows rolled up when the eager saleswomen came at us as waited to be let through the park’s gate.

We saw all of the animals we’d seen the night before, including getting up close to two cheetah brothers.  We saw a few jackals and more lions relaxing in the sun on one of the dirt roads.  As we watched them, I felt the need to turn around every once in a while, thinking there might be one behind us ready to pounce. 

On a hillside, we saw numerous grazing elephants, including some very cute babies.  The lady from Nairobi kept us entertained with her commentary on the animals. She implored the lions to not be so lazy and wondered aloud which of the other animals they’d been eating. 

We reached the southern boundary of the reserve at the border of Tanzania and the Serengeti.  We crossed the river that divides the two and, after a quick photo op, crossed back into Maasai Mara/Kenya.  No passports needed.

We soon stopped to have lunch by the river.  Before we ate our paper bag lunches, one of the reserves’ rangers took us on a hike along the river to see several families of hippos and a few crocodiles.

The drive we took the night before had been short but packed with animal encounters.  Today was more of a slow burn.  There were long stretches of driving between encounters.  As amazing an experience as it was, it did start to get a bit monotonous after a while. Surprisingly, it rained quite a bit that day, which wouldn’t have been a problem if the top of the van weren’t open.  The people sitting towards the front weren’t as exposed, but Marieke and I were in the back and got a steady shower.  Luckily the lady from Nairobi brought her umbrella and, without hesitation, opened it inside the van to keep us dry. We didn’t think much of the rain, but a few weeks later floods would wreak havoc on the Maasai Mara ruining a number of camps and claiming one life.

Later that afternoon we stopped by a tree along with several other tour groups.  Robert pointed at the tree and said “leopard”.  It was a bit hard to see without binoculars or a zoom lens, but sure enough, there was a leopard sleeping on top of the tree.  We waited for it to come down from the tree for over an hour but it wouldn’t budge.  It would occasionally get up to stretch before lying back down again.  The girl from Holland, Rian, even tried calling it, “pussy, pussy, pussy”, to no avail.  

One of the other tour vehicles got stuck in the mud and had to be towed out.  We started to hope the leopard would see the exposed driver and come out of the tree for a midday snack.  It’s amazing how quickly you devalue human life when you’re bored.  The driver was quite safe since the leopard made no attempt to leave his perch.  Eventually we convinced Robert to move on. 

My Big 5 list was almost complete. I only needed to see a rhino, but time was running out.  Black rhinos are critically endangered and there are only thirty to fifty in the Maasai Mara.  Unfortunately, we never got to see any, leaving me stuck at ⅘. 

We passed a few more animals on our way back out of the reserve, including a great close encounter with a group of elephants and a lone hyena.  We were in the reserve for over 12 hours.  It was a long day with some amazing and memorable encounters. 

That night, over dinner and the bonfire, we chatted with the other members of our group about our day.  The next morning we could tour a Maasai village, however, since Marieke had done it on her last trip and the villagers are very pushy about selling their souvenirs (even pushier than the women at the gate), we decided to sleep in before leaving to head back to Nairobi. 

Other than a couple of minor annoyances, it was a great trip.  Hopefully, someday I’ll get to see a wild rhino and complete the Big Five.