Pediatrics Gone to the Dawgs: Safari Days 2 & 3

The Fairmont Mara Safari Club has 2 game drives each day for its guests, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning game drive starts at 6:30, so your room waiter brings coffee, hot chocolate, and tea to your tent at 6:00 to help make sure you are up in time for the game drive. Now I don't usually like to get up at 6:00 a.m. on my vacation or weekend days, but this would undoubtedly be worth getting up for. Amy and I got up a bit before 6:00 and began to rouse the kids from their slumber so we could make the drive. I elected not to have coffee since we would be in a land rover in the middle of the Maasai Mara for several hours. We had been advised not to hang our hands out the windows while on the drives, so I gathered that it would not be advisable to get out of the land rover for a code brown.

The morning drive was also fantastic. It was quite exciting to watch the king of the jungle meander from the trees to the grassy brush to meet two lionesses, coming within about two feet of our vehicle as he walked. He clearly did not feel threatened by our presence. As we continued on our drive, we encountered many more zebras, gazelles, wildebeests and topis. The Great Migration is said to involve about 1.3 million wildebeests, 500,000 Thompson's gazelles and 200,000 zebras, as well of tens of thousands of topis, elands, and other game. Given the huge numbers of these animals we saw personally, I must say that I believe those numbers to be correct.

Thompson's Gazelle

Abby was thrilled later in the drive when we came upon a herd of giraffes. As someone else has stated, I think God was expressing His sense of humor when he made these things. When we approached the herd in the land rover, they all turned their heads to stare at us. Most of the other animals on the safari ignored the vehicle, but the giraffes all took notice. Although I cannot attest to the veracity of this, giraffes can supposedly outrun most of their predators and have been known to kill lions with a kick.

After the morning drive, we had breakfast at the club and then went to a Maasai village. The Maasai villagers were very welcoming, especially once you pay the $20 entry fee (U.S. dollars). The female villagers sang as we entered and the men demonstrated their jumping ability, which is how they prove they are ready for marriage. If you jump high enough, you qualify to marry. Good thing that's not the case here, because I have quite a few buddies who would be destined for singleness. (I am not going to single out anyone specific, like Jamie Wolfgram or Chris Strickland). We were then invited to join them as they sang and danced.

The chief's son then led us around the village and was quite proud to show us their homes and inform us that the walls are made of cow dung. I've got to say, the pediatrician in me just kept thinking "E. coli, E. coli, E.coli". Each home had a room for the calves to sleep in at night. That's right. The calves slept in the home with the people. Medical note: one of the big problems in Africa which can lead to blindness is trachoma. This eye disease can be spread by the flies which are forever surrounding cattle. It would be a good thing if the calves did not sleep in the home with the people. After the "tour" of their typical home, which clearly indicates that the Maasai are not a claustrophobic people, we were invited to go to their market. Each family had their own little stall in this market, and we were expected to visit each stall. Somehow Amy and the kids got way ahead of me, so I got the hard sell at each and every stall I visited. I am not real good at saying "no", so I now have two pieces of wood that theoretically can start a fire. Maybe I will try them next time I fire up the grill.

Proud of the dung walls

After escaping the market, we returned to the club for lunch and a little relaxation before the afternoon game drive. The kids ventured to the pool, but only John was able to handle the cold water. After a short time at the pool, we met our driver, Cosmas, for the afternoon drive. The afternoon drive again presented things to us that we had not yet seen. As we left the compound, we saw a little flock of guinea fowl, which resemble the peacock, but without the distinctive tail plumage. We then saw a group of impalas, which were quite graceful in appearance. Interspersed with the impalas were a number of topis, an antelope species which I found to be quite beautiful. We made our way to the foothills to find the rhinos known to inhabit the area and along the way had our first encounter with a jackal, which looks remarkably similar to our own dog, Dottie.

Guinea fowl

An impala (foreground) and a topi

Dottie, I mean, a jackal

As we approached the rhino habitat, we were met by a group of rangers that informed us that this is where we were to get out of the vehicle for a short walk. Surprised that we were asked to exit the vehicle, with kids (!), we climbed out and followed the ranger up the path. He led us to an area where a group of 4 rhinos were grazing. We began to take photos in front of these apparently docile behemoths, until the ranger motioned for us to move away. He then informed us, "That one is aggressive...sometimes we run." It was quite reassuring to know that the ranger was there to protect us with the rather small stick he was carrying. We proceeded back to the land rover and then had the opportunity to watch one of the greatest sunsets I have seen. The hymn, "How Great Thou Art", sprung to my mind and "How Great is Our God" to Amy's. Absolutely breathtaking.

We returned to the club for another excellent dinner and a great night of sleep. We were again greeted with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate on Sunday morning prior to our final game drive. The girls and I headed to meet our driver at 6:30 as Amy prodded John along to get ready for the drive. As Amy and John left the tent, they met a baboon helping himself to the tray of coffee and tea. My return to see what was taking so long apparently scared the little guy off, but Amy was able to get a couple of photos of the event. The Sunday morning drive provided another opportunity to observe the great cats. We then drove on to find some hyenas finishing off a wildebeest. Along the way we saw a little vulture, a tawny eagle, and several jackals. It was fun to see the jackals try to sneak in among the hyenas and still some breakfast. John had a potty emergency and got to contribute some fluid to an acacia tree in the middle of the savanna. How many 6-year-olds can say they urinated among a bunch of wild African animals? John's kind parents decided not to take any pictures to use for future blackmail. We then had another giraffe encounter and our driver found an ostrich egg (I don't know how he found it) for us to see. We returned to the club and prepared to leave. We said good-bye to the staff, who had been quite taken with the kids, and began the long drive back to Kijabe, still overwhelmed by the vastness, diversity, and creativity of God's handiwork.