Safara, to travel.

‘Safari’ actually means ‘journey’  from  the Arabic ‘safara’ meaning ‘to travel’.  So a safari is the perfect way to bring this African adventure to a close.

Top 10 moments (in no particular order) of the safari in theMaasai Mara

1.  The sunrises!

2.  Meeting two great newlywed couples!  One even spent the first week of their honeymoon volunteering at a school/orphanage in Kenya.  Ol Seki, our lovely home base for the Maasai Mara must be a magnet for young love.

3.  Having sundowner drinks with the lion.  They skipped the G&T and had giraffe, instead.

4.  Sunrise hot air balloon ride.  When we were awoken at 4am, I thought, bad idea (I can’t believe we are paying for this abuse!)

 It was stunning!  The mist rising from the river, the lions, elephants, wildebeest and zebras from above, the quietness.  It was magical.

5.  The animals.  The ones that are so ubiquitous, so peaceful,  just munching on the grass, that you don’t even notice them.

6.  Being mesmerized by the cats.

7.  Watching the migration of 3 million (or at least a whole bunch) of the wildebeest cross the savanna and Mara river.

8.  Two and half hours with a gorgeous leopard.

9. Visiting the Maasai Mara village where Tony and I were greeted by song and dance from the women of the community.  They invited me to dance and sing with them.  As we were singing in Mara (one of 42 languages in Kenya), I’m not sure of the actual words, but I believe it was something like, “look at the poorly dressed white woman in the silly hat, bless her heart, she has two left feet, bless her heart”.

10.  African sunsets!

Have I mentioned I love this place?  I love this place!