Today (August 16th) was the day we left to make a long journey to Masai Mara, where we would go on a real African safari! We had to take our vans to the bus stop where they dropped us off and we loaded a coach bus. It was really nice, just like one back home, and it had air conditioning! Once aboard the bus we started driving and let's just say at first we were all a little scared because the road was nicer than we expected, but it wasn't completely level. So this caused the bus to lean quite a bit to each side. Along the way we made several stops to pick people up and to drop others off. We made one stop to get lunch, but with how my stomach has been I didn't chance it by getting anything. We started again and after about an 8-9 hours bus ride we finally made it to Nairobi's bus station. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. We boarded these other vans and were taken to the "hotel" where we would be staying for the night. I was very impressed with how developed Nairobi was compared to Mombasa, it was like we were in a whole new world being there. Once we got to our "hotel" we were all a little shocked to find that it was like a camp instead. They had separate buildings with many bunk beds in them. They at least had showers with hot water and flushing toilets. We all got to our rooms, settled in and freshened up. By then it was probably around 6:30 pm and we were all starving. We decided to go to this Italian restaurant that was suppose to be really good. At the restaurant they served us a lot of buns and brochette. We all ordered and received our food. I got this tortilini pasta that was stuffed with a cheese and spinach mix topped with a creamy mushroom sauce. There wasn't much to the meal for how expensive it was, but with all the buns and everything we were all stuffed by the time we left. After we got back I wasn't feeling very good so I decided to lay down, rest and read a book.
The next morning (August 17th) we had to be up bright and early at 7 am. Our safari vans got there and we all loaded up. We drove to Masai Mara, which we originally thought was only 2 hours away, little did we know it was a lot longer. We drove for about 4 hours before reaching a place where we ate lunch, the infamous rice and noodles as always. Along the way we also got to see the Great Rift Valley, which was HUGE, but it was beautiful. We boarded the vans again and proceeded to make our way closer to Masai Mara. Soliman, our driver, informed us that the road head was going to be not so pleasant. He was right, we were bouncing up, down, left and right. I lost count on how many times I either hit my head or something else. We had to drive on this road for about 2 hours before we reached our camp. We stayed in these tents that contained 2-4 beds in each and the tent was then connected to a small concrete building that contained a toilet and shower. Once we dropped our stuff off we had a cup of Kenyan tea and we were off to our first look at the safari life. Our camp was very close to the entrance to Masai Mara. We started our safari and right off the bat we seen a ton of animals! We saw zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, vultures, giraffes, elephants, lions and African Buffalo's. After about 2 hours on the safari we returned to the camp and were served a wonderful dinner! I hadn't had that good of food in a long time since being here! We then lounged in our rooms and me and the 2 other girls I stayed with all read books until ten when the electricity goes out. We only get electricity in the morning from 5:30 to 7am and at night from 6:30 to 10pm. It was a bit inconvenient, but it made us go to bed early.
The next morning (August 18th) we woke up and again had an amazing breakfast. We then went on safari all day! It seemed like a long time, but the time went by pretty fast. We saw many of the same animals, but we saw a cheetah, a rino, hippos, crocs, hyenas, wort hogs and ostriches. The only thing we missed was a leopard, but they said those are really hard to find along with the rinos, but we were lucky and saw one. We had a picnic lunch in the grass under some trees and then proceeded on the safari. We saw a lot more animals and then made it back to camp. We all decided that we wanted to see this village not far of the Masai people. We had to pay to go, but the money goes to helping them, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I was shocked to see the village, it was a big circle of mud/ wood houses. The ground was covered by dirt and animal poop. We learned that the women do the cooking, cleaning and building of the houses. The houses last for 9 years and then they have to move because they get infested with termites and the wood starts to give way. The houses are very tiny and they normally have about 7 people that live in it. There is a room for the parents, a "living room", and a children's room. It is also very dark because they only have these small holes in the sides for windows. The men are responsible for keeping the village safe. When a lion enters their circle they have to kill it and the one to kill it keeps the skin and wears it. The men pay for their wife's with cows and they have competitions to see who jumps higher. The one to jump higher pays less cows for their wife. If they can pay for more than one, than they are allowed to have multiple wives, but they have to live in separate houses. We then got to see a welcome dance from the men and women and we all got our chance in joining in. They also make their own fires, so they showed us how and they also tattoo themselves with the stick that they heat up. They opened the invitation to us to get tattoos and a handful of people decided to get one. It was just a little circle burn, but it just wasn't for me, so don't worry mom! We all got to look at all the stuff they wanted to sell and each of us walked away with something. We finally made our way back and had another delicious meal. Again tonight we enjoyed reading, with lights out at ten.
The next morning (August 19th) we woke up extra early at 6 am and were on the road shortly after. The van I was in had to pick up an extra person that we were giving a ride back to Nairobi. It was a little awkward, he didn't talk much. We went on safari for another 3 or so hours and we got to see an African sunrise while on safari! Something not a lot of people get to see so I feel pretty privileged to have the opportunity. We then had to go back to camp, pack our stuff, and make our way on the bumpy road again. Before we got on the road we had to pass some game wardens and Soliman told us that we had to tell them that we were only on safari for one night and we stayed at some other camp. He proceeded to tell us that yesterday when we saw the rino, there were a lot of vans on the grass, which is a big no no and you can get a huge fine if you are caught. Well the game wardens had gotten our licence plates, so we had to lie so they would think it wasn't us. Luckily we weren't asked, but another one of our group vans was. We finally made it back to Nairobi and we stayed at the same place as the last time. We had a reservation at this restaurant called Carnivore, similar to Carnival in Sioux Falls, SD. We had an amazing meal, we started by having little pizza bites and corn cobs. We then had a bowl of soup and some salad. Then came the meat! They had a ton of meat and they served it to you on a samurai sword! I tried pork, chicken, beef, turkey, ostrich, croc, but passed on the ox balls. By the time we were done, I was stuffed, but then found out we got a dessert that was included in the price of the meal. I ended up getting the chocolate chip blondie brownie with a scoop of ice cream. It was so delicious! My stomach felt a lot better today, but it took a little while for it to get used to having meat since I haven't had it in over a week. We returned to our hotel, relaxed in the kitchen/bar and then went to bed.
On August 20th, we had to make our journey back to Mombasa. The bus ride seemed to take forever and we ended up not getting back to the compound until about 6pm. We were all hungry, but were disappointed by they choice in dinner. A group of us decided to head to Cafe Mocha to have dinner and use the Internet. I again had pizza :) We had a relaxing night, which was nice since we had to return back to the hospital tomorrow.
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