Air, Landier, and Sea

Today was our last day of safari and we had the option of leaving at 6:30AM or 9:00 AM.

Naturally, we signed up for one of the 9 O’clock slots because we’ve had quite a few early mornings.

However, our safari guide from yesterday, Douglas, suggested that if we wanted to see more activity, earlier would be better.

Our whole Jeep changed our time slot so we left at 6:30 and ensured we had Douglas.

Our first excitement of the day was seeing a hyena. Douglas said it’s more rare to see them alone unless that one just wants a snack. Or it’s a scout and it will call back to the group when it finds something. When it calls, it could be that 50 hyenas show up to help.

We also decided our goal for today was to see a kill. Clearly, the Mara has rubbed off on us and we’re all about the chain of command and circle of life.

As we headed out, Douglas told us that our plan should be to look for cheetah and patiently wait to see if we can follow them on a hunt and/or go to the river and see if there’s a crossing.

A crossing is when the animals (usually zebra and wildebeest) group together and run across the river, trying to avoid looming crocodiles.

Since our guide was truly the best, we got to see both!

First we came across cheetahs- yes, cheetahs, plural. There were like four cheetahs closing in on a group of wildebeests.

These are all male cheetahs because females are always alone. They raise their cubs and they return to solitary life, whereas the males are in groups. 

We could see them sitting from a distance, but as soon as the drop below the level of the grass they “move like the wind” as Douglas said, so we didn’t get any pictures.

Before long we decided to move closer to the heard of wildebeests and the cheetahs were now sitting on the other side of the heard, perched on a rock, surveying.

We waited for about 15 minutes and then the cheetahs took off!

Fortunately for the wildebeests, they took off in the other direction and didn’t go in for the kill. 

Douglas told us that means the cheetahs decided they can’t handle the wildebeest today and will seek smaller prey.

So we decided to head towards the river.

On our way, we came across a gorgeous male elephant, shaking the trees to get dates from them. He allowed us to sit close by for over 30 minutes while he picked up the dates and enjoyed his snack.

The following photos are courtesy of our guide, Douglas, who is an excellent photographer:

If an elephant isn’t happy, he will shake his head emphatically, which signals to the guide we better move ourselves, but this guy was gracious enough to let us marvel at him.

We also got to see the gorgeous bird of Kenya. You’ll see in a couple pictures the bright blue wings of it- it’s incredible!

After we said goodbye to our new elephant friend, we went to the river.

There are many places to cross the river, some which are more popular than others, but we went to the Cul de Sac. Which I learned is French for “the point of no return”. It’s like the Rubicon of Kenya.

In reality, I think if gets it’s name from the shape of the river at the point, rather than the only place the animals can cross, but the French translation makes it sound more intense.

When animals cross the river, they want to cross in groups to avoid being an easy crocodile dinner. For Zebras, this means they run across with their families. For wildebeests, it mostly means they run across after the zebras.

Wildebeests don’t really have close family ties like zebras. As long as the babies are with their mamas, that’s all that matters.

When it comes to actually making the cross, the animals tend to wait, walk up to the river, take a drink, run away from the river. Douglas told us this is how they build their confidence. It takes time.

Today gave us great respect for the people who make National Geographic or shows that film amazing wildlife encounters because it’s really just a waiting game.

Below you’ll see a waiting game video.

And then it finally happened! The crossing occurred!

It’s hard to describe the thrill of watching the animals cross the river. It has you on the edge of your seat. Usually when you watch nature shows you follow a specific family along it’s daily journey and you’re pretty sure it’s not going to get taken out within the first five minutes of the show.

That’s not the case here. As Douglas says, “the wild has no rules.”

We also learned that crocodiles don’t give preference to one animal over another. As in, they just eat whatever they can get a hold of.

That is, for the animals that are crossing.

When it comes to crocodile living, they tend to occupy waters with hippos. The hippos would occasionally tell the crocs they were encroaching on hippo territory and the crocs would have to move.

Crocodiles don’t go after hippo because they’re too big. They will go after baby hippos but only if they stray from the hippo parents. If the baby is with its mama, then the crocs leave it alone.

Hippos also don’t participate in the crossing drama.

Why?

Because they’re vegetarian (I actually had no idea this was the case). They hang out in the water all day because their greatest enemy is the sun, which causes their skin to crack, which leads to infection. They leave the water at night for the grasses and enjoy their vegetarian meal.

Okay so back to the crossing. The animals are all gearing up, the crocodiles are getting in their position, and it’s time to go.

It’s best to just see it but I will warn you it’s intense and maybe this goes without saying but graphic since it’s legitimately the wild out there.

Our group was quite excited to see this happen. We felt a little bad for the wildebeest, but we were mostly relieved and impressed that the zebra made it- no one wants to see a zebra get eaten.

Also, I expected there to be a struggle between the wildebeest and crocodile, but that crocodile basically scooped it right up. It was so intense and incredible to see.

After that, we decided it was time for breakfast and coffee. We drove to meet up with another group out in an open area (away from lions) and enjoyed the view, our amazement of the crossing, and some coffee.

Since today was a scouting day, we attempted to find some more cheetah on the prowl, but didn’t see anymore. So we headed to different parts of the river and eventually made it back to where we saw the first crossing.

We waited there for about 20 minutes to see if the wildebeest were going to cross and when they never did we headed back to the hotel.

Ten minutes later Douglas got a message on the radio that zebra showed up at the Cul de Sac and were looking like they may cross.

We high tailed it back to the river to see the zebra.

Once again, they went through the same build up courage process that the first group did.

And then the crossing happened!

We were pleased to end our day with more zebra success!

We found it very interesting that the crocs don’t always win. Even in this crossing one of the zebras gets bit but gets away. Douglas said the wound would only be fatal if it got the belly, but muscle bites it will survive. So we hope for the best for that one!

The group that didn’t cross we never saw try again. Douglas said that it’s likely there were two families because if only have crossed, they would have called out to the other half, but that didn’t happen, so we presume the other family found another spot to cross or settled for the grass a little less green (but at least alive) on their side.

That evening, we had a very special dinner, complete with being dressed by the Masai people. We were dressed up and decorated by the Masai people. We also got to watch a performance.

Prior to the performance, our group leaders surprised us with a gift for our Honeymoon. It’s a talking stick.

In Masai culture, the one with the stick has the control (or the floor to speak), so they idea is when we need to discuss something, we use the talking stick to say our peace and then hand it to the other person to say theirs. We were so touched and appreciative of their sweet gesture.

Next, we got to watch the Masai perform. They enjoy jumping and dancing, like we saw after our hot air balloon ride. They also do an interesting “bounce” where they not only bend at the knees, but use their neck to move their heads forward and backward.

They also surprised us with a gift for our Honeymoon. They gave us a beaded heart, which they said is for the love they have for us and for the wish of a long life and marriage, full of years of happiness together.

We ended the evening with a wonderful dinner, and had the honor of sitting with one of Kenya’s up and coming music stars, Lemarti.

After dinner, he not only showed us how to dance like the Masai (which was fun and hysterical- sounds included). He played a short concert for us. It was absolutely incredible and we highly recommend his music.

You can look up Lemarti Songs on YouTube to find his music.

His music transcends all language barriers and speaks to the heart and soul- it’s beautiful.