merry christmas.

merry christmas to all. and an early happy new year.

Gabe and I half tried to get into the christmas spirit but its a little hard when its 80 degrees. just doesn't feel the same somehow. instead of pining for christmas goodies, trees, family and friends Gabe and I decided to put our efforts to better use and get some sight seeing in. because we didn't make it to serengeti in tanzania we opted for masai mara in kenya (same area, just divided by a border.)

we found a great deal on accomodations and game drives right on the edge of the park. a charming little place run by a german woman - and predominantly frequented by germans as well.

we took a matatu from nairobi to narok and in narok found a bus/matatu/chicken transport vehicle to masai mara/talek gate. the trip from narok to talek is supposed to take around two hours. but the road is unpaved - and as Gabe and I learned in uganda if you have chickens on your bus its a bad sign for a timely arrival. and then it started raining - pouring in fact. so there we were, Gabe and I, wedged with our packs in the back of the bus (which had a couch, among other things, strapped to the roof) as the rain poured in the window. Gabe was next to the window and used my rainjacket as a sort of smock to protect from the rain and ended with quite a pool of water in his lap. babies were crying, the bus was bumping along... and then we came upon another bus stuck in the mud - and spent the next hour unsticking them. what should have been a 2 hour bus ride ended up taking 6. what a christmas eve.

however once we arrived we were treated to a much needed christmas feast! thank god the europeans take christmas as seriously as we do. turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce... the works. it was grand. and delicious.

we slept in a lovely two person canvas tent - very safari like. and on christmas morning woke up early to go driving the park. the morning was fantastic. we saw a pack of hyenas, giraffes, wildebeest, buffalo, impala, gazelle, a glimpse of a lion's tail and two cheetah! Gabe was super stoked on the cheetah.

there are signs all over the park - DO NOT DRIVE OFF ROAD - which our maasai driver completely ignored. on the one hand it was amazing to see the cheetah up close but I couldn't help but feel guilty about destroying so much vegetation just to get close.

we returned to camp for breakfast and in the afternoon returned to the park. in the afternoon we saw more than 12 lions, including males, females and cubs. some had decently brought down a zebra and they were chowing down. some looked so bloated and full - they were laying on their backs, legs in the air with the most swollen bellies I've ever seen. we saw hippos - our driver told us to get out of the car to get a better look at the hippos - they're only the most dangerous animal on the continent...

we didn't see rhinos or elephants but the trip was still a huge success.

on the 26th we woke up at 4:30 for a bumpy ride back to narok and then nairobi. our matatu of course got a flat.