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Well, dear readers, we have arrived at my last post from East Africa. I am sad to have this series come to an end, as I've so enjoyed going back through all my photos to select some to share with you. Safari is just such a special thing! So I'll wrap up our two weeks in Kenya and Tanzania with a collection of other animals and landscapes from Ndutu and the Masai Mara. So far, I've shown you only the cheetahs and lions from these two parks. So with whom shall I begin this last post?

Well ... how about with the other big cat! The mighty and often elusive leopard. I was absolutely thrilled with our leopard sightings! Our first leopard was the tree climber in Tarangire. And all of our other sightings came from the Masai Mara in Kenya. 

As always, our wonderful drivers got us in prime position when the leopards were moving. Look at those long, luscious whiskers!

Leopards seem to me the most wild, the most intense, of the big cat predators. My first encounter with a leopardess was in Botswana, and it was downright sublime. Although they are gorgeous to see in motion, I think it's when they're silently hidden that they seem the most dangerous and thrilling ... for they are power, but power at rest, and this is in a way more fearful, more tense than power in motion. 

So how did we get to and from the Mara? In a tiny little airplane! It was a short ride from the Tanzania border into the Mara, and about 45 minutes from there back to Nairobi to fly home. 

Giraffes beside the air strip.

While we were in the Mara, we stayed at Elly's delightful bush camp, Kaboso. Here is where we got our full audio experience with the leopards! A pair was mating in the woods right where our tents were. This big cat courtship is apparently a little less amicable than the typical human one. Maybe the guy should have brought the girl some red roses and chocolates or something. We couldn't see them in the dark, but the noises they were making were so loud, it sounded as if they were close enough to touch if I unzipped the tent. The first night I didn't know what it was. I only knew that it wasn't a lion or a zebra or a hyena, or a dog, cheetah or hippo ... those noises I know. And I knew I did not want to step outside to see, haha. Growling, snarling, crazy vicious sounding noises from those love birds!

They were so low-key and chill during the day.

Here's one crossing a river with hippos in the background.  

And hippos soaking in a leafy pond.

The topi is an antelope species I had not seen before. I like the black markings inside their ears, almost makes their ears look like leaves. 

Funny thing about topis is how they sleep. They literally just let their head drop forward and rest their nose on the ground. You can see one in the background here. Foreground is a kori bustard in mating mode. I've seen these birds many times in southern Africa, but never with its neck puffed out like this. At first I wasn't sure it was the same bird. 

More of the secretary bird, which we also saw in the Ngorongoro Crater ... their funny little stilted legs beneath their rounded body, it's almost like they're wearing a little summer dress. Kind of a feminine looking bird, don't you think? Especially in the second pic. 

A species of heron.

A stork. I've said it before, I'll say it again, Africa will turn you into a birder. At least while you're in Africa! Everywhere you look is another stunning bird.

We found this hyena munching on a gazelle horn like a dog would a bone. Hyenas just crunch up and eat bones like kibble, it's unusual to see them gnawing on horns. 

One thing I regrettably did not get a photo of that I thought was so hilarious, was the hyenas lying in the mud pools in the tire tracks across the Mara plains. It was raining quite a bit and some of the track ruts had filled up quite deep with water. So we're driving along and see just a hyena head sticking up out of the middle of the road. A tad surreal! They took their time to stand up, coated in mud, and lope away from their day spa to the side of the road so we could pass. We saw this numerous times, hyena heads in the middle of the tracks, then up they pop like a jack-in-the-box. Here's one who's running away from his mud bath.

So here's a good safari pic of me ... lovely lioness on the mound in the background. Who could not be pleased as pie being there with these gorgeous animals! 

We had such a delightful time at Elly's camp, it was just me and my mom there. The staff was so friendly and attentive. The bed was super comfortable, we breakfasted and lunched outside in a private natural courtyard made by the trees, with a view directly out to the savanna, where giraffes and elephants and antelopes walk by. When we left, Elly had mom and me each plant an African green heart tree sapling in the grove; he has all of his guests do this. We had many, many laughs with him and his staff, but I won't spoil the surprises you may get if you stay there. And if you do go, take me along!! 

When we were there, it was still a mobile camp that was erected seasonally. Elly just got certification to be a permanent camp, and so the floors are now hard wood instead of tent canvas. To be honest, I liked the canvas, it was more of a camping feel. But the permanent floors are surely an upgrade for most guests. 

Although meals outside at the camp were marvelous, our last morning in the Mara, and indeed on safari, we left camp super early and Elly said we'd be taking a box breakfast with us (which we often did). About breakfast time, we're driving along, looking for a place to picnic and we came up to this lone tree where I could see a fancy table all set up and a guy with a huge propane tank cooking breakfast. I thought to myself, "Geeze, those people must be on the ultra-luxury safari, lugging a propane tank around with them to cook. Seems a little overboard." Then Elly turned the vehicle to park behind theirs. I thought he must be friends with the guide or something and was going to have a word with him, as the guides often chat with one another. It took me a minute to catch on that the cook was OUR cook from camp and the other men were the staff from OUR camp, and that WE were the recipients of the hoity-toity breakfast! haha. Omelettes, pancakes, bacon, fruit, juice, all under a blue savanna sky. It was divine.  

To me, the most awesome thing about Kaboso camp was its seclusion in the middle of the bush and the fact we had it all to ourselves, so it trumped all the other places in that regard. But everywhere we stayed was really nice. One of the best things about the bush camps is the happy-hour fire pits, with drinks always included in the price of the stay. Received a lovely sunset at Lamala in Ndutu. 

The most posh place we stayed was at Ndutu, Lake Masek Tented Lodge. We had our own tent with a sitting room, 3-bed bedroom, spacious outdoor shower with plumbing (not a bucket shower), electrical outlets, and a lovely deck to eat on. There's also a nice little gift shop of Masai crafts, I bought a few souvenirs there. 

Kubukubu camp in the Serengeti we stayed at only one night as we trekked from Ndutu to the border to fly to the Mara. But the balcony had a lovely view over the plains.

We didn't see as much wildlife in this area but the landscape in both the Tanzania Serengeti and the Mara was stunning, especially as storm clouds rolled in and out each day. It's starting to rain on the cheetah.

A picnic lunch.

A storm moves in. And then Hamisi is driving through buckets of rain! 

This is a little bit of a random round-up, photos that didn't fit into the themed posts from Ndutu and the Mara. So let's randomly go back to Ndutu for a few more shots. 

On the drive between Ngorongoro Crater and Ndutu, which seemed to me pretty much randomly overland, but clearly the guides knew where they were going, we ran across a bunch of Eurasian rollers, so very pretty.

As we drove, I called it the wildebeest horizon. Just a solid line of them on the horizon. Here we got closer, and a lone hyena thought he'd try chasing one down. 

A couple more zebra shots from Ndutu. Are baby zebras not ultra adorable? I relayed a bit of a sad tale of one in my Tuesday Tale, "Little Lost Zebra."

OK, I already showed you a ton of pics of these itty bitty lion cubs in Ndutu, but here are a few more. It was just one of the funnest things ever, watching these kiddos. It's a tongue greeting in the first pic! 

It's a touristy thing to do, but I recommend it as a way to get a crash course on the Masai culture who lives in most of these safari areas. You see them everywhere herding their cows, wearing their brightly colored fabrics and oodles of beaded jewelry. But how do they live? What are their camps like? There are many villages who will welcome tourists and tell them these things. Yes, it costs money and you'll be encouraged to also buy some of their souvenir products, but the money helps them live in their villages with a dignified traditional life in a country where poverty is endemic and many live in cities in deplorable conditions. I bought a couple bracelets and I learned a lot. In spite of them hosting who-knows-how-many tourists regularly, these people were warm and friendly to us.  

Mom thought about staying and going native. But in the end, I persuaded her to continue on safari with me. (Good thing, or she wouldn't have seen the baby cheetah!) 

While the adults were singing a welcome song for us, this tiny dancer was getting her groove on. The Masai singing is fascinating. We got a lot of it at Kaboso camp. They don't use any instruments at all, only their voices. But when they sing as a group, some people make deep noises that sound like a bass instrument, and the harmony is so rich, it sounds like there is more than just human voices involved. I found it mesmerizing. 

School kids.

Natural earlobe earrings! 

Perhaps the most interesting thing to me was to see inside one of the huts made of sticks and thatch. From the outside, I imagined it was just a one-room hut ... this is how the Himba huts were in Namibia, just one big open space. But no, they are divided into several sections. It's basically just a mini-house with a very low ceiling. An entry space, a cooking and eating space, and bedroom spaces.

The Masai are the consummate herdsmen: their diet comes nearly solely from the cow -- they drink the milk and the blood, and eat the meat. You may have seen on TV shows, like National Geographic, how they prick the cow's neck in just the right spot and collect some of the blood. Children begin the life of a shepherd, watching cows all by themselves, from the age of eight. Unlike the nomads we stayed with in Iran who bring their sheep back to their camp each night, if a Masai has journeyed too far from home to get back, or is on his way to market, he just lays down and sleeps wherever he is with his cows. These days, a family will usually select one child from their brood to send to school to get an education and the rest will be herders and live in the traditional village. So the man who showed us around the village was the only one who spoke English, and his family had chosen him to be the student. 

Goodbye to our friend and excellent Tanzania driver, Hamisi.

The last thing we did before flying home was visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. This had been on my list of places to see for a long time. So I was thrilled to finally make it. This is a fantastic organization rescuing orphaned elephants out in the field and rehabilitating them for release back into the wild. Elly used to be one of the keepers here and had some fun tales to tell of his time as an elephant caretaker. Tourists can come in for just a few hours out of the day to watch when the keepers feed the babies their milk bottles in the morning. Then the elephants are taken back out of the tourist eye into large fenced-in areas. They are separated into two different groups by age, the really young ones and the older ones. Elly also "adopted" an elephant each for me and my mom ... it's really fun, you get updates each month from the keepers' dairies and get to hear about what your elephant is doing. Mine is an ornery little trouble-maker with lots of personality who is fiercely protective of one of the younger elephants in the group. "Adoption" is of course just a pledge of monetary support, and I will certainly keep up a yearly contribution. More elephants than ever are in need of this orphanage. 

And there it is, below: our vessel of good times and unforgettable moments. I want to say one last word about Endless Safaris ... I've mentioned over and over in my East Africa posts how good the guides/drivers were, and everything about the trip as a client was impeccable by my standards. But what I appreciate equally is that this is not a company based overseas with offices in some other country. This is Elly's gig, he grew up poor and worked his way up to an education, to being accepted as a volunteer at the Sheldrick Orphanage, to guiding, to finally starting his own business. He helps a lot of his guides not only by simply hiring them as independent contractors, but by helping them buy their own vehicles that they can use to guide for anybody ... so investing in people, not just paying wages. Now he arranges tours for clients in several other African countries, as well as Kenya and Tanzania. There are a million guides out there, it seems, and I was overwhelmed trying to decide on which one to entrust this experience with ... and I couldn't be more happy with my decision. 

OK dear readers, hope you've enjoyed your time with me on virtual safari! For some reason, I'm hearing the Loony Tunes song that comes at the end of the cartoons ... "and that's all, folks!" But hopefully it's not really "all," hopefully one day I'll be back on the savanna.

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