I am now back at Olkerii sitting on the veranda with Chit-chit on my left and Duiker (pronounced dyka) on my right. These are just some of the animals that live here with Katy and Philip. Chit-chit is a little bird (called a Familiar Chat) that occasionally comes by to rest in the kitchen with us and Duiker is a baby duiker that some of the guys found yesterday. When I say guys I am talking about the Maasai men that live on the same land as Kate and Philip and occasionally help out around the house. Duiker was alone and we don't know what happened to her mother. She still has a bit of her umbilical chord connected to her stomach so we know that she is only about two weeks old at most. Philip built a place for her to sleep in a box with hay and Katy feeds her a couple of times a day with a plastic syringe filled with a warm milk mixture. She looks like a tiny tiny brown and black baby deer with the most adorable brown eyes and eyelashes. We welcomed her into our home last night after we returned from camping in the Maasai Mara.
Monday night of this week, Philips good friends Marc and Margrit came to visit Olkerii. Early Tuesday morning, Marc, Margrit, Kate, Philip and I loaded the cars and traveled to the Mara. Moi, Boniface and Mutisya (pronounced ma-te-see-ah) joined us to help set up camp, cook, fix cars, etc. It took us about five hours to get to the Mara and then we set up our campsite right along a serene river. By the time we were finished setting everything up it was about time for the sun to set so we started a fire and drank a few beers. Marc and Margrit are such sweet and funny people. Marc grew up in Africa and has an incredible ability to perfectly emulate animal’s sounds. We knew we had set up our campsite along a river that housed a couple of families of hippos and at least one pride of lions but we had yet to hear any of them. Within 15 minutes of sitting and drinking beers, Marc had everyone in fits of laughter. He began demonstrating how a lion sounds when he feels protective of his territory. I'll have to emulate the sound to you guys when I get home. It is a bit peculiar but Marc did it perfectly. So perfectly that one of the lions close by began responding. Our laughter stopped immediately and silence came over us all. We sat there and waited for another call and sure enough there it was... the lion called out to us again only from a closer distance. I, being a city kid, didn't know what to expect but everyone assured me that the lions eat well in the Mara and that there isn't a thing to worry about. We went back to laughing even though the lion continued to investigate our campsite. I was told that the lion wouldn't come up to the tents until we all went to sleep so there was nothing to worry about. However, I was told to always keep my flashlight with me just in case. Katy pulled me to one side and gave me the lowdown of what to expect and how to act in the Mara. Whenever Kate tells me that things are ok then I truly know that things really are ok. Although the lion never stopped calling out to us that night I still felt at ease. Once everyone went to bed I climbed into my tent expecting not to step foot outside until morning. Lying there in the dead of night in the middle of the Mara was an experience truly indescribable and unique. It sounded like a war zone of animals, birds and insects. I laid there for about an hour just listening and sure enough the lion came up and walked all throughout our campsite. He wasn't afraid to be vocal about it either. Not only did the lion claim his territory but also so did the hippos. I felt paralyzed in my bed, unable to make the slightest of movements with some fear that they might hear me. I wanted to look and watch them up-close because I was so excited and so intrigued but I was so unsure of what not to do so I stayed lying on my back. I usually fall asleep listening to my ipod every night but I couldn't break away from the music that was in my real life that night or any of the nights we stayed camping under the stars. All three nights offered music to my ears that I never thought I would hear.
The next two days we spent driving around with our Toyota Land Cruiser on safari looking at all the animals. Philip drove us everywhere and showed us no sign of weakness when it came to getting in front of the animals. Kate and I spent most of the time up on the roof of the car. Some of my favorite parts of the safari came when Philip questioned if he could make it up and over a mountain of rocks while Kate and I stayed clinging on for dear life on the roof. Trying not to fly off was so much fun. The first day of our safari adventures Philip found a family of elephants hanging out in an area of trees. He drove right up and stopped the car dead center of the entire pack. Once he turned the car off, the entire pack starred at us and seemed a little uncertain. Kate told me to stay perfectly still until they become relaxed around us. Once they began eating again I was able to take some really great pictures. There was a mom and baby right next to us so Philip made sure he respectfully stayed at a far distance from them not to threaten them too much. I'll show you guys the pictures once I get back.
On our way home from the Mara we had a bit of an issue with both of the cars. The batteries are very weak in both cars and we are only able to start the cars by parking them each on a hill and having people push them to get a running start. It is a bit comical at times. We stopped for a picnic on our way home from the Mara but one of the cars didn't start right away after we pushed it and unfortunately it rolled too far into a ditch. So Kate had to pull it out using the other car and we tried the pushing method again. Good thing we had Moi, Boniface and Mutisya to help. We got home fine after that.
That night Kate and I sat with the new baby duiker and laughed about our day. We woke up at our campsite in the Mara, drug our car out of a ditch by lunch time and nursed a baby duiker to sleep by nightfall. It's been great to say the least.
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