Masai Mara Memories

My mom and I were beyond blessed to spend three days and nights at the luxurious Fairmont Mara Resort this past weekend. We left Tenwek on Good Friday morning and pulled up to the Fairmont around noon to be greeted by a fully-adorned Maasai warrior who took our luggage, a tray full of peppermint-scented towels, and glasses of fresh-squeezed mango juice as we were ushered into the main lodge. That place is absolutely spectacular, and the only way we were able to go is because the owner loves Tenwek and gives its workers a super great deal on their stay at his resort. It's totally decorated in gorgeous dark-wood, earthly tones with a huge deck looking over a river running through Maasai land that's filled with hippos. The lodging is the coolest part: my mom and I had our own private "tent" that's decked out in Maasai colors with a gorgeous bathroom and deck, and is right on the edge of the hippo-filled river; so you go to sleep hearing hippos snorting and splashing the river 40 feet or so below you!

Mom posing by the bed in our fabulous tent.

The river right below our tents, scattered with hippos.

After a fantastic lunch on the deck between the pool and river, we went on our first game drive that afternoon. Each day you have a 6:30-8:30am game drive and then a 3:30-6:30pm drive.; so we went on a total of six drives. Our driver, Jeremiah, had been working at the Fairmont for fifteen years and was from the Maasai tribe; so basically, he was a total pro! We had a wonderful group from Tenwek with us: my mom and me, a visiting retired Tenwek missionary, as well as an anesthesiologist and his son were there the first night; then the missionary left on Saturday, and we added to our group a gastroneurologist, his wife, and an anesthesiologist from another Christian hospital (Kijabe) in Kenya. Despite the fact that I had to get up at 5:45am, the morning drives were my favorite: I woke up to fresh Kenyan coffee and delicious hot chocolate, wrapped myself up in a Maasai blanket in our land rover, watched the sunrise glide above the nearby hills and slowly drench the mara planes in its colorful light, and saw some incredible animal sights. The "ultimate goal" of a safari is to see the "Big 5," or the (potentially) most dangerous and sought-after safari animals: lion, rhino, elephant, cape buffalo, and (the rarest) leopard. And we were able to see them all, which is pretty rare! Sunday afternoon, we spotted a pride of seven lions and got within 20 feet of them all clumped together on a rock; the beauty and power were just incredible! Monday morning, we spotted a leopard about thirty feet outside of the resort's gates, which even our driver was surprised about because they're so difficult to spot! We saw numerous zebras, giraffes, elephants (my favorite animal), hyenas, Thompson gazelles, impalas, a few cheetahs, and lots of other animals. It's incredible to see the animals in their beautiful natural habitat, interacting with each other.

Zebras on the Masai Mara on our first morning safari drive.

Our first lion spotting! This was a three-year-old male lion walking by himself; our driver said most of these guys look for a pride of lions to challenge the lead lion and take over the group.

Giraffes on the road to the resort!

Our second cheetah spotting! This female actually had her cub with her as well.

My favorite elephant spotting! The baby elephant in this video is less than a month old. So precious!

It was certainly a very unique Easter weekend! It was wonderful to be able to read parts of the Easter story each day with my mom on our deck looking out on the river, and enjoy the gorgeous creation that our Father has restored to Himself through sending His son to die in our place and bridge the gap to allow us to have a relationship with Him. On top of all the beautiful nature, we were able to glimpse into the Maasai culture; every evening, we had a cultural event before dinner. One night it was a Maasai warrior who talked about his tribal culture and major trademarks, another it was several Maasai warriors dancing and jumping (one of the traditional ways for Maasai warriors to show their strength and impress the ladies) in their traditional attire. We also visited a Maasai village in the middle of the mara plains and their chief's son led us on a tour of their homes, cattle pens, and crafts market.

The Maasai warriors (back left) and women welcoming us into their village.

Sadly, my mom had to depart on Monday to go back to the US, and I'm back at Tenwek, unpacking and re-packing to head off to Nairobi tomorrow morning! I'm going to the Kenyan coastal town of Malindi for the annual long-term Kenyan missionaries' retreat. I'm so excited about spending a week on the Kenyan beaches and having a retreat with the Lord in Africa!