Life's a Stitch

(Feb. 25)

The real fun begins. At 7:30 we met our guide, David, from Nairobi and the rest of our group, Brian and Mindy, a couple from San Diego. We boarded our Land River for a 245 kilometer (152 miles), five hour ride from Nairobi to Maasai Mara.

Two rest stops were included: the great rift valley overlook:

and a giant souvenir shop where an employee follows you encouraging you to fill a shopping basket. They won’t price an item individually, wanting to give you one total at the end. It’s not the way I shop so I left empty handed.

We passed many Maasai herdsmen and their goats, sheep and cows, having to slow down for road crossings. The law says if you hit one of their animals you are responsible for compensating the owner.

The pavement stopped 45 minutes before our destination, replaced by bumpy clay and rock roads, which David dubbed a free Kenyan back massage. 

We arrived at the Sopa Maasai Mara Lodge in time for our first evening game drive.

We were stunned by the amount and variety of animals; there was hardly a time when you didn’t see something.