Hakuna matata on Safari!

My month-long trip to East Africa enticed my senses. Visually stunning, acoustically cheerful, flavors both new and familiar, along with smells at times inviting and disturbing.  An emotional roller coaster too, as I experienced breathtaking beauty, such joy and love from the people I met, and yet witnessed the depravity of humanity and some of the dire situations that people are forced to live with.  On top of all that, there were forays into the wilderness that put me as close to the animal kingdom as I have ever been on land (for those of you who have yet to experience scuba diving, the fish get in your face).  

It will take some time to process the whole experience and sort my images, notes and check facts before I compose something for you all, so in the meantime, I decided to start with the easy part first – the three days and nights on safari. We arrived at the Masai Mara National Game Reserve on a prop plane from Nairobi, Kenya.  Although there are a host of hotels, resorts and camps to choose from, we stayed at the Governors' Camp along a calm stretch of the Mara River within the reserve.  Not only did this cut down on drive times to view the spectacular scenery, which the camp was a part of, but the animals also came into camp.  Each night, we were serenaded by the snorts and hoots of the hippos along with a myriad other animals and insects.  We saw hippos, giraffes, elephants, bush babies, warthogs and lots of birds without even leaving camp.  How close do the animals get?  We were not permitted to move about the camp at night without an armed guard - just in case. 

Sure, Governors' is a camp, but check out the tents. This was five-star camping at it's finest.  They even brought tea and hot chocolate each morning with our wake up call.  The server actually sang out, "Wake up, wake up, wake up," before entering the tent and lighting the gas lantern. The bathroom in our tent was as big as my studio in Shenzhen. Ah the rough life.  Hey, there was no electricity, or wireless for that matter.

On our first afternoon drive, we encountered two cheetahs at dusk who were on the hunt.  Having seen plenty of nature specials on African wildlife, I did not expect to actually see them take down anything.  Cheetahs are such specialized and picky hunters (according to the programs) that they often will go without a meal.  Well, these two stalked everything that they came across.  After several unsuccessful attempts at getting within striking distance of zebras and gazelles, they finally got it right with a herd of wildebeest (the snack food of the game reserve).  I caught the chase on video, however, it happened so quickly it was hard to keep the cheetah in the screen.  A rare thing to witness on the African plains and the only carnage we witnessed over the three days of game drives.  We saw other kills, but didn’t see the killing.   The migration of the wildebeest herds was a spectacular sight to behold. They fought their own fears of the river in order to yield to their urge to migrate to the fresh grasslands in the Masai Mara plains on the other side. I couldn't believe our luck when the animals began to clamor up the riverbank next to our jeep.  The collective noise of the animals made it almost impossible to hear the person speaking beside me. Just to prove I was there.  Those blobs behind me are the wildebeests drying off after the crossing.

By the second day, it was clear to me that I am not a wildlife photographer.  Actually, I already knew this, but this trip drove my conviction home.  It is not that I cannot photograph animals, I just don’t derive that much pleasure from it.  I much rather prefer to just watch them go about their lives (or the ends thereof) and enjoy the moment.  By the third day, having filmed and photographed enough for the project, I rarely raised my camera and just soaked it all in.  A beautiful place I never expected to visit; but one that I hope to return to someday. We also visited a nearby Masai village and this woman had the most beautiful smile.

One of the village men taught us how to catch some air.  I was constantly struck by the beauty of the landscape.  It is an uncomplicated terrain, yet often breathtaking in it's simplicity. Who knows how long this natural wonder of the world will survive the changes and chances of this planet.  If you haven't been, now is the time to start planning.

To see these, and a whole lot more photos, you can click here to see the photo album I added.