KENYA: NAIROBI. DAY TEN.

DAY TEN
The final morning in Kenya dawned and I felt my heart sink; I knew I'd be leaving a piece of my heart in Africa. Again. We ate a delicious breakfast at the main lodge and gave the mongooses one last bit of loving. Once belongings had been packed in the car, we drove across the Mara a final time. We had just enough time at the airstrip to purchase a few last-minute souvenirs before saying farewell to Moses and Anthony and boarding our little plane. Goodbyes with those two were harder than with any other people we had encountered. Maybe it was because that was our last location. Maybe it was because they were the most bubbly and outgoing. Either way, it physically hurt to realize we'd likely never see them again. With heavy hearts, we left the Masai Mara and headed for Nairobi. Since we had a ten hour layover, my cousin rented rooms again at the Four Points hotel. This would allow us a place to freshen up and reorganize our bags before our final departure later that evening. To kill time, we decided on one last adventure in Nairobi. Mamba Village. A driver from the hotel brought us to a souvenir shop on our way to Mamba Village, the crocodile park. At the park, a guide taught us about crocodiles, turtles, and ostriches. It was a memorable experience, just for the crocodiles alone! Back at the hotel, we ate a delicious dinner at the restaurant before returning to our rooms and finalizing everything. At just after 8pm, we brought everything down to the lobby and waited for the shuttle to the airport. Thinking we had allowed ourselves enough time, we quickly realized that the lines at the airport could present a problem. There were long lines to pass through security to get inside of the airport. There were long lines to check-in with the airlines to obtain our tickets. And the line for passport control? That line never moved. At 10:30, a mere 25 minutes before take-off, we were still waiting in line at passport control. Someone urgently announced that any travelers flying to JFK in New York needed to go to the neighboring terminal. It was pure chaos. We rushed as fast as we could to the next terminal. This meant having to go through security all over again, but, luckily, passport control in the new terminal was moving much more quickly. We bounded up the escalators and through the airport's main security. Once through, my daughter and I walked briskly to our gate. When I realized just how far off our gate was, that brisk walk turned to a full on run. It was after 10:55 when we reached the gate, only to find a final security check-point. I was nearly in tears out of fear. We were late. The plane would leave without us. An airport worker, seeing my distress, quickly assured me that we would make the flight. We got through the last security gate and boarded the plane. We arrived at our assigned seats only to find that they had split us up. My daughter was instantly in tears. It was after 11pm at night. We had been going nonstop all day. No. We had been going nonstop for TEN days. She was tired. She was scared. And now she was separated from me. All of the nearby passengers immediately leapt to our aid and offered to switch seats if need be. In the end, we sat together for the long journey home. We arrived in New York the next morning to virtually a ghost town. Thinking JFK would be chaotic due to the virus, we were instantly proven wrong. It took less than five minutes to get through customs. When we got to the terminal for our connecting flight, it took less than five minutes to get through security. We had a six hour layover in an empty airport. And the plane? Less than half full. My daughter and I had an entire row to ourselves. Finally, at about 4:30pm that afternoon, we arrived home. And what a harsh reality we came home to; while we had joked about the coronavirus and toilet paper in Kenya with locals, physically being in America was a much different experience.
Similarly to my first experience in Africa, this trip will never leave me; part of my heart will always be there. I could travel the entire world and visit every continent, but Africa will always be my first love.
Kwaheri ya kuonana.

KENYA: SALA'S CAMP IN THE MASAI MARA. DAY EIGHT & NINE.

DAY EIGHT
Sunday morning began with an easy start. We made sure bags were packed and ready to go before heading up to the dining hall for breakfast. Peter took us on one final game drive as we made our way to the airstrip. We ventured from the Borana Conservancy to the neighboring Lewa Conservancy and it was as if animals had come to say goodbye. We saw ostriches, rhinos, elephants, zebras, and antelopes on the ride to our plane. When we got to the airstrip, our plane had not yet arrived. Peter took this opportunity to continue to teach us about various plants and animals, as well as teach the girls a Kenyan lullaby. After about 30 minutes, our plane appeared. We hopped aboard and were whisked away to the place I had been looking forward to visiting most: the grasslands of the Masai Mara. As we stepped out of the plane, our driver, Moses, and his assistant, Anthony, were right there to greet us. Both Moses and Anthony were members of the Maasai tribe and were dressed in traditional clothing - much the way Charles had been in Samburu. We loaded our belongings into the Land Cruiser and we were on our way to Sala's Camp. Shortly after beginning our journey, we found a small pack of hyenas on the side of the road. Anthony told us that while a lion's belly can get thin from hunger, a hyena will never go without a meal. Within an hour of arriving in the Masai Mara, we had arrived at Sala's Camp. The camp is situated along the Sand River - which, despite it being "dry season", was flowing quite rapidly. One of the owners, Toby, showed us around camp before taking us to our room. Similar to Borana, we shared a space with a common area and separate rooms. The walls were made of thick canvas, with floor to ceiling mesh windows. The entire back wall of each room had large glass panels that opened to a back patio with a plunge pool. As with previous locations, it was absolutely incredible. We ate a delicious lunch at the main lodge and were even privy to entertainment by the resident mongooses that live under the lodge deck! Our evening game drive was centered around finding big cats and Moses and Anthony did not disappoint. Right away, we saw a serval cat cross the road and run into the tall grass. As we approached the next road, we were met by two lionesses on their way to rest in the shade. We were giddy at the sight! Moses took us further and further from camp, searching for a large pride known to roam the area. At one point, the car came to a complete standstill. Anthony motioned for us to join him in the car's roof opening and, sure enough, he had spotted the ears of hippopotamuses (and yes, I looked that plural up to make sure it was correct). They never fully emerged, but most definitely glared at us as we gawked at them. Moses continued on and, after turning down another road through the grass, we finally found what we were looking for: LIONS. We found two lionesses with their four little cubs. There were also another two young males close by. It soon became apparent that the lionesses were trying to kick the maturing males out of the pride; mothers telling their sons it was time to leave home. This resulted in females jumping on top of and digging their claws into the young males. It was insane! We followed the cats for about an hour, with lions literally brushing up against the sides of the Land Cruiser. Since the Masai Mara is heavily patrolled by rangers searching for poachers, there is a strict 7pm curfew. We bid farewell to the lions and headed back to camp. Along the way, we passed by several grey crown cranes, Masai ostriches, a few lone male Cape buffalo, and a herd of topi - which are affectionally known as 'blue jeans and yellow socks'. Back at camp, we ate a delicious dinner at the lodge before being escorted to our rooms for bed by our guard, John.

DAY NINE
We woke Monday morning to cakes, cookies, juice, and hot chocolate being delivered to our room before sunup. Once we were ready to go, John was back to bring us up to the main lodge to meet Moses and Anthony for our morning game drive. This time, the goal was to find a cheetah. After a few hours driving around the bush, we found a nice place to breakfast. Moses and Anthony cooked up sausage kabobs, bacon, and eggs - plus we had granola, muffins, and fruit to eat. We cleaned up after eating and continued on our way. Reports came in over the radio about a nearby Maasai settlement seeing cheetahs in the area, so we made for that direction. We ended up off the reserve and left roads entirely in search of the elusive cats. Finally, after driving through the settlement and across a river, we found them! Three cheetah brothers, recently rejected by their mother, were lounging under some shrubs. They were gorgeous. After getting our fill, we retraced our steps and headed back to the settlement, spotting a tower of Masai giraffe along the way. The visit to the Maasai settlement was absolutely incredible. The men, warriors of their people, welcomed us with song and dance. Maasai warriors are known for their ability to jump as high as 80 centimeters. Men of the tribe were once required to kill a lion as a rite of passage, but now are proponents of animal conservation. We toured their settlement and were sung to by the women of the tribe. The entire experience made my heart sing! On our way back to camp, we found the pride of lions we had followed the previous day. They were lounging near a small stream, resting after feasting on a Cape buffalo (I'll spare you that photograph). We ate another delicious lunch and chased up our meal with a dip in our pool. As we prepared for an afternoon game drive, a storm rolled through. Though we had planned on driving down the river to see hippos and crocodiles, we changed tactics to avoid getting stuck in squelchy mud roads. Instead, we decided to hunt down the leopard that roams the area. No luck. We did, however, stumble across two mature male lions resting in the grass. It was unsettling how close we were, especially when they would make eye contact. After spending a decent amount of time with the sleepy cats, we headed back towards camp. Just as light was beginning to fade, Moses found the leopard less than a kilometer from camp! We followed him for a while as he walked towards camp until he ventured off the side of the road and into the grass. I was elated at our last minute find - I had done a report on leopards in ELP in 5th grade. And here I was, witnessing one in the wild! We ate another magnificent meal back at the lodge before heading to bed. While being escorted to our rooms, I spotted a crocodile in the river beneath the bridge that we had to cross to get from the main lodge to our rooms. And just like that, the last animal was crossed from my bucket list on our final evening in Kenya.