MASAI MARA

Sunrise on the beautiful Masai Mara in Kenya.  We went on
a safari with Megan and Taylor last week while they were
visiting.

We flew in a 12 person plane and as we landed on the dirt
road the huge herd of zebra scattered.  It was breathtaking.

Basil - our friendly warhog - would stop into
camp for a visit every now and then.

This was a very interesting stop because the
leopard is solitary and hard to find.  We
watched him go up and down his tree where he
had stashed a water buffalo in the top of the tree
for a weeks worth of dining pleasure.  You can
see a couple of the water buffalo's feet at the
top of the picture.



The Mara River ran right in front of our tent
(with a steep bank between us)
and we watched many hippos playing in the
water and crocodiles sunning on the bank of the river. 
 We learned that more than one hippo is
called a raft of hippos. 



We enjoyed watching this mother lion with her four cubs who
were climbing all over her, each other, and the tree.  Such a
fun find.

I'll bet you didn't know that a group of giraffes
is called a journey of giraffes.



Cheetah - I think it is one of the most beautiful animals



We spent one day visiting a Masai village.  The men danced for
us and then they took us on a tour of their village.



There were 12 homes built around this circular holding pen
where they would keep their herds of cattle and goats at night
to protect them from the leopard, lion, cheetah etc.  This center
area was filled with dung which comes in handy because they
use it to build their homes.  The wall between the homes is built
with prickly tree branches to keep the leopards out.




This is one of the homes built from trees and dung.




Even their tables were built from trees and covered with dung.
The women would make crafts and sell them to the visitors.




The leader of the village sitting in the entry of
his home.