Why I love the Maasai Mara
Posted by Porini Camps in Animal Encounters, Wildlife — No Comments Article from Africa Geographic.
Posted: September 22, 2014
Written by: Aleema Noormohamed
Many stories have been written on the Maasai Mara describing how incredible it is. The incredible wildebeest migration as one of the wonders of the world. The Mara’s mysteries are continuously unfolding to present a kind of African dream: watching a roaring lion, photographing a hunting cheetah, spotting the caracal cat and even having a glimpse of the striped hyena.
I grew up in Kenya, and have been to the Maasai Mara a number of times. I have now returned to work in the Maasai Mara as an adult. Why, one must wonder, do I keep going back to the same place when there are thousands of beautiful destinations across the globe? I will tell you why – because going back to the Maasai Mara is like going to a new place every time. The cycle of the wild, the rebirth of the earth and the resonating energy of millions of souls in this reserve will toss you into a different dimension.
I climb into a Cessna aircraft that will fly me into Kenya’s most popular reserve. I am excited as we fly over the vast landscape of the country and I am greeted by my super cool Maasai guide. I ask him to stop a moment and I take in the sight that greets me – an infinite horizon of various shades of lush green, sprinkled with bushes and aligned with trees. There are black dots as far as the eyes can see. The black dots are none other than the migrating wildebeest. They are everywhere!
The sky is overcast, with patches of dark grey clouds threatening to pop open. The shadows being formed on the plains are forming their own picturesque canvas, and the wildebeest continue to graze as we drive by.
It finally starts to rain and I look through a glaze of cascading water, seeing the Mara in a whole new light. Zebras, gazelles and wildebeest continue eating, unfazed by the rain as the warthogs lead their little ones into their holes. We pass a pod of lazy hippos slide into the water as the rain continues to pelt down. It doesn’t even matter that I am getting wet. This is why I love the Maasai Mara.
We finally arrive at our camp and it never ceases to amaze me how luxurious it can be in the bush. The cleared pathway, the big beds, the stunning colour combinations of matching settees and cushions, the bathtub facing the river and the twin sinks in the bathroom! The quiet rustling of the leaves outside and the distant grunt of the waddling hippos add on to the ambiance of my surroundings. It stops raining but it still smells like rain. The clouds part a little to allow some rays of light to shine through, and I am suddenly transported into the mystifying tales of an anecdote from Out of Africa. As dusk starts to fall, the king of the jungle makes his presence known with a deep, incredible roar that raises the hair on the back of my neck.
I spent two nights in this glorious corner of my country. I saw crocodiles sleeping with their mouths open, and an unsuspecting yellow–billed stork five feet away from them. I found a family of the big cats with playful cubs licking off the last of their kill – an unfortunate wildebeest. I catch a glimpse of a serval cat amongst the tall grass and a hyena curled up inside a rugged rock face. I see a half eaten gazelle in a tree, and know its killer cannot be that far off. We find the leopard taking short breaths under thick bushes. His attitude is blasé in our presence as he gazes up at the branches above him, stands up and grooms himself, then walks in front of my vehicle to the stream of water on the other side. He sits down again, gazes around, and then looks right at me – his unblinking, yellowish green eyes stare at me for a full three seconds and I feel like I have fallen into an abyss.
My experience back in Africa’s Leading National Reserve reminded me of how lucky I am to be so close to one of the most spectacular places on earth. My visit to the Maasai Mara was completed with the appetizing and enticing dishes that I enjoyed for the three days I spent in the reserve. The natural sounds of the wild were uninterrupted with the lack of bleeping cell phones and television sounds. Here, I rediscovered my Zen. And to top it all, I had an opportunity to see the Maasai Mara from a bird’s point of view. I went on a hot air balloon ride – an experience that left me breathless. Up in the sky, oscillating between 1000 and 2000 feet, I saw the plains and the game in a different light that begs me to write another chapter of the many reasons why I love the Maasai Mara.
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Porini Camps are small, rustic eco-camps in private conservancies within the Maasai Mara, Laikipia and Amboseli ecosystems, Kenya. Our camps are situated on lands leased from local communities and are staffed by local people, making your holiday with Porini a truly meaningful
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