Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Maasai Mara National Reserve stretches 1500 sq. km over open rolling grasslands in western Kenya.  Some of the animals seen in this reserve were lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, buffalo, zebras, topi, gazelles, hippos and wildebeests.

This is the crossing place on the Maasai River for the great migration herd.

Awesome sightings of the animals in the Maasai Mara Reserve.

Breakfast by the river

Wednesday, November 12, Ruth's birthday, we began the day with a beautiful breakfast by the river.  Down below in the river the hippos played in the water while we ate our breakfast.

After breakfast we headed out on safari seeing many animals once again.  Another great day.

We celebrated Ruth's birthday with a birthday cake.

Malewa Wildlife Conservancy

Tuesday, November 11,  we took time to pay our respect for our fallen soldiers and those soldiers today who are taking care of us, with 2 minutes of silence.  Our guides also bowed their heads in respect with us.

Malewa Conservany is a 3500 acre conservancy with a wide range of habitats, from the river and woodlands to the short grass and shrubs.  It is home to 3500 head of wildlife which included the Rothschild giraffe, Cape buffalo, impala, gazelle, eland, hyphenated, hippo and many bird species especially the flamingo. This conservancy is part of the Great Rift Valley.

The Rift Valley stretches for thousands of miles. A chain of volcanoes line the valley, some are extinct and some remain active with a number of hot springs.  This area also provide for ideal conditions for geothermal  power plants which are important for Kenya's energy supply. 

Lake Nakuru is a pink algae lake which is food for thel beautiful pink flamingos.  In the park along with the flamingoes we also spotted the black rhinos, warthogs, waterbucks, Cape buffalo, zebras, gazelles, baboons and lions.

Warthog 

Rothschild Giraffe

Flamingos

Cape Buffalo and flamingoes

The Ark

Today, Monday, we headed to the Aberdares region, which is a mountain range in Kenya's central highlands, reaching higher elevations. It was a very beautiful drive as the vegetation was very lush with cooler temps.  We seemed to need our jackets on most of the day and for night there was a hot water bottle waiting for us in bed.  Soooo cosy hopping into bed, even the guys weren't minding it.

We stayed at a tree lodge called The Ark, which was built on stilts in the middle of the forest where you were able to view animals coming to the waterhole.  It was a rainy day so unfortunately we did not see many animals.  We found out that this was where Queen Elizabeth became Queen as she was visiting there and staying at The Ark, at the time of her father's death.

The Ark

The view from The Ark.

Elephant Orphanage, Giraffe Centre & Karen Blixen Museum

The Elephant Orphanage takes in baby orphaned elephants.  Every elephant there has a story.  While there, they are cared for and prepared so they can be returned to the wild.

The Giraffe Centre is an important breeding centre for the endangered Rothschild Giraffe.  Her we were able to feed the giraffe from an elevated platform.  Some of us were lucky enough to get a kiss from one of the giraffe.  It wasn't wet and sloppy,  it was kinda like a gentle sandpaper lick.

Margie ready for a kiss.

The Karen Blixen Museum is the farmhouse Karen Blixen lived between 1941 and 1931.  She was a wealthy Danish coffee planter and aristocrat.  She became a famous author writing on Africa and one of her famous memoir's was Out of Africa.  She lived a life of luxury however her personal life was full of heartache.  Her first marriage failed and then her British playboy lover died in a plane crash.

The museum is the lovely preserved colonial farmhouse which was set in beautiful gardens you are able to wander around on.  There were no pictures allowed inside the house but we were able to use our cameras on the grounds.

Nairobi city tour.

Arrived in Nairobi for the Kenya Wildlife Safari

We arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, very tired after about 20 hours of flying time.  We purchased our Visa and cleared customs, meeting Marci outside the airport.  She was waiting to take us to our hotel and get us settled in for a good night's rest.  And that is what we did.

Placencia to Belize City

We travelled by taxi from Placencia to Belize City, through some very beautiful country, to catch our flight home.