We spent a wonderful 4 days in the Masai Mara. My parents decided to rent a car to drive us on our own (called “self-drive” or “car hire” in Kenya). This made the trip much more interesting. It is a beautiful park full of animals and ditches where you can get your car stuck! The car we rented was nice: with a whole package deal of wobbly roof and butt bruising seats. Along with a broken speedometer and gas tank measurer. It also comes with a stick shift and broken seat belts. Enjoy!
Even though there were a lot of problems with this car, I am still super glad we got it. I liked it because it felt homey somehow. It was comforting to sit in it and fun to drive in.
I learned to drive a stick shift car. First, take off the emergency brake with your foot on the clutch and brake. Turn the car on. Next, take your foot off the brake and prepare to put it on the gas. Next, step on it! Slowly press down on the gas while slowly coming off the clutch. Also, make sure you are on gear one.
The park was very alive with many animals and only a few dead ones. We saw one dead giraffe, one dead elephant, and one zebra that we witnessed dying and being eaten.
Story of a Zebra Dying (Warning: if you don’t like death, skip this part!)
When we returned; the zebra was only the head, skin, and bones. It was astonishing! Watching the zebra die was not something I enjoyed. I wanted to help it or call a wild animal vet or something. I soon realized that the hyenas needed food, and the vets wouldn’t do anything to help. The zebra had a massive gash on its side that looked superinfected and a gash in its butt. I don’t know why the hyenas attacked there because I don’t think that would be tasty. The zebra kept sniffing its wound and tried to stand up when the hyenas were getting impatient.
They were probably wondering, “why can’t this zebra hurry up and die? I’m hungry. Hey Bill, you want to bite its butt again? Maybe that will make it die.” Bill says, “Naw, that part wasn’t tasty; I’d rather go for its head.”
My suspicions were confirmed. The zebra bottom is not tasty. The zebra got up and tried to walk around. Then it looked like it was trying to give birth, but mom said it was a boy and it was not rapidly going through pregnancy but convulsing. Which means your insides are blowing up. I asked mom if the whole zebra would explode and if all its insides would go flying because I didn’t want to be darou2nd if that happened, but she said “no.” After it was done convulsing, it had two seizures. The seizures were not as scary as watching it convulse. It was like watching a rodeo with a dying zebra. In the end, it fell, stuck its legs straight up, and died five minutes later. I won’t describe the rest because it was super gross and smelly.
Hippos Snorting in Masai Mara
The rest of the park was beautiful! In the river, there were hippos, and they communicated by snorting and what sounded like burping and farting. The hippos were also huge, like humongous water pigs. I don’t know why they are called water horses. They look nothing like horses. They look like pigs with oddly cute faces and cute little tails that wag like dogs. In other words, I loved them! Two astonishing facts about hippos. One: they are not animal-eating carnivores but are herbivores that are very territorial and will attack any animal that is in its space. Two: if a male hippo loses in a fight, it will become a lonely hippo that lives its life moping around and sulking on land. We did see a male hippo sulking, so it is true.
Zebra and Wildebeest Migration Across the Mara River
We also saw some zebras migrating across the river with a couple of wildebeest. I love how there will be a couple of wildebeest hanging out in a zebra herd like they are visiting old cousins.
I would go back to the Masai Mara and recommend it. The lodging at Talek Bush Camp is not great, but the scenery makes up for it.
The rooms were not fancy, but they were relatively kind. The food was super good. It was right next to a river, and we saw a hippo fight! The staff were excellent and helpful and even made gluten-free pasta for us! I would rate it three stars and say they could do better by patching up the rooms. I would probably want to stay at a different place next time we go.
My Favorite Part: Baby Lions!
On one of the days we came across a mommy lion and two very young baby lion cubs. They were just sitting under a bush next to a ditch crossing as we drove by. We were so surprised to see them! My dad was driving and stopped and turned off the car and we just sat there and got to observe them. We could hear the little sounds the cubs made, and at one point the mommy lion got up and walked over right next to our car! Then the cubs walked over near to us and started playing in the grass. After that, they all went back to the shade of the bush and laid back down. Eventually, my dad started up the car and drove away quietly. It was so special!
Some of my Masai Mara Photos
