The blessing of being here in Africa alone is staggering to us. I don't think either of us ever imagined the possibility--at most a childhood dream. The Kenyans are good enough to allow residing missionaries to tour their parks much less expensively than tourists, and that's a blessing indeed.
Not only did we get to tour the Maasai Mara, but we got to see all of the Big Five: lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino. Veteran visitors may go several trips before they see them all. These are dangerous beasts, but no worries. All visitors stay safely inside tour buses and vans.
Samuel was patient with us wanting to stop and photograph every little bird or antelope, but when he received word over his radio that this fellow had been sighted, he let us know it was time to move on -- quickly. Sighting a leopard is a rare event and the cluster of tourists snapping photos in their buses tells you how excited they were to find him. The leopard seems less impressed.
Sighting a rhino is an equally rare event, and we saw three. We first saw this mother and baby from behind and the "little" one was nursing. Samuel carefully maneuvered around, and we were able to get this view. We also saw a huge male, but there were just too many tourists and he headed for the bushes. A rhino can't exhaust himself charging ALL the tour buses.
Buffalo are possibly the most dangerous of the Big Five. They have nasty tempers and will charge with little provocation. Observe the Robert De Niro "Are-you-looking-at-me?" expression.
The older the bull, the more massive the horns. How much gel do you suppose it would take to achieve a "flip" like this? Again, another Robert De Niro stare.
It was our very last safari (journey) before we left for home, early in the morning, and we did not think Samuel could find anything to impress us now. We were wrong. He brought us to this early morning kill.
Notice the zebra leg to the left and the zebra mane under the jaw of the lioness on the right.
These cubs and lions from the same pride have already eaten their fill.
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