Safaris the eye can see

Recall your first memory of the Lion King... the thrill of the unknown in the 'Shadow Lands', the spooky majesty of the Elephant Graveyard, the sweeping savannah and the harmony of animal voices rising into one great chorus of hakuna matata. I can now attest that the 'wild' Kenya is actually not so farfetched from Disney's portrayal and that the circle of life really is a pretty glorious thing. My mom has come to Kenya and last week we went on the safari of a lifetime. We spent three days in the Chyulu Hills; on the southern Kenyan border with Tanzania, the conservancy is set against the dwarfing frame of Kilimanjaro. We then flew to the Maasai Mara, with sprawling plains and endless blue skies. 

I've never quite experienced the specific freedom that an open-sided Land Rover offers. I am very impressed by the durability and no-nonsense of that vehicle and can now attest that the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland actually replicates the jarring movements quite realistically. It's been so long since I've gone top-speed with the wind in my hair (our windows are always up in Nairobi to deter theft), and we really did feel one with the environment. It's no wonder the old-timey colonials used Land Rovers for overlanding and general colonizing. 

The two "camps" we stayed at were in conservancies, as opposed to the national parks. Conservancies tend to be highly eco-conscious of their impact on the environment and work in partnership with local communities to provide safari and lodging services. At Campi ya Kanzi in the Chyulu Hills, the camp leases the conservancy land from the local Maasai community and operates the camp in partnership with the Maasai. Our hosts were gracious and experts on the flora and fauna of the hills. We spent a memorable morning 'drive' with our two guides trying to find an elephant with no luck, only to find five later that afternoon less than two minutes from camp! I was humbled by their openness and eagerness to share their homeland. Before the safari I was wary of the whole scheme: privileged travels, usually white from Western countries, going to ogle animals and locals in a quest to live out some colonial nostalgia that was borne in watching Out of Africa. Instead, I found an organization that is equal partnership Maasai and nature conservationist that offers visitors an opportunity to appreciate the nature and wildlife they aim to protect. The trust that Campi ya Kanzi funds supports schools and clinics in the local Maasai villages and takes local children on field trips to the conservancy. Our second stop, Saruni Mara in the Maasia Mara, had a similar ethos to Campi ya Kanzi and connected us to the conservancies in the vast Maasai Mara. Our timing could not have been better: it's currently low-season, so there were very few other tourists, and its 'baby season' on the savannah so we saw young lions, elephants, zebra, cape buffalo, hippos, jackals, mongooses (mongeese?), wildebeest (one that had been born just a few hours previously!), and a variety of antelope including impala, hardebeest, topi, Grant's and Thompson's gazelles. 

Below are some of the safari landscapes and animals we saw!