Safari Day 2

Day two of our Safari we woke up and had breakfast. Josh and I have been eating their baked beans in the morning and they're so good. It's something Josh would have never tried at home. We picked up the girls as they were staying in a really nice lodge, not the tents like us, and we headed out for our full day game drive.

One of the first things we saw different from day one was a pair of zebras fighting. They were really going at each other!

We saw all the same things as day one, tons of zebras, springboks, wildebeest, some different types of antelope like these ones.

Then we saw our first family of elephants. They were big, but not as big as I pictured them to be. They were so graceful and gentle looking, but apparently these African elephants can be quite mean.

Next we got lucky and saw a hyena! Not everyone gets to see one on safari I guess.

Then we saw one of my favourites, Pumba! A warthog. We saw a ton of different families throughout the day, they are so cute the way they run and sometimes they stick their tail straight up as they run. I just loved their smug look.

Then we found two male lions! But they were both being very stubborn and hardly looked in our direction. We would drive up close to them and then they would get up and move to another bush to be more hidden. It really felt like we were pissing off the one. So we carried on.

Next we saw some huge water buffalo, this one had his horns broken, probably in a fight, and he had little birds all over him picking at him and picking inside his eyes and ears.

We also saw a family of 5 ostriches, they are bigger than I expected. Also many more elephants and lots of babies!

We stopped for a group photo under this perfect African tree. The views are so stunning!

Next we saw something our Safari driver said he can count the times he seen it in the last 5 years. Two Safari cars were parked off the road so that means they're onto something. The drivers only deviate from the road for lions it seemed, since they risk a fine. We parked and we saw a lion car on the hills in the distance with her head down, slowly encroaching on something. Our driver didn't think it was anything but we asked him to stay. Minutes later we see two more and a tiny cub higher on the hill, walking slowly. Off to the left was two warthogs just having lunch. We watched as the lower one circled around and got on the other side of them, and the top lion and her cub went higher, so they had them surrounded in a triangle. A few minutes later two of them charged together and tried to catch the warthog! One got away and one ran for his life up the hill and he managed to get away as well! It was pretty amazing and our whole car was cheering.

We then drove to the Masai river and saw a huge group of hippos! They are so lazy and a bunch of them were sleeping in the river with their heads on the mud bank.

Next we found a tree to sit under for lunch. The packed lunch from the lodge wasn't vegan, so I ate a bunch of fruit and chips. I didn't pack anything else and I was still hungry until everyone piled in their fruit together because nobody wanted it. Josh and I took a couple of pieces and the rest we donated to the Masai community we would see later that day.

After lunch, more elephants, as well as continuing to see all of the same animals. They are everywhere.

Then, while James was on a call, he went too deep in a muddy spot and got very stuck! Luckily our sister car and a land cruiser were not far behind us. They rigged up some tow cables (they tied them in knots.. Josh says they need some tow clips lol) and the land cruiser pulled us out! While we waited I took some photos of Aanita, from London because she was into it and I think we'll make her sisters jealous!

Next we headed off the road (always a good sign!) as James had got a call about a leopard. His calls are in Swahili and he didn't tell us what he heard was around because leopards are hard to find and he didn't want us to get our hopes up. But we found him and he was so cute and sleepy, he only woke up for a second while we were there.

Next we saw a vulture chilling in a tree.

We came across a bunch of giraffes near the end of our drive and two of them were fighting! They fight so strangely, they bash their heads on the sides of the other giraffe and stay glued together at the neck and kind of push against each other. It seemed like the others stayed away but kind of watched. It was a very slow fight haha.

After our full day of Safari, I think we were out there for close to 9 hours, we visited a Masai village where they show us how they live. First they performed their dance for us and Josh even joined in. They sing chants, there's one guy singing and one guy doing a very low bass sound and the rest of them so this huffing kind of noise. It sounded really cool. Then they jump in their dance, and the higher you jump the less of a dowry you'll pay to the father of your bride when you get married. Dowry starts at 10 cows.

The leaders took us inside their village. Their homes are made of cow dung and soil, and the women build them. The women do EVERYTHING and it's the men's job to walk the cattle and livestock and then eat. Their homes last for 9 years and before they come down naturally (and from termites) the women start to build their next homes in their next community as they are nomadic.

They explained to us about the boys of the community. When the boys are 14 they are circumcised in the centre of their village, out in the open, and they have to prove they are a man by showing no pain. Then they go out in groups from 15-18 and live on the lands. Before they return they hunt a lion, and whichever boy makes the kill is the head boy. Then they can return to the village with the skin of the lion and the head boy wears the head of the lion.

We watched one of the dads divide up the bag of fruit and sandwiches we gave to them. All the kids swarmed and were so happy to eat the food we gave them.

In this culture the men are polygamous and each woman has between 8-10 kids. You do the math, there are kids everywhere, it was hard to see. They raise livestock and then they sell that for maize flour and potatoes as they don't grow anything. They also have dogs for protection, they sleep outside but they wag their tail as soon as you look at them, just like the ones in our camp. They were so, so sweet and there was a tiny puppy there who was so happy to see us.

The men showed us how they make fire out of a soft cedar wood and a hard sandpaper tree wood.

Then we paired off and the Masai men showed us inside their homes. They have a room for baby cows and a different room for baby sheep. The cow in this home was only 3 days old. They separate them so that they can milk the mothers as their people drink the milk. The baby gets some milk and eventually grass, they wean them early. If anybody doesn't like the sound of that, it's the same as Canadian milk just on a massive scale!! Stealing food from babies. Why I'm vegan

Inside their home is a bed for kids and a bed for elders and a bed for the rest of the family. Their mattress is the leather from the cows. They use the whole animal.

Next our Masai took us to see the livestock and then he showed us different plants that grow. They have one they use the leaves as a mosquito repellant. One they use as a dye, its green but when you crush it it turns red. He painted our face with it like they would on their wedding day.

We also went to their marketplace where the women were selling their goods. We said no thank you as we have a bunch of it at home from Josh's previous trips, but an elder woman basically told Josh he was buying two bracelets. Later our Masai guide told us she was a little bit drunk! They make alcohol out of the fruit of a sausage tree and sugar and water. Their water comes from the river close by. Apparently it's quite potent and only the elders drink it.

As we were leaving we saw the boys who danced earlier playing a game of soccer with one goalie. It was pretty cool to see. They also kept practicing their jumping and singing while they played. Our Masai walked us back to our camp and we said goodbye.

Dinner was great again, lots of vegan stuff and then we went to bed early as we had a 5:45 breakfast planned for the next morning before our last game drive.