This morning we were up very early for a hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara. It is always fun to watch them ready the balloon for launch.
Our little sunrise from the hot air balloon.
Views of the savannas were good. The pilot, Barnabas, flew the balloon just over the treetops and then pretty low when we were over the savannah.
That made it easier to spot the animals.
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Balloon ride video
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More pictures of the Mara River from the balloon.
We had a very
bumpy landing as the savannas are covered with big tufts of tall grass. And the basket ended up on its side. Everyone had a great laugh.
Then we all piled into our safari vehicles and headed off for breakfast on the savannah. The camp cooks put on a very nice spread of fruit, hot breakfast items, crepes and drinks. It was great visiting with other guests. We had such a great time we forgot to take any photos.
Instead of heading back to the camp we asked Solomon to see if he could find a herd of wildebeests.
Along the way we ran into this beast of a bull elephant. He was huge. And he owned the road. He ambled down the middle of the road for 25 minutes and about a mile before he finally got off. By the time he pulled over there were eight safari vehicles lines up behind him.
We also saw some zebras. There was a young zebra being protected by his parents, as another male zebra was trying to kill the young one.
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Zebras video
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One of the main reasons for our visit to
Masai Mara was to see the Great Migration and a Mara River crossing. Unfortunately, most of the million and a half
wildebeests were still in Tanzania so our wildebeest experiences were pretty
anemic. The wildebeest and zebras go to Masai Mara from Tanzania for the green grass, but there has been a drought, so not as much green grass.
We sat
overlooking the river for quite a while as the herd slowly began to gather on
the other side. We were told that once
the crossing actually started there is almost no way to stop the rest of the herd…they
all keep coming and plunge down the banks and into the river.
So eventually a very small number headed down the bank but stopped and hesitated as there were hippos at the bottom of the bank.
Unfortunately, the many safari vehicles on the the other side of the river where the wildebeests were, who had been holding back, did not realize that the herd had stopped so the vehicles (50 or more) came roaring up and spooked the herd.
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Failed crossing 1 video
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The herd spent
the next hour or so going back and forth along the top of the river bank “planning” (Solomon says
they do a lot of "planning" before they commit to a crossing).
We saw two crocodiles feeding on probably a wildebeest that got too close to the water when the crocs were there.
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Crocodiles feeding video
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We eventually relocated
a couple of miles down stream when it appeared that the herd was perhaps
committing to a new area. As we waited
more and more wildebeests came running down the hillside to join the herd.
The plan seemed to be... go to the river and a few will take a drink. Then back up the bank...everyone head in the other direction. Turn around and go back to the bank...no lets go in the opposite direction again (and so forth a couple of times).
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More wildebeest coming
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Down to the river video
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There are crocodiles around,
so that may have spooked them in the next video.
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Failed crossing 2 video
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Continuing failed crossing 2 video
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Another try video
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Of course, more of the vehicles moved in further agitating the herd.
Eventually, a few more animals went down the slope and then more and then more. At some point they were joined by a half dozen zebras and eventually two of those zebras made the crossing first.
A crocodile is stalking the second zebra
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Zebras lead the way video
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(one did a major kick just as they got to the other bank…Zebras have a very powerful kick... had fended off a crocodile).
And once the zebras committed then suddenly the herd followed. It was a pretty amazing sight but only lasted about ten or 15 minutes. We think somewhere between 700 and 1,000 wildebeests made the crossing.
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Wildebeests crossing video
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Continue crossing video
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Rest of zebras bringing up the rear
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More Wildebeest Crossing
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When the migration is at its peak, they can have tens of thousands cross at once in crossings that can take two hours to complete. We are sorry we missed a big migration but the little we saw was interesting.
The herd heading up the other side of the river.
Couple of photos of the Mara River from our observation point.
In addition to
the wildebeests and their Mara River crossing we also saw the usual selection
of animals:
a monitor lizard on the rock bar along the Mara River,
zebras,
waterbucks,
hippos,
And lots of birds:
Little Bee Eater,
White Browed Coucal,
Rufous Bellied Heron,
a Cattle Egret with a Frog in its mouth,
an unknown eagle,
a White Backed Vulture,
and a bunch of other birds.
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