Helen and Natasha in Nairobi airport.
Natasha in Nairobi airport.
Intimate moments with the local inhabitants.
Intimate moments with the local inhabitants.
Crossing the Mara river
Crossing the Mara river
Elephants in the mist - Little Governors Camp
Elephants in the mist - Little Governors
Sebastian watching lion eating recently killed Zebra
Lion eating recent kill.
A group of lion cubs having a light snack.
"king of the castle"
"Hide and seek"
Zebra with young.
Intimate moments with mother.
Lunch at the Camp
Elephant eyes up the table.
Elephant makes for the bar.
Elephants at Little Govorners Camp.
Helen in out of Africa mode.
Inside the tent.
Natasha in Landrover
Entering Masai village.
The village Chief
Natasha and Sebastian with villagers
One of the chiefs daughters
Cheetah
Hyena
Walking in the bush.
Agnes (centre) Oscar on left
Agnes
Last look around the waterhole
Our trip to Kenya did not start auspiciously, we spent the first night in Zurich and the second night in Nairobi before finally making it to Mombassa more than 30 hours late. Needless to say we were far from happy at this point, although somewhat relieved at having finally set foot in Africa.
During our overnight stop in Mombassa we had the opportunity to meet some of the locals.
The following morning we took another 2 hour flight to our camp situated in the South-eastern part of the Masai Mara close to the Tanzanian border. At the river we were met by armed guards and escorted across the river to the camp. The camp was located quite close to the river by a large water hole. However, to reach the camp we had to walk along a track frequently used by elephants and other game so the armed guards were there not just for show!
On one of our early morning drives we were rewarded with this wonderful view of elephants emerging from the mist.
Lunch at the camp was always a highly civilised affair, interrupted occasional by marauding Elephants.
Our young friend again, this time doing a mock charge at the people in the bar, I actually had to make a run for it shortly after taking this shot.
Just a couple of shots to show you what the inside of our tents looked like, as you can see they were very comfortable. At night we had candles and gas lighting, and you could peer at the buffalo's and hippo's through the mosquito mesh as they manicured the lawn around the tents. At the back of the tent behind the closed zip, is a shower, wash basin and toilet.
On one of our days in the Mara we visited a Masai village. On the right are Natasha and Sebastian entering the village.
The chiefs main wife Mary steps in cow dung to illustrate its wonderful qualities as a construction material. Treading carefully so as not to imitate her we then went on to meet the chief.
The chief explained that he had seven wives so spent two night with each wife! Sadly when we returned to the area a year later we heard that he had died from Malaria.
We met several of the villages and then were invited inside the chiefs hut, an amazing place which was permeated with the unmistakable aroma of the unusual building material from which it was constructed.
A cheetah near the Masai village, it seemed to have its eyes on some cattle.
This hyena on the other hand had its eyes on me as at this stage I was on foot, taking a walk through the bush with two armed guides.
On my walk I was accompanied by two armed guides, which was comforting as we came across lions and other game.
Back at camp I discuss the days events with Agnes a tame warthog.
On our last day I bid a sad farewell to Agnes.
I then took a last look round at the water hole and tried to fix the sight in my minds eye.
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Helen and Natasha in Nairobi airport.
Our trip to Kenya did not start auspiciously, we spent the first night in Zurich and the second night in Nairobi before finally making it to Mombassa more than 30 hours late. Needless to say we were far from happy at this point, although somewhat relieved at having finally set foot in Africa.
