Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands


Masai conviviality
Francis, the young chief of Mkama's village and friends, chat affably.
royal home
Young lion rests on a small termite mound with vegetation on top.
Danger of death
Decorative and organic warning warns of the danger of approaching the banks of the Mara River without qualified guides.
Reciprocity listed
Zebras scratch each other over the Masai Mara savannah.
audacious shepherdess
Masai leads a herd of cows into territory probed by several of Masai Mara's predators.
feline fury
Young lion displays his displeasure at the unauthorized approach of another.
giant bustard
A specimen of Africa's heaviest flying bird assumes a strange graphic pose subsumed in the tall grass of the savannah.
At the fire, indoors
Head of the Masai village of Mkama, Francis Ole Timan watches one of his many wives brewing tea over a fire inside his hut.
run high
Giraffes herd to a pool at the foot of a parched slope.
guardians of the river
Baboons at the entrance to one of the bridges that cross the Mara River.
Masai Adomu dance
Masai youth perform a welcome dance at the entrance to Mkama village.
On full alert
Impalas alarmed by the possible approach of predators.
Savannah News
Kenyan guides meet at a particular point in the Masai Mara National Reserve.
no end in sight
Vehicle travels through the vast savannah of Masai Mara on one of its dirt roads.
African flora
Small acacia trees disseminated in the semi-dry savanna on the southwestern edge of Masai-Mara.
old fashioned fire
Young Masai people display the ease with which they generate fire using only one of the prehistoric techniques.
bovine prosperity
Masais among the herd of cows in Mkama village. Cows are still the most prized form of wealth for the Masai people.
Twilight Time in Mara
Topis graze next to a solitary acacia tree at the end of the day in the Mara savannah.
The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.

Nearly three hundred kilometers and seven hours after leaving Nairobi, we finally arrived at the Sekenani gate, one of several entrances to the Masai Mara.

John Mulei leaves the jeep. Take the papers for verification of rangers.

We go out to unwind our legs. We see ourselves as victims of a first attack. A bunch of Masai women surround us. Try to foist us jewelry and artifacts.

“Look here, look here! Very pretty for your lady!" they shoot with obvious mastery of tribal marketing.

As soon as they can, they pull the trick of romance and chivalry. "How about this?" They inquire as a resource solution, to show us rungu, the massive wooden sticks that the warriors of their tribes use.

We hadn't even been terrified of the trip. Stressing ourselves with shopping was the last thing we wanted. Faced with this obvious reluctance, sellers notice our cameras. Suggest us your images. “Take us pictures. It's only five dollars!”.

By this time, we already knew by heart that recording any non-stealth Masai image without paying was impossible.

And it was much more difficult for us to resist the exoticism of their slender figures, shaved heads, gaudy clothes and the panoply of jewels that adorn them.

We had just entered your domain. Other opportunities would appear.

Vehicle travels through the vast savannah of Masai Mara on one of its dirt roads.

John returns to the jeep. Women stick their hands through the windows. They hit the glass.

More than used to that pressure, the guide sends them a mouthful in the Masai dialect that – apart from his native kamba. swahili, from English and other languages from those parts of Africa – also learned to use.

A lost lodge in the Masai Mara

We left towards the lodge.

We had lunch late and in a hurry. Only after did we settle in the refined and welcoming tent, but something far away that we had come to.

“A little while longer, we would stay in Tanzania” we play with two employees who see us arrive at the room. "If they got there alive!" one responds, in good spirits, pointing to the electrified fence that prevented animals from visiting the hotel.

On the way out again, we came across a couple of dik-diks, fleeting samples of antelope that we could barely make out in the shadows of the dense vegetation.

They would be the first of several specimens of the antelope family that we would see in the next few days.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, impalas

Impalas alarmed by the possible approach of predators.

Pitch-black clouds cover the sky. A wind rises that foreshadows a storm.

The Monsoon Rain that Moves the Great Wildebeest and Zebra Migration

In a flash, the only rain falls that, in more than three weeks after the end of the dry season, we felt irrigate Kenya and Tanzania.

Although still distant, in the lower and southern lands of the adjoining Serengeti, the wildebeests had already begun their annual migration to the Masai Mara.

Without expecting it, just a few days later, we came across its hyperbolic, dusty and messy herds.

Aware that the weather was changing, the lions yearned for the capture of the wildebeest, easier and more assured than that of the other species they prey on. Lethal zebras, for example.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, zebras

Zebras scratch each other over the Masai Mara savannah.

Visitors to the Masai Mara, in turn, were eager to locate groups of lions.

John tries it his way. It starts to descend a slope in circles that the tall vegetation makes almost imperceptible. We stopped without warning.

The guide scans the surrounding meadow. “Well, it seems to me that we found them”, he tells us with unusual calm. Look right here beside us." In fact, a couple slumbered subsumed in the tall grass.

O male lion gets up. Move to the top of a mound of termite mound.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, lion

Young lion rests on a small termite mound with vegetation on top.

From there, he contemplates herds of buffaloes, giraffes and elephants in the vicinity, prey that, by themselves, the pair did not have the power to defeat.

The light soon fades away. Visitors collect at the lodges. Predators indulge in their nocturnal hunts.

Visit to the Masai Village of Mkama

We wake up at sunrise, devour breakfast and head towards Mkama, one of the many Masai villages around the Masai Mara reserve.

Francis Ole Timan – his young boss – welcomes us with an eloquent speech in English.

At this time of morning, elders would herd the village cows – their obsessive wealth – to lead them to pastures. We followed them for a few hundred meters among the animals.

Returning to the fenced village core, Francis invites us for tea in the dark, spartan interior of a hut made of gorse and dried cow droppings.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Bonfire

Head of the Masai village of Mkama, Francis Ole Timan watches one of his many wives brewing tea over a fire inside his hut.

We sat with you, one of your eight wives and two babies.

Francis ignores the crying of one of the children. Explain to us as much as you can about the day-to-day life in those huts built only by the women of the village.

After the masala tea, we returned to the outside.

Adumu: the Dazzling Masai Jumping Dance

The chief and the other young people group together. Secure them with a Masai welcome dance.

Side by side, William, Moses, Ole Reya, Oloshurua, Moseka, Mancha, Luka and Francis inaugurate a fascinating guttural chant.

Packed by the song that follows, alone or in pairs, they stand out at the same time as the lineup. They carry out a long sequence of impressive jumps.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya

Masai youth perform a welcome dance at the entrance to Mkama village.

After the exhibition, we asked them which one jumped the highest. “Ah, that's always Mancha”, they confess almost in chorus.

We analyze the boy more closely and notice his unique footwear. “Uhmm, you all wear Masai sandals (with tire soles), Mancha is the only one to wear crocs. Doesn't that make you suspicious?” we provoke them.

Francis and William, who had a better command of English, understand the intrigue and pass it on to their friends. The challenge generates a communal laugh that we all enjoy.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial

Francis, the young chief of Mkama's village and friends, chat affably.

We still go around the small artisanal market in the village, an essential additional source of income for the ever-changing Masai mercantilists.

Soon after, we said goodbye and resumed exploring the surrounding Mara.

Back to the Wilderness of Masai Mara

Along the way, caravans of giraffes head to a small pond. They indulge in an eccentric gymnastics to sip water.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Giraffes

Giraffes herd to a pool at the foot of a parched slope.

Impalas, gazelles and huge eland appear scattered in the green expanse. also searched by woodcocks and voracious ostriches.

In the immediate and distant, zebras and the occasional stray wildebeest dot the vast savannah until the horizon line, which, with the end of the afternoon, turns red again.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya

Topis graze next to a solitary acacia tree at the end of the day in the Mara savannah.

And it generates graceful silhouettes of spaced acacias and some more voluminous animals, such as topis.

We stop to admire a cheetah that slumbers, indifferent to our presence.

A few miles further on, Masai herdsmen lead a huge herd of cows.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, cows

Masais among the herd of cows in Mkama village. Cows are still the most prized form of wealth for the Masai people.

They walk wrapped in their red cloths and carrying spears.

Keep an eye out for the threat of predators. Although the Masai manage to steal freshly captured prey from lion flocks, some Masai, with quiet pedestrian incursions.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Trip, Kenya, Daring Pastoral

Masai leads a herd of cows into territory probed by several of Masai Mara's predators.

Before the next dawn, we started the trip to the Serengeti.

We crossed a large part of the Mara and were dazzled by the beauty of the African scenery we passed, paying attention to the profuse fauna.

We watched huge flocks of weasels move like creeping storms, hyenas ambush water antelope and giant bustards – the heaviest flying birds in Africa – in strange vector poses.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Great Bustard

A specimen of Africa's heaviest flying bird assumes a strange graphic pose subsumed in the tall grass of the savannah.

Shortly thereafter, we ascend to Loldopai Hill.

We contemplate the landscape full of patches formed by vegetation and the shadow of the clouds, designated by the Masai term “mara” which inspired the region's name.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Savannah

Small acacia trees disseminated in the semi-dry savanna on the southwestern edge of Masai-Mara.

When we reach the homonymous river, a flock of lions patrols the viewpoint where the road leads, so we can't go out to enjoy the views.

Dozens of irascible hippos vie for the meander of the river ahead.

And, before crossing the bridge over the Mara, we came across a bunch of bully baboons.

Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, bridge

Baboons at the entrance to one of the bridges that cross the Mara River.

After we chase them away, we check out the reserve and migrate to the Serengeti.

On the same route as the endless shuttles of wildebeests and zebras from these parts of Africa.

NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Miranda, Brazil

Maria dos Jacarés: the Pantanal shelters such Creatures

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania

Hemingway's Favorite Africa

Situated on the western edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smallest but charming and richest in Europe. wild life of Tanzania. In 1933, between hunting and literary discussions, Ernest Hemingway dedicated a month of his troubled life to him. He narrated those adventurous safari days in “The Green Hills of Africa".
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Young people walk the main street in Chame, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a ChameNepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
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Architecture & Design
Las Vegas, USA

Where sin is always forgiven

Projected from the Mojave Desert like a neon mirage, the North American capital of gaming and entertainment is experienced as a gamble in the dark. Lush and addictive, Vegas neither learns nor regrets.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Adventure
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
orthodox procession
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
Cable car connecting Puerto Plata to the top of PN Isabel de Torres
Cities
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

The Dominican Home Silver

Puerto Plata resulted from the abandonment of La Isabela, the second attempt at a Hispanic colony in the Americas. Almost half a millennium after Columbus's landing, it inaugurated the nation's inexorable tourist phenomenon. In a lightning passage through the province, we see how the sea, the mountains, the people and the Caribbean sun keep it shining.
Fogón de Lola, great food, Costa Rica, Guápiles
Meal
Fogón de Lola Costa Rica

The Flavor of Costa Rica of El Fogón de Lola

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.
Big Freedia and bouncer, Fried Chicken Festival, New Orleans
Culture
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Big Freedia: in Bounce Mode

New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and jazz sounds and resonates in its streets. As expected, in such a creative city, new styles and irreverent acts emerge. Visiting the Big Easy, we ventured out to discover Bounce hip hop.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
M:S Viking Tor Ferry-Wrapped Passenger, Aurlandfjord, Norway
Traveling
Flam a Balestrand, Norway

Where the Mountains Give In to the Fjords

The final station of the Flam Railway marks the end of the dizzying railway descent from the highlands of Hallingskarvet to the plains of Flam. In this town too small for its fame, we leave the train and sail down the Aurland fjord towards the prodigious Balestrand.
Singapore Asian Capital Food, Basmati Bismi
Ethnic
Singapore

The Asian Food Capital

There were 4 ethnic groups in Singapore, each with its own culinary tradition. Added to this was the influence of thousands of immigrants and expatriates on an island with half the area of ​​London. It was the nation with the greatest gastronomic diversity in the Orient.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Nelson Dockyards, Antigua Docks,
History
English Harbor, Antigua (Antilles)

Nelson's Dockyard: The Former Naval Base and Abode of the Admiral

In the XNUMXth century, as the English disputed control of the Caribbean and the sugar trade with their colonial rivals, they took over the island of Antigua. There they came across a jagged cove they called English Harbour. They made it a strategic port that also housed the idolized naval officer.
View of Serra do Cume, Terceira Island, Unique Azores
Islands
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
Sampo Icebreaker, Kemi, Finland
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

It's No "Love Boat". Breaks the Ice since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
Almada Negreiros, Roça Saudade, Sao Tome
Literature
Saudade, São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

Almada Negreiros: From Saudade to Eternity

Almada Negreiros was born in April 1893, on a farm in the interior of São Tomé. Upon discovering his origins, we believe that the luxuriant exuberance in which he began to grow oxygenated his fruitful creativity.
Cachena cow in Valdreu, Terras de Bouro, Portugal
Nature
Campos do GerêsTerras de Bouro, Portugal

Through the Campos do Gerês and the Terras de Bouro

We continue on a long, zigzag tour through the domains of Peneda-Gerês and Bouro, inside and outside our only National Park. In this one of the most worshiped areas in the north of Portugal.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Agua Grande Platform, Iguacu Falls, Brazil, Argentina
Natural Parks
Iguazu/Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina

The Great Water Thunder

After a long tropical journey, the Iguaçu River gives a dip for diving. There, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, form the largest and most impressive waterfalls on the face of the Earth.
Merganser against sunset, Rio Miranda, Pantanal, Brazil
UNESCO World Heritage
Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Characters
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Mangrove between Ibo and Quirimba Island-Mozambique
Beaches
Ibo Island a Quirimba IslandMozambique

Ibo to Quirimba with the Tide

For centuries, the natives have traveled in and out of the mangrove between the island of Ibo and Quirimba, in the time that the overwhelming return trip from the Indian Ocean grants them. Discovering the region, intrigued by the eccentricity of the route, we follow its amphibious steps.
Kirkjubour, Streymoy, Faroe Islands
Religion
Kirkjubour, streymoy, Faroe Islands

Where the Faroese Christianity Washed Ashore

A mere year into the first millennium, a Viking missionary named Sigmundur Brestisson brought the Christian faith to the Faroe Islands. Kirkjubour became the shelter and episcopal seat of the new religion.
white pass yukon train, Skagway, Gold Route, Alaska, USA
On Rails
Skagway, Alaska

A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

The last great American gold rush is long over. These days, hundreds of cruise ships each summer pour thousands of well-heeled visitors into the shop-lined streets of Skagway.
Mahu, Third Sex Polynesia, Papeete, Tahiti
Society
Papeete, French Polynesia

The Third Sex of Tahiti

Heirs of Polynesian ancestral culture, the Mahu they preserve an unusual role in society. Lost somewhere between the two genders, these men-women continue to fight for the meaning of their lives.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Daily life
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
Wildlife
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.