Safari in Maasai Mara

When I was ten years old, my mother made a very nice coat for me. She said it was called Safari Coat. I did not know what Safari means but I wore it happily. I came to know the definition of Safari later that it means a trip to see animals in the jungle in Africa and men wear safari coat when they go safari.

Later in my life, I got chance to go on safari without a safari coat. It was in March, 2008, I needed to go to Kenya for a meeting and I decided to go on safari for few days after the meeting.

I had to fly with a small flight for few hours from Nairobi to reach a small camp in Maasai Mara. The camp was on the river bank and the first thing I saw was a crocodile in the river. I also saw a group of hippopotamus in the river. Later on a group of elephants came to other side of the river to drink water. I also saw a small deer came to the river to drink water. I was worried for it because there was a crocodile in the river but the crocodile did not get chance to attack the deer.

Next morning, a jeep was waiting for me to go on the safari. There were other three people on the car too. I thought the jeep to go on a safari must be covered with glasses for the safety but I was surprised to see that it was open. I asked the guide what if the animals attack us. He said we were safe as long as we stayed on the car.

It was not a migration season so I did not see a lot of animals as we can see at the national geographic channel. But I still saw a lot of animals. The guide who drove the car explained the nature of different animals. I was amazed to learn about animals.

I saw lion, elephant, fox, zebra, deer, buffalo, hippo, monkey, giraffe, ostrich and many other animals. Another interesting thing I learn during the trip was lions are not always in the killing mood. They do not harm small animals if they are not hungry. And other small animals also know whether lions are in killing mood or not. If lions are not hungry, they just lay down and other animals will be going around near them. They are not like greedy people who are always trying to exploit each other. I think there are many things we can learn from animals.