Safari in the Maasai Mara

The last three days of my trip to Kenya were spent on safari in the Maasai Mara region (where "Out of Africa" was filmed.). We flew from Diani Beach in a little prop plane (gulp). When our pilot showed up, I was a bit surprised to see a veiled Muslim woman step into the cock pit. Something about that made my inner woman power surge and when we took of, I was literally on Cloud 9.

Views from the airplane.

We made a few stops. On the 2nd to the last stop, I saw the rocky, dirt runway below and wondered how it was safe for a little airplane to land. I'm sure it's normally fine, but sure enough, one of the tires blew on the landing. Our pilot handled it like a champion.

We made it safe and sound to our safari Jeep.

The animals didn't waste any time showing up. They were EVERYWHERE. Warthogs ran around the camp by the droves, elephants were around every corner and we could even hear hippos grunting at night from our tent. It was an honest-to-goodness dream.

At one point, someone asked our guide, "If I got out of this Jeep and walked the trail home, would I get eaten?"
"Yes. Absolutely," was his quick response.

However, the guide did find a safe place for us to get out and picnic. Page thinks it will be fun to wander off and take her chances.

Lilly Holmberg was a native magnet. All of the natives working at our camp fell in love with her - and so did we.

Babies were all over the savanna.

The hyena den was actually one of my favorite spots.

Teenagers.

The savanna at dusk from the camp pool.

I spy a leopard in an Acacia tree.

A million thanks to Troy and Lisa Holmberg of Basa Body for the trip of a lifetime.