(More cat pictures at the bottom of this page)

After our exhilarating trip to see the gorillas in Rwanda, we spent three days in the Masai Mara in Kenya.

We had a 1/2 day to kill in Nairobi before our flight to the Mara, so we arranged some sightseeing with Kennedy from Waymark Safaris. I found him on the Fodor's Africa forum - long story short, several travelers mentioned that he had a special relationship with the keepers at the cheetah enclosure, and for a tip you can pet the cubs.

Kennedy was waiting for us right after customs, and after a brief stop at the ATM in the airport (for aforementioned tip) we were off to the Nairobi Safari Walk. Kennedy introduced us to the man who would be our guide and said he'd be back at noon to pick us up. The weather was slightly overcast, which was perfect for walking around the zoo-like park, which was deserted. After about 10 minutes, we arrived at the cheetah enclosure - I was expecting cubs - lap-sized babies - but instead out galloped two beautiful (but huge) cats. I was very apprehensive about approaching them, with their unretractable, doberman looking claws, but the keepers started ordering us around, "scratch her head," "scratch her back" and the next thing you know she flopped at my feet, rolled on its back, and started purring loudly like an oversized housecat.

Andy started to take some pictures, and one of the keepers used our other camera to get some shots of the two of us. As soon as Andy sat down on the grass, one of the cheetahs trotted over to him and put on quite a show - rubbing his face all over him, licking his arm with his raspy cat tongue, and rolling on his back wanting to have his belly be scratched. It was quite a sight and definitely a memorable experience.

After Andy cleaned the cat slobber off himself, we walked around the park some more until it was time to meet Kennedy. Our next stop was Kazuri Beads, located in the very upscale suburb of Karen. I'd read about Kazuri on the internet and thought it would be an interesting stop given our recent pottery class. It was pouring rain at this point (we really lucked out with the pleasant weather for the cheetah-touching) and when we arrived at Kazuri we were greeted by an enthusiastic gentleman who took us on a tour of the facility and explained their entire process.

Mixing the local clay	Kiln	Glazing

We then spent entirely too long in the store, buying necklaces and a few bowls and vases which Kennedy kept until our international flight home so we wouldn't have to schlep them to the Mara. After Kazuri, Kennedy dropped us at the domestic airport (Wilson) where we had lunch at the upstairs cafe. The Mara portion of our trip was arranged by Safariline, who we used for our trip in 2005. That was supposed to be a "once in a lifetime" trip, but now we're hooked.

Flights to the Mara are kind of interesting in that your bags are tagged according to which lodge you are visiting. When you get on the plane, the pilot tells you "4th stop" and then at every stop, a few passengers deplane and the pilot retrieves the appropriately tagged bags. It's a little difficult to count the stops (was that the 3rd or the 4th?) and after about an hour it was down to us and a very large family going to some other lodge (thankfully) so we assumed it was time to get off the plane.

Our private vehicle (which costs more but is SO worth it) was waiting and we met our guide Samuel. I'd asked around on the forums if anyone recommended any guides at the Serena, and someone suggested Samuel so I had our travel agent request him in advance. He was confused when we requested him without having been there before, and even more confused when I said "I got your name from the internet". A good guide can make ALL the difference on a safari, and Samuel was absolutely awesome.

Not only did he position the vehicle well for photography, but in conditions when several of the other vehicles were getting stuck in the mud daily, Samuel negotiated the tricky conditions with ease. There was one instance where we got stuck crossing a river, and we were really wondering how we were going to get out - Samuel fished around with his bare feet, removing obstructions, then rocked the Rover back and forth until we were free. Quite impressive!

Despite the horribly detailed packing list, I somehow forgot the adapters for Kenya and only brought the ones for Rwanda. We asked at the front desk, but they only had one and it was loaned out to another guest. I checked again after dinner, and it turned out to be a a multiple outlet - so now we had three of the wrong kind :) Our camera batteries were in good shape, and we could use manual focus to further conserve, but I was worried about the P2000 backup device because I did NOT want it to lose its charge. We thought of befriending a departing North American guest and trying to buy theirs :) The next morning we mentioned it to our guide, and he said that he would send the electrician to our room when we returned. O...K... what - was he going to rewire our room with the correct wattage? Benson appeared (wearing what looked like a blue veterinarian coat and knee high rubber boots) and looked at us quizzically. I showed him what we needed to plug in, and the adapters that we had - he took them all, went away for about 10 minutes and then came back with an adapter. He said it was his own personal one - but talk about service!

When we checked in to the Serena, they went out of their way to warn us to shut our doors because of the baboons (yeah, I wish!). Our room had a phenomenal view of the endless plains and the river in the distance below. From our terrace we could see baboons, giraffe, gazelle, and topi and hear lions and hippo.

Our eclectic room	Room exterior	View from our room

There is a fire pit with live entertainment each night (Click these links to listen to audio recordings of Hakuna Matata or The Lion Sleeps Tonight). For meals, the food is mostly buffet although there is a cooked to order station which should be frequented as much as possible because I'm certain that the buffet food is the source of my African travel sickness. On our first morning, we were surprised at the end of our morning game drive with a bush breakfast - can't beat champagne and omelets cooked to order beside a river teeming with hippos and a few crocodiles.