Day Fourteen: Kenya: Second Day in the Masaimara Game Park

5:01pm, May 13th, 2019

Today I woke up at 5:30am so that we could be hitting the road and on our way to the game park by 6am. We got our breakfast all packed up for the ride and were off. We got to see the sunrise come up and over some of the hills on our ride to the game park and it was spectacular. We arrived at the game park and quickly saw the zebras and antelope. We quickly came upon the 5 brothers which is a group of five male cheetahs. After the cheetahs we drove on and saw a hyena and a pack of wart hogs and then began our search for some lions and of course the ultimate goal, a leopard. Our driver spotted a female lion from a distance with his binoculars so we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get to her when finally she came to us. We watched her from across a river bank and watched her drink from the river. My aunt and I decided to name her Carol. There was a massive heard of zebras ahead of us so we followed her to the herd and thought she was going to catch herself a meal but after a while of waiting she walked away in the opposite direction. We then found two male brother lions who we named William and Harry. After those sightings we were quite hungry so we wondered into a camp on the edge of the park and sat down for some coffee and croissants to keep ourselves away for more searching. 

We continued on our safari for a while and we saw some fox like creatures for the first time and a lone wildebeest that we named James. We head back to camp wanting a late lunch only to discover that we were really way out in the game park.

For dinner we had dinner in the bush. Which means that they set up dinner for us by the pool instead of in the restaurant so it is out doors. While eating dinner with the two dentists, Gloria and Charles, that work that the dentist clinic next door, I heard this guttural cry and jumped about 3 feet into the air and thought I had died. I turned around and it was Masai warriors running from the bushes. Masai is a very old tribe in Kenya and they are quite famous for their jewelry that they wear and the Masai clothes that they always dress themselves in. The warriors immediately started singing a song but they were singing in a way I had never heard of before. It was unlike anything I had seen before so it was very cool to see. Then one of the warriors took my hand and put his necklace around me and we started to dance around the table while other warriors grabbed my aunt and Gloria. We then had a naming ceremony. The warriors would talk and come up with a name and then once the name was agreed upon they would tell the name to the one warrior who could speak English. My name was Negato which means happiness. In order to receive your name one of the warriors brushes your feet with a beaded giraffe tail and says your proposed name and each time the warrior says your proposed name, you yell. This happens four times. And so on for my and and Gloria. They did some more dancing and such and then the warrior let me keep his necklace which is hand crafted by himself. It was a very cool experience and nothing I would have expected.

Hours for the day: 8

Hours in total 93.5

Until tomorrow

Maria