This weekend, our team visited Masai Mara to go on a safari adventure. While all the animals we saw were incredible, the highlight was definitely the migration of wildebeests across the Mara River. Every year, millions of wildebeest migrate in East Africa, and in August, they end up in Masai Mara, which happened to only be a couple hours away from Migori where we were staying. Crossing the Mara River can be incredibly dangerous for the wildebeest because they can be snapped up by crocodiles or swept away in the current. Even if they successfully cross, they can still fall prey to the many predators in the region. While we did not see any casualties, we did come across many wildebeest carcasses.
At night, we stayed at a campground and lived in tents. It was an interesting experience, as the campsite did not have electricity and only turned on their generator for a few hours each night. That made charging out phones and cameras and even using the bathroom a challenge! Hot water was also only available for certain hours at night. It was definitely an ordeal walking back to our tent in the middle of the pitch black night and finding a little lizard and slug in your bathroom while you’re trying to shower. However, the staff was friendly and even lit a bonfire for us to enjoy, and we had a great time!
Sadly, we did not get to see all of The Big Five, because we missed the black rhino, but apparently there are only 15 of them in the entire Masai Mara region, so the chance of seeing one is really rare. The list of animals we saw were: zebras, wildebeest, lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, baboons, monkeys, gazelles, antelope, water buffalo, hippos, ostriches, lizards, vultures, miscellaneous birds, and more!
CBID Neonatal Team 16-17 