Many, many years ago, as the Maasai people migrated toward this plain, the reached an escarpment which allowed them a large overview. The plains were dotted with fig trees, which give off a chemical that prevents any other species of tree from growing. To the Maasai, the plains looked spotted. "Mara" means "spotted plain."Today's game drives were amazing. Last night we saw part of a pride of lion, but the females quickly moved into the bush when our vehicle and 2 others pulled up. Today, however, we saw what may have been the entire pride, led by a young male (not yet fully "grown out"). One of the females eyed us intensely, and I'm surprised she did not approach or do something.
That was very late in the day - almost 7 pm. The drive started at 3:30, and at about 5 pm, we stopped for a "walking sarafi." Had I known, I would not have worn sandles. This becomes significant when you see the pictures of the white rhino. Notice how they appear to be more at eye level tan other shots from the vehicle? That's because we were at eye level. And about 30 feet away. The last of the 3 pictures of the rhino show a park ranger with a stick. As the rhino slowly walked toward him, the ranger waved the stick in front of the rhino and called out "Hut...hut...hut." The rhino promptly turned around and walked the other way. We all looked at each other with our mouths open, in pure awe of what we just saw.
I was lucky enough to get the last seat on the balloon for tomorrow. Up at 4:45, meet at 5:15 for tea, a half hour drive to the take-off site, prep and inflate the balloon, makes it 6:30 am or so for lift-off (if the weather cooperates). By 9 am, we'll be down for a champagne breakfast. All for the low, low price of $425 per person. The basket holds 12. That makes it roughly $5,000 in income per flight. The pilot is responsible for a crew of 15 plus 6 support vehicles, and he can't fly for a week or more at a time, sometimes. And not year-round, for certain. So, a reasonable rate.
No comments:
Post a Comment