It’s a spectacle of nature that draws tourists in their thousands each year. Missing a river crossing however shouldn’t dampen your trip to the Masai Mara.

After my Amboseli trip, I set my eyes on a return to Masai Mara on a two-night, three-day trip curved out of an increasingly busier work week.

The Journey to Masai Mara

As I prepared for the 5-hour drive from Nairobi, I prayed that this short trip would be worth the sacrifice of time from family and the four to five hours spent on the road.

I was riding back left with Fady as pilot and Allan as shotgun. From Narok, we left the smooth B3 asphalt, took a left at Ololulung’a to join the gravelled C13 that leads to Mara’s Ololoolo Gate.

We wanted to spend most of our time in the more scenic Mara Triangle and had booked to stay at Mara West Lodge.

Because the lodge isn’t fenced, wildlife roams freely within the ‘compound’.

Consider yourselves warned.

After a lunch that had us taking our hats off to the chef, we went out for our first game drive at around 3pm.

Welcome back to the Mara

In past years, the well maintained gravel roads in the Mara Triangle would be full of cruisers kicking up dust clouds while ferrying tourists from far and wide, here to witness the seventh wonder of the world. This year, the roads tell a different story. One of longing to be trod on by rubber quads of BFs, Good Years and Yanas. They would have to do with these Maxxis on our Defender for now as Covid-19 travel restrictions have fewer tourists visiting the Mara.

The golden plains however tell a different story of being trod more than they have been in a long while. There were easily half a million wildebeest, zebra, impala and topi stomping and chewing on them, scattered all over the foreground, far into the horizon.

At the main Mara River Crossing, the mood and water were calm as no animals were ready to cross from the Triangle to the Reserve side.

We spotted a croc taking a slice of gnu that had been killed earlier in the day.

The sun went down with it’s usual spectacular flair.

The day ended well and we made our way back to the Lodge for another throw down from the chef.

Yaaawwwnnnn… Time for a nap.

Day Two in the Mara

Before sunrise, we were back in the Triangle, not knowing what we’d see and still not keeping our expectations high. This was the kind of trip where our goal was to go to Mara, say we’d been, and return to Nairobi.

God asked us to lift our expectations.

The River Crossing

As we got to the Main River Crossing, we noticed a larger than usual herd of gnu, led by topi, admiring the greener grass across the river. We did the responsible thing like other tour drivers and kept our distance from the edge of the river bank to give the herds space to get a better view of the greener grass with the hope that they’d be convinced to cross.

The Safari Live crew was here, ready to beam the crossing Live to the world.

When the gnus edged their way to the river bank, we approached, took our vantage position, then. shot away.

The crossing was made better when we witnessed a lioness take down two gnus that had just crossed the river.

It was a delightful sighting for all.

More attractions than the crossing

After witnessing the crossing, we continued taking in the other attractions that have made Mara famous.

Back at Mara West, I had a photo session with some of the zebras that were grazing freely. They are so used to humans that they didn’t run away when I approached.

Back in the Park, things got elephant.

Masai Mara sunset

Sunsets in Masai Mara remain undefeated, especially in the Mara Triangle. When composed with the lonely trees and the distant storm clouds in frame, they are nothing short of spectacular.

Leaving the Mara

After a heavy bye bye breakfast at Mara West, we packed our bags and prepared to leave Mara via Sekenani which would take us across the Triangle in and out of the Reserve.

Before we left, we took this portrait with the Wildlife Warriors team that was also staying at Mara West.

On our drive out, Mara kept on giving us reasons to stay an extra night or two. But family and work commitments wouldn’t allow.

Lions mating

On our drive to Sekenani, we got stopped by a guide driving in the opposite direction. He asked us if we’d seen a cheetah with cubs which he wanted to show to guests who were following him in two other cars. We hadn’t seen them. He had an idea of where they were so he asked us to follow him.

We joined their convoy and several minutes of driving through dry river beds and across lonely grasslands, the guide and guests stopped and got out of their cars.

They had reached their destination – tented camp on the banks of the Sand River. We asked the guide about the cheetahs and he said they must have been in a different area, a couple of kilometres behind.

So here we were, in the middle of nowhere with no bearing of where the Sekenani Gate was, feeling very cheated, having come all the way for nothing but grass. The dry river beds we’d crossed are crossable in one direction only so we couldn’t use the same route back.

We asked the guide for a route out. He told us to drive straight ahead and turn to the right past some trees. To encourage us, he said we might spot lions who were mating in the area.

We followed his directions and less than 5 minutes later, we found the lions.

Wrong directions can at times lead you to a better place.

Our drive to Nairobi was a good one, enjoying the asphalt on the newly done Sekenani – Narok road.

The quality of the workmanship is however questionable in several sections, with waves already appearing a few months after completion. I really hope that this road lasts, we’ve waited very long for it to be done.

Only time will tell.