Within minutes of arriving at the Nairobi Airport in Kenya, my traveling companion and I were bombarded by friendly "helpers" willing to assist us in whatever travel needs we might have.
We ended up booking the evening's accommodations at the seemingly upscale Hilton, Nairobi, which turned out to be sufficient after several mosquitoes in our room were slaughtered. The first real sign that we were in Africa was when we looked out our hotel window into the city streets and saw a sea of black faces. We were the minority to be certain, but unlike minorities in the U.S., it appeared the majority was there to cater to us and not discriminate against us.
We determined to get out of Nairobi the next day and booked a safari to the legendary MAASAI MARA GAME RESERVE in Western Kenya.
We met our driver, Richard, a perpetually blood-shot eyed, villager from the Lake Victoria region. After a bumpy four our drive, we reached our accommodations for the next couple nights, the Keekorok Lodge, small spread out rooms situated in the middle of the park with no fences, and what we hoped were friendly black monkeys strolling across the interior courtyard.
Our days driving in the game reserves were filled with incredible landscapes, as the sky seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. While on safari we saw a great multitude of animals including elephants (one charged our vehicle, but stopped short of impact), gazelle, many bird species, wildebeest, zebras, buffalo, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, warthog, monkey, cheetahs, and others.
We also had the rare privilege of visiting an authentic Maasai village, where we met a man who had personally killed a lion and whose diet consisted of milk, meat, and blood! The people of the village, as well as everyone we've encountered, were very friendly.
Sometimes the beautiful landscape was in direct contrast by some unnerving sites of animals in their natural habitats. Being in the wild makes one realize the true nature of the creatures we with whom we share the earth. We were a long way from the confines and artificial environments present in American zoos.
We were on safari and close encounters with the citizens of the wild were many. It was a two way tie in determining which of the many species we saw was the most detestable; the two scavengers - the hyena and the vulture outranked any others as vile and mean spirited animals. The hyena seemed less in control of their unfavorable characteristics. They were the awkward and ugly feeders of discarded meals of other animals. Meanwhile, vultures feasted on the dead bodies of animals with a certain sense of contempt, as hordes of them devoured large buffalo, hollowing them out. We past one example, and as we did we were met with the sight of a vulture emerging from the inside of the ribcage of the hollow buffalo. The only thing that made the situation worse was the unbearable stench.
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