A Safari Trip with my Brother.

My brother Chad arrived last Monday and it has been a joy to have him around. He is doing an around the world trip and his first stop was here to see me. It has been fun just hanging out, chatting, throwing frisbee around, and doing some travelling around together. Last week we went to the Masai Mara National Park for a few days to camp and of course see the wildlife. During migration season the park boasts a wildebeest heard of over a million plus thousands of other animals that flock to the park in search of more food. This isn't migration season, so we didn't see nearly as many animals, but it was still very cool. The Mara is much different than Meru National Park which is where I was a couple of weeks ago. It is much more open with miles upon miles of open grasslands dotted here and there with Acacia trees.

The road leading to the park is bad to put it mildly. After leaving the last main town, Naruk, the road gradually gets worse, from black top to black top with potholes to potholes with a little black top and finally a rough dirt road. It took us a little over 5 hours to reach the park from Nairobi. Once we got into the park and had only travelled a few kilometers our car broke down. We had some local mechanics come and take a look at it and they told us that it would be best to tow the vehicle back to their "garage" and work on it there. Thankfully they were indeed able to fix the vehicle (for the time being) and after charging us the "tourist rate" for their services we were back on the road and into the park.

I've posted a video below that Chad put together of all the animals that we saw, so I won't got into detail about that. Once again it was so amazing to witness all of the animals in their natural habitats instead of behind bars at a zoo. There is something to be said about being within only a few yards of lions, cheetahs, water buffalo, and hyenas. The only animal that we didn't see that we were really hoping to was rhino despite the best efforts of our guide.

We left the park late morning on Thursday and after making it only a few kilometers outside of the gate our vehicle began to experience the same problems and shut off again. Thankfully this time around we were able to figure out what the issue was and were able to fix it and make it back to Nairobi without having to use the services of the mechanics again.

Chad brought with him a suitcase full of "tastes of home". Namely he brought 11 boxes of quality American cereal, including: Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruit Loops, and others (picture below). I really look forward to breakfast now and allowing my taste buds to once again experience the goodness of quality cereal. The suitcase also contained Nature Valley granola bars, Swedish fish, Jack Links beef sticks, Combos, and fruit snacks. So if anyone out there ever feels the need to send me some cereal or other quality American junk food I will not be upset.

Have a blessed week everyone and GO BIG BLUE!