Today was the day I admittedly was most looking forward to, and the day most people back at home were jealous of- the trip to the Massai Mara. After a long bumpy drive on the dirt roads we finally arrived. The accommodation was beautiful, but I was not anticipating the bug filled tents! I think I was just being a girl about things and freaking myself out… Hey! Well for someone who hates moths and butterflies I wasn’t exactly able to prepare myself for the jumping spiders and beetle creatures roaming around my home for the night!

We quickly left again after dropping our bags off to go to the Maasai Village. This place was just truly amazing. The villagers build their houses from scratch themselves out of resources accessible to them- mud, manure, sticks and branches- and they’d last for around 9 years. We questioned what they would do once their houses deteriorated and the response was they moved location of their village. This intrigued me as to how easy they seemed to make it sound to up and move an entire village of many different families.  The team work and collaboration between the villagers was clearly visible. With the boys going out at 15 to live in the wild and fend for themselves, albeit in a group, for 3 years to then come back and become a true man. This ritual is not complete of course without the killing of their own lion. I know I wouldn’t be up for the challenge even though I do find them extremely cute- I wouldn’t want to risk it!

Learning about the villager’s culture was fascinating and I’d still like to find out some more about it! Shortly after seeing the inside of one of their houses we were ambushed by the selling techniques from the Maasi villagers who gave us a chance to try out our haggling techniques… to be completely honest I don’t think my techniques were up to scratch but it gave me some practice for what was to come later in the week at the Maasai Market!

Setting out on the actual safari was a little overwhelming. There was so much to see and we had to keep our eyes peeled. By far the greatest views we saw were the pack of lions and the little lion cubs! They all ventured out slowly and began to play which was delightful to see! The following day the animals seemed to be out in full force. We all were a little tired from getting up early and fending off the bugs all night (okay, maybe that was just me…) but when we started to spot the animals I seemed to wake up immediately! Spotting herds of elephants and plenty of giraffes, gazelles, zebras, warthogs and wildebeest- to name but a few the day was getting better and better. The most exciting part was the exiting of the park. I know this might sound a little crazy but this is when our driver spotted a cheetah casually taking a stroll down the dirt path. We managed to get right up close and get plenty of good pictures- although Peter missed his amazing shot… Whoops! I think the fact he’d seen the Cheetah in the first place had made his safari trip this year- as it did for all of us!

I’m just looking forward to getting home and making everyone jealous- especially my dad- with all the pictures and stories I’ve got to show and tell!