KARIBU!

A cool breeze welcomed us and the airport looked very ordinary (flying out of Dubai,everything looks ordinary),  the Jomo Kenyatta International airport. We were a group of 25, 5 Tamil speaking couples with noisy kids and us. They were all neighbours in Dubai and have been vacationing together regularly. We were greeted by the travel partners of Akbar travels, a group called Sawa Sawa ('ok ok' in Swahili). A tall dark guy with a unpronounceable name gave us a speech on the expected conduct and the sights planned etc. The Tamil group shared their chapatis and pickle with us, travelling with kids they had lots of eatables, we ate in the parking lot. As we were getting ready to board the minivans (3), he asked just the 2 of us to wait as we were to be accompanied by the couple landing in the next flight from Dubai. We were tired already with the delayed flight and this irked us.
After a wait of 1.5 hours, watching the varied crowd coming out of the airport mostly big groups of jubilant vacationers (not Holden or the band!). Our new companions were a Mallu family of 2 adults and 2 kids. Our driver was a small man named Moses. We took pictures of the white chested crows flying above us at the airport.  Onward we started our drive to Masai Mara National Reserve, about 280 kms from Nairobi - a solid 6 hours. I was busy clicking photos of the suburbs of Nairobi, the dwellings all looked like the military buildings you get to see in cantonment areas, made of stone.

We had a break at a view point...The Great rift valley escarpment at Mai Mahiu 9600 kms long, from Israel to Mozambique the board read. I couldn't fathom the fact, such a lengthy valley?! Clicked pictures of the beautiful valley from all angles, visited the curio shop, checked the prices and resumed our drive. 

As we breezed through the countryside the landscape suddenly changed, breathtaking views, an expanse of flat Savannah grasslands like a straw carpet interspersed with flat topped Acacia trees, what a sight!!. The continuous range of mountains with dense forest- a beautiful contrast the flat plains and the mountain peaks. The sheep gamboling and the grazing cows, a few Giraffes too...I sat back and inhaled long and deep..the pollution free air.

A peculiar looking tree caught my attention and Moses explained that it was the sisal tree or the Agave Sisalana..Moses had majored in  biology so he rattled off the botanical names.The sisal fibre is used to make bags, carpets, twine etc. These trees when young are like the pineapple plant and as it grows a long shoot goes up and branches out with bushy flowers, the locals plant it to mark the border of their lands. For better understanding Google Sisal trees!
The last one hour of the ride was very bumpy, absolutely no roads but the driver raced through, it was close to sunset and by the time we reached the end of the bad stretch and entered the forest region it was pitch dark. Our camp was a tent accommodation with no electricity, they operated generator for a few hours in a day. So it was pitch dark and no sign boards, we were lost . The driver had been to this camp before so he was trying to find his path in the jungle. I begged the driver to stop for nature's call but he denied stating it's too dangerous as wild animals will be around. It seemed we were going in circles actually, andI ordered Moses to stop the vehicle and quickly jumped out followed by Sujith, the" till death do us apart" moment (the others closed the van doors!).After an hour of driving in the darkness we found the workers accommodation and they guided us to the Siena Springs camp. 
The tents were beautiful, in middle of the jungle...beautiful moonlight and the sound of nature. There was a table and 2 chairs outside the tent and inside a bedroom and a wash area .The beds had side tables and the place was spacious. I expressed my worries about snakes and insects but was reassured that the place was completely safe. The electric fence around will keep the wild animals away and no snakes around. I hardly saw any insects in my 2 nights stay in the tent.
After a hot shower and a sawa sawa dinner we slept like logs.

To be contd..