Day 12: Paradise Crossing

Coffee delivered to us by 5:00 am and we were headed out by 6:00 am for sunrise. We reached the entrance to the Masai Mara Park by about 9:00 am. The land outside the preserve has grass that is very short – for the most part just a few inches high because it is grazed by herds of Maasi cattle. Although the grass has been hard hit, this reduction in grass high has created prime habitat for gazelle, Impala, zebra and others that need to keep an eye out for predators. Grazing of cattle is not permitted inside the park so the native grasses grow waist high. Giraffe and elephant seem to be happy here in the long grass, but the vast herds of native ungulates, residents of the Mara, are for the most part absent.

We followed a lagga toward Paradise Crossing. High in one of the trees was an extraordinary nest of a Hammerkop: a nest that weighs well over a ton. This fully enclosed bird’s nest is constructed of sticks and grass and has a downward pointing entrance on one side. Inside, the nest is divided into four distinct rooms including a nursery and toilet room. This gigantic complex nest is used only for a single season. Next year the construction will begin again by the pair and will take about two months to complete. Abandon nests from previous years are often used as platforms for a variety of nesting cranes, owls, geese, and raptors.

We reach Paradise Crossing by lunch and dine with the view of thirty hippos and three crocodiles. From the far side of the Mara River, giraffes kept peaking over the tops of trees and eying us with curiosity. The Paradise Crossing is the main crossing of the Mara Rive for the vast migrating herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle. The migration begins in late July and continues through October. Over a million wildebeest make the journey from Tanzania’s Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara in their continuous circular migration. The wildebeest is an odd looking animal and some say that it was constructed from left over spare parts. It has cow-like horns, short neck, deep chest, high shoulders, and way-too-skinny front legs that seem way too long for the back legs. It has a short mane that stands straight up and a long pale beard running the length of its neck. During the migration, hundreds of thousands of animals will cross the Mara River at Paradise Crossing.

We were entertained at lunch by a troop of Vervet monkeys playing in the nearby bushes. The Vervet is the common small monkey of the African savanna. It is a slender monkey with a long tail. Males weight up to 20 pounds and females about 9 pounds.

On our return trip to Camp, six elephants playing in a watering hole as they threw mud and water on themselves also entertained us.

So much to see each day, but we arrived at Camp still excited after being out 13 hours.