Big five and much much more - Masai Mara, Kenya, July 7 2005

I could not send this mail almost a week ago since I didn't get the email on my phone working when coming over to Tanzania:

It is now the fifth day of the Dragoman trip. We have been very lucky and have already seen all the big five - leopard, elephant, rhino, lion and buffalo - in only two game drives. The first National park was Lake Nakuru where we also saw thousands of flamingos, loads of pelicans, zebras and much more. Today we visited the world's second famous park, Masai Mara. We have been extremely lucky and started the day to see three cheetahs, jackals, hyenas, lions, wildebeest, all kind of gassels and birds. After lunch we saw hippos (even two mating), giraffes and ostriches. I am sure I have misspelled many of the animals but have missed to mentioned even more. It is really strange driving around seeing all these exotic animals. It kind of feels like being in the movie jurassic park. You get a perspective of how real the wildlife is when a Kenyan told us he could not start his 6 km walk early enough in the morning to get in time for school, due to the risk of predators.

The weather now during the winter/dry season is just perfect. It is very much like a very good summer day in Sweden (which I hear the have right now), 25 - 30C at the most and it cools off quite a bit at night. The hours of light differ quite a bit from Sweden since the sun is not rising down here before 6.30 and sets 12 hours later.

We are now sitting around the fire with some cold beers, waiting for our excellent chef, cooking the food. Today was a long day spotting game while tomorrow will be a long day driving to Lake Victoria.

More is too come very soon since I had problem sending this email before.

Cheers Emil