The plan was to leave the Masai Mara by the northern gate of Oloololo, then head up to Kisii to take the tar road south to the Tanzanian border on the Eastern side of Lake Victoria to get to the Western side of the Serengeti, then to cross the Serengeti/Ngorogoro parks from West to East.....
We awoke before dawn and got the truck ready quietly in order not to disturb our (only) neighbours. It was pleasntly cool, we had coffee and breakfast looking out over the vista before us- most of the animals had disapeared overnight (where do they go?), but were gradually reappearing as the light and warmth returned. We had a chat with Heiko, Katarina and their two young sons before heading off.We considered staying another night, but the serengeti is calling..... We drove down the escarpment to the riverside, lots of hippos (we had heard them overnight, so it was nice to see them) - but where are the lions that we heard "rolling"?! By a small set of rapids Sue spotted a huge stationary croc in the water by the bank, teeth bared - not moving an inch. After a few minutes watching it we came to the conclusion that it was dead! Another one of a similar size was basking on the opposite bank. Further on there is a spot on the river where you can walk to a hippo pool viewpoint - signs were up telling us that we shouldn't go there without one of the guards, but no guards anywhere.... so we went anyway. Further upriver heaqding towards the gate we saw (and smelt) a very dead (and ballooning) fully grown buffalo in a wallow - tear marks down its flanks suggested it had been the victim of lions, but none around, and no scavengers either. Odd.
Lots and lots of antelope, topis, giraffe, ellies etc. The overall feel of this northern part of the Mara is of much less visitors (we hardly saw any others), huge swathes of grass waiting for the herds to arrive, great scenery. Sue feels that it's characterised for her by the 2 or 3 note call of the larks that perch on stones beside the road plus all the widow birds and whydahs that are displying at the moment.
At the gate we asked about the best road to Kisii (there are at least 2 options). All three members of staff agreed that it would be to take the track to Lolgorian as it has been recently improved, then turn right to Kilgoris where the tar starts. I'd heard that the track up the escarpment to Lolgorien was dreadful, so queried this - they all assured us that it is now good. Up we went - climbing the escarpment, higher and higher, past zebra and giraffe feeding on acacias until we finally reached the top. For a minor dirt/murram road it was quite good, however Sue was finding the bumps very wearing so we travelled very slowly. About half way to Lolgorien we realised that we'd forgotten something from 2 years ago - Sue really cant't travel long distances on rough roads without suffering - it was clear that crossing the entire Serengeti wasn't going to be feasible, we need to replan - but not just now.
The area between the escarpment and Kilgoris is very varied, most of it is lush, much farmed so no wildlife to speak of. Initially the people were clearly Masai with their herds, but soon we saw different faces and clothes and mainly crops being grown. Towards Kilgoris there was a perfectly conical hill with very neatly laid out fields around it sbase - almost symetrical. A motorcycle passed us with maybe 20 or 30 chickens hanging upside down, tied to the back by their legs. In Kilgoris we saw them again - in a heap by the side of the road for sale - some were raising their heads, most were just sprawled out.
Kilgoris was initially a mess - unclear junctions, a busy dusty market, potholes everywhere. Then suddenly we came upon a junction - the tar road - and the town seemed to transform itself into a neat, tidy and green place.
The road to Kisii was great - good road, good scenery, not much traffic, interesting villages - lots of police blocks, but almost everytime they see that we're Muzungu they just wave us through. We'd spotted a hotel and a mission in the Lonely Planet that seemed to be on the dge of town where we could possibly camp for the night - Kisii itself was extraordinarily busy and hectic. We found botht he hotel and the mission - in the middle of town - the hotel looked VERY run down, the mission didn't look appealing, so we decided to head out of town to see what we could find. The market right next to the hotel was closing - it's spread out on either side of the main road. Along witht he amount of through traffic, the result was almost gridlock - lorries, coaches, minibuses, cars, motorcycles, people, animals, all vying for space to get through. It took ages to do 200m, but finally we were out of it as the light was fading. "We'll go for 15 minutes, if we find nothing we'll come back here".....15 minutes later we were looking for somewhere to turn when Sue spotted a sign "New Hotel and Conference Centre behind the Shell Fuel Satation at Nyakoe, 1km". This could have been anything - but we went - from the outside it looked excellent - we decided we would stay here no matter what. Some freindly guys directed us into an enclosed courtyard in their annex - just opposite reception. The girls on reception were very freindly and sent the bell boy with us to show us round. This is a startling place afetr Kisii - modern, clean, well laid out, comfortable - almost everything you could want. We didn't argue about "only camping" - we just rented one of their basic rooms (not expensive at all, and includes breakfast) and told them we would use it for the facilities but sleep in the truck. they found this fascinating - everyone does - then gave us an upgrade to one of their executive rooms as it was closer to the truck. We showered and went to the restaurant - good cheap food, but as with almost everywhere African the TV was omnipresent!
We awoke before dawn and got the truck ready quietly in order not to disturb our (only) neighbours. It was pleasntly cool, we had coffee and breakfast looking out over the vista before us- most of the animals had disapeared overnight (where do they go?), but were gradually reappearing as the light and warmth returned. We had a chat with Heiko, Katarina and their two young sons before heading off.We considered staying another night, but the serengeti is calling..... We drove down the escarpment to the riverside, lots of hippos (we had heard them overnight, so it was nice to see them) - but where are the lions that we heard "rolling"?! By a small set of rapids Sue spotted a huge stationary croc in the water by the bank, teeth bared - not moving an inch. After a few minutes watching it we came to the conclusion that it was dead! Another one of a similar size was basking on the opposite bank. Further on there is a spot on the river where you can walk to a hippo pool viewpoint - signs were up telling us that we shouldn't go there without one of the guards, but no guards anywhere.... so we went anyway. Further upriver heaqding towards the gate we saw (and smelt) a very dead (and ballooning) fully grown buffalo in a wallow - tear marks down its flanks suggested it had been the victim of lions, but none around, and no scavengers either. Odd.
Lots and lots of antelope, topis, giraffe, ellies etc. The overall feel of this northern part of the Mara is of much less visitors (we hardly saw any others), huge swathes of grass waiting for the herds to arrive, great scenery. Sue feels that it's characterised for her by the 2 or 3 note call of the larks that perch on stones beside the road plus all the widow birds and whydahs that are displying at the moment.
At the gate we asked about the best road to Kisii (there are at least 2 options). All three members of staff agreed that it would be to take the track to Lolgorian as it has been recently improved, then turn right to Kilgoris where the tar starts. I'd heard that the track up the escarpment to Lolgorien was dreadful, so queried this - they all assured us that it is now good. Up we went - climbing the escarpment, higher and higher, past zebra and giraffe feeding on acacias until we finally reached the top. For a minor dirt/murram road it was quite good, however Sue was finding the bumps very wearing so we travelled very slowly. About half way to Lolgorien we realised that we'd forgotten something from 2 years ago - Sue really cant't travel long distances on rough roads without suffering - it was clear that crossing the entire Serengeti wasn't going to be feasible, we need to replan - but not just now.
The area between the escarpment and Kilgoris is very varied, most of it is lush, much farmed so no wildlife to speak of. Initially the people were clearly Masai with their herds, but soon we saw different faces and clothes and mainly crops being grown. Towards Kilgoris there was a perfectly conical hill with very neatly laid out fields around it sbase - almost symetrical. A motorcycle passed us with maybe 20 or 30 chickens hanging upside down, tied to the back by their legs. In Kilgoris we saw them again - in a heap by the side of the road for sale - some were raising their heads, most were just sprawled out.
Kilgoris was initially a mess - unclear junctions, a busy dusty market, potholes everywhere. Then suddenly we came upon a junction - the tar road - and the town seemed to transform itself into a neat, tidy and green place.
The road to Kisii was great - good road, good scenery, not much traffic, interesting villages - lots of police blocks, but almost everytime they see that we're Muzungu they just wave us through. We'd spotted a hotel and a mission in the Lonely Planet that seemed to be on the dge of town where we could possibly camp for the night - Kisii itself was extraordinarily busy and hectic. We found botht he hotel and the mission - in the middle of town - the hotel looked VERY run down, the mission didn't look appealing, so we decided to head out of town to see what we could find. The market right next to the hotel was closing - it's spread out on either side of the main road. Along witht he amount of through traffic, the result was almost gridlock - lorries, coaches, minibuses, cars, motorcycles, people, animals, all vying for space to get through. It took ages to do 200m, but finally we were out of it as the light was fading. "We'll go for 15 minutes, if we find nothing we'll come back here".....15 minutes later we were looking for somewhere to turn when Sue spotted a sign "New Hotel and Conference Centre behind the Shell Fuel Satation at Nyakoe, 1km". This could have been anything - but we went - from the outside it looked excellent - we decided we would stay here no matter what. Some freindly guys directed us into an enclosed courtyard in their annex - just opposite reception. The girls on reception were very freindly and sent the bell boy with us to show us round. This is a startling place afetr Kisii - modern, clean, well laid out, comfortable - almost everything you could want. We didn't argue about "only camping" - we just rented one of their basic rooms (not expensive at all, and includes breakfast) and told them we would use it for the facilities but sleep in the truck. they found this fascinating - everyone does - then gave us an upgrade to one of their executive rooms as it was closer to the truck. We showered and went to the restaurant - good cheap food, but as with almost everywhere African the TV was omnipresent!