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I guess it is safe to say that I love doing exotic and wonderful things, but
the truth is that I love it when a dream comes true. It is a thrilling
experience when the images you have fondled in your mind becomes part of
“things you have done” – you feel like anything is possible, and that many
more such wonderful things will happen. Silently floating a few meters above
the wild animals of Africa seems like a sweet dream of reality - as if your
heart and soul mingles with the physical world around you, and everything
seems easy.
Through all of my extensive travels in Africa and around the world, I
certainly couldn’t find a better place for dreams to come true than the
Masai Mara. Panoramic views stretching out all around you, the heartbeat of
Africa pounding in the millions of wild animals scattered across the
savannah, and the endless feeling that there is an unseen system governing
it all. It truly is a splendid thing to become so small again, as you are
gazing down on elephant, giraffe, topi, hyena, rhinoceros, buffalo, vulture,
Thompson’s gazelles, lion and my favorite by far – the vast herds of
wildebeest. The balloon flies wonderfully low over a herd – so close that
you can hear them grunting and their hooves swishing through the grass. Then
suddenly the balloon gains height, and as you rise high over the African
plains, the beautiful patterns become visible, and it is clear how the herds
move – how they group, re-group, divide, move, stop, graze – always with an
invisible fluid keeping a particular herd close to one another.
From high up in the African Sky Dome, I couldn’t help but think that we are
very much like these herds, and not nearly as self-sufficient and
independent as we would like to think. According to our guide, Douglas Nagi,
the different animals in the migration stick together for ease of movement
and protection. Wildebeest, zebra and other antelope will soon start moving
down into the adjoining Serengeti area. This seasonal migration pattern
enables them to survive the droughts – although they have to travel
thousands of kilometers to bring their herds to where there is plenty. While
we visited Kenya, the grass in the Mara was becoming scarce, but the rains
down in the Serengeti would enable the vast herds to see another year. In
this way they continue their seasonal Circle of Life.
If you live in the civilized world and your seasonal system includes a
yearly break to a place of untamed nature, you can trust ecoAfrica Travel to
get you to the “greenest” ones around. One of our favorites in the Mara is
Elephant Pepper Camp.
The camp combines particularly well with down-to-earth, but exotic
adventures in the Mara. If you want laid-back, nature on your doorstep,
gazing at the African plains through the mesh of your huge luxury canvas
tent, this is it.
For three months of the year (during the rainy season), this whole tented
camp is brought down and packed up, barely leaving a trace of its seasonal
existence. Once the rainy season is over, the spacious canvas tents are
re-erected. Apart from the solar powered lights in the honeymoon tent, the
camp is void of electricity. This ads to the romance and sense of the
African bush, more so when the askari (watchmen) guide you to your tent at
night with a torch, and the dinner table is alight only with candles and
paraffin lamps.
Another great aspect about this small intimate camp is the family dinner
table, where the no more than 14 guests all meet for a lovely candlelit
meal, good conversation and animated excitement about the day’s lion
charges. The informal but true African style is amplified by the young
hosts, Charlotte, Flick and Sam, as you can feel their love of Africa and
their happiness to be doing this job. This camp is a good option for the
young at heart or maybe second time visitor of Africa, as it creates the
sense of being on your own “homemade” safari… It is as if you just packed a
few tents and brought along a few camp hands to set up a wonderfully
luxurious safari camp...
The tents are adorned with kelims, kikoi’s and cheerful but rich colors. The
feeling is earthlike and every tent is tucked away among the trees and
surrounded by the bush and the migrating wildebeest herds. More than once we
came across the like of giraffe, no more than 40m from our tent. And surely
there are few things that can beat swinging on a hammock, surrounded by the
Masai Mara, losing yourself in a lovely novel… Except maybe when you wake up
knowing that today is the day you’ll be viewing it all from a hot-air
balloon…
Other: Part 1
Lizanne
Malherbe holds a Masters degree in Environmental Ethics
and is currently pursuing a PhD in Environmental Design |
