Now that I am out of the hospital!!!! I can post more pictures now. I had a bacteria in my blood and was very dehydrated The Nairobi Hospital was wonderful but being admitted in a foreign country knowing your so far from home is the worst. A BIG thanks to my mom who stayed up with me even when it was 3 am for her and to my Kenya Maji Mazuri family who visited me and made sure everything was okay, especially Wambui (my Kenyan mother) who wouldn't leave my side. On a brighter note here are some more pictures of the beautiful Kenya in Massi Mara.
with a little piece of my heart,
Julia
Good Morning Kenya!
The Mara River where the great migration takes place
This photo was actually taken on foot while walking with a ranger!
Lazy boy
Hide-and-seek I found you!
The border between Kenya and Tanzania
Typical Massi dressed man and me!
Julia -- I missed you!!! So happy to hear that you are feeling better. I cannot even begin to imagine how beautiful that Kenyan sunrise was to witness in person.
ReplyDeleteAs I do not know very much about ANY migration, (let alone the GREAT one), I wanted to do some research, (yes again). So this is the crash course, for dummies like me, that knew little about the extraordinary annual Great Migration of wildebeest and other grazing herbivores across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. It's described, again and again, as one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world.
Over TWO MILLION animals partake in this journey, with about 300,000 zebra and 500,000 Thomson's gazelle behind the main players ... one-and-a-half million wildebeest!
The animals gather up their young and start the long trek from Tanzania's Serengeti Plains, further north to the Masai Mara National Reserve. They go in search of food and water. The journey runs in a clockwise circle and the animals cover a distance of around 1,800 miles. It's a tough and grueling journey, and every year an estimated 250,000 wildebeest do not survive the trek.
One of the saddest -- yet amazing -- sights of the migration, is when the herds gather to cross the Grumeti River (Tanzania) and the Mara River (Kenya) from July through September. As the herds cross, giant crocodiles are lying in wait for any weak and feeble animals that can't cope with the strong currents. Even if by some miracle, I were ever able to witness the migration, the river crossing is one aspect I'd skip -- thank you very much . . .
The mass of grazing animals remain on the productive Mara grasslands until October or November. Then, as storm clouds gather in the south, the vast herds return to their breeding grounds which, by the time they arrive, are once again green and lush -- and the cycle begins all over again. Nothing short of miraculous.
"In wilderness I sense the miracle of life and, behind it, our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia."
- Charles Lindbergh