We left through the gate out of the Masai Mara and onto an avid road. We followed the signs until we found the Talek Bush Camp, where we were staying. It was raining, so people with umbrellas helped us with our bags and sheltered us from the rain. We checked it at the front desk and then got the key to our room. We unlocked our room door and went in. There were two bedrooms and a living room /kitchen space. Mom and dad would share a bedroom, and we four kids would share a room. At the start, only two beds were in the kid’s room, but they brought another one for Zeb. Kb and I were going to share a bed, and Zeb and Emmy would get their own. We got settled in, and we went down to dinner when we were ready. It was buffet style, and the food was delicious. Dinner was a retry short because we were ed from the long drive over and to wake up at 5:45 AM the next day. I returned to our room with the others and got ready for bed. After brushing my teeth and putting my Pajamas on, I got into bed. I fell asleep fast.
The next day mom woke us up at 5:45 AM, and I wanted to sleep in instead. But I got up eventually and got into safari clothes. We w it to the breakfast place, which opened at 6:00. We got some quick breakfast and then headed out. We left a little later than we had hoped, but we still made it. We drove to the entrance to the Masai Mara reserve and checked in. We went through the gate and onto the bumpy dirt road. We drove along the main road for a while, looking for anything interesting. We opened the top hatch and looked through that. We always went to where the clusters of cars were because there was a lion or Cheetah. We saw lots of animals like zebras, antelope, and wilderbeast, but the first predator we saw was a spotted hyena. It was not that cool, but I got a picture of it. The next thing was a herd of elephants. That was cool. I got a lot of photos of them, and it was so cool to see them just walking in the wild. The next thing was excellent. We saw a cheetah walking right next to the cars. It came close to us. We followed it for a while, but we soon got tired of it. We drove along for about 30 min looking for anything extraordinary, and then we spotted a small group of cars. We decided to go and check it out. It turned out it was a lone male lion. It was just lying in the grass, chilling. Everybody was snapping pictures of him every chance they could, and he got tired of all the humans. He stood up, walked right in between two cars, and started walking away. All of the vehicles, of course, followed him. We followed him a little longer, but I kept moving, so we left. We drove around we saw another hyena, but that was not that cool. We decided to go to a spot called crocodile crossing. That is where all of the crocodiles were. We drove to that spot and found it. We thought it would be like a bridge or something, but it was a spot where a lot of the wilder-beast crossed, so there were so many crocodiles. You would think that the wilder beast and the zebras would go in a different spot, but no. There was a guided walking tour you could do, and my mom said we were doing that. The guide had a gun in case a hippo or a crocodile decided to attack us. He showed us the different skulls of the crocodile and the hippo and all the things you need to know about both. We went to a spot with a vast croc, and I got a good photo of it. He said that crocodiles could live up to 100 years. We walked to the trail’s end and returned to the start. We have the guy a tip and left. We thought it was an excellent time to head back at about 2:00 PM. The drive back was bumpy, but I enjoyed it. We were probably the only self-driving white people, so the people at the gate remembered us. We came back to the talek bush camp and parked the car. We went in and changed out of our trekking clothes and into cleaner ones. There was a pool, but it was cold, so I did not want to get in. I sat on the couch in the main lobby to blog because the internet only worked there. I took a mini nap, and then it was about dinner time. Dinner was tasty, but I was worn out for the whole day. We were waking up at 5:30 AM the next morning because it took us a long time to get out the door last time, so we needed to wake up earlier.
The lady who picked us up was named Carol, and she was very nice. The car she drove us in was almost like ours, but it did not have hard sides but it did have excellent seats. The ride was not long, but not. It was pretty windy, and we were unsure whether we would go up. In the end, it was OK. The man who would be our pilot told us to get into the giant basket.
We walked over to the basket and looked in. He would have to climb in and sit as if you were in a rocket ship. I was very excited about this part and immediately knew I was going to love this. The basket was divided into five spots. There was a middle spot where the pilot, gas tanks, and all these gadgets looked complicated. On either side of the pilot, more giant rectangles were divided in two. Our family went in one of the big rectangles divided into three on each side. I, Zeb, and mom went on The top side, and Emmy, KB, and dad went on the other. There was one other group of two on the other side, 12 in all. Our pilot kept blowing hot air until we finally lifted off the ground.
In the Air:
It was a weird sensation floating in a basket. We were one of the last balloons to lift off the ground, but it was pretty to see all the others in front of us. The reason we came so early was to see the sunrise. I got so many photos of it. At one point, the sun went behind a cloud and looked spectacular. We went along, slowly getting higher and higher. At the highest, we like to reach a thousand feet in the air. It was sometimes terrifying, but I got used to it. We gradually got lower, and soon we could see the Mara River. We needed to land before the big river because there were few spots to cross. I was excited about the landing because it would be bumpy. I got into position when he said it was five minutes until landing. We were very low now, just skimming over the treetops. We were all sitting down now, ready for landing. I could not see, but we hit the ground with a thump. We bounced off and then skated again. Finally, we slowed to a stop. We all climbed out, and the car that had dropped us off was there, and Carol was driving it. We now headed over to breakfast.
The ride to the breakfast tree was short, but on the way, two female lions were walking on the road. One of the lions came right next to our car. I took so many photos.
We continued until we came to the breakfast tree.
The Breakfast Tree:
We got out of the car to be greeted by a nice handwashing station and drinks. We went to the absent table and sat down. They were fancy tablecloths on The tables and even servers. It was a Buffay style, so we went to the food tables. I took a plate and got in line. There was a man who could cook eggs for you. There were some fruits and things like that, but I asked for some eggs and then went to get some cereal. I returned to my seat and asked a waiter for some hot chocolate. I enjoyed my breakfast. It was so fun to get to experience it. But it was too soon, and I was sad to leave. We had to go back to pack because we had to leave.
Leaving Talek Bush Camp:
They were able to pack us lunches in a paper bag. Some men came to help load the bags. I quickly got plugged in and was the first out of the car. I had to wait for Dad to come out with the keys. All of us kids were in the car before Dad came out with the key and unlocked the car. We all got in the car and drove out when everything was loaded. It would be about five hours to go to Nairobi again because our Massi Village stays were canceled. This time we were staying at a place called the Movenpick. It was a lovely hotel. We would pick up Evans on the way there, and he would drive the last two hours. The drive was uneventful, but I watched a movie called Duma, and it was perfect. We had a few bathroom stops, but other than that, it was street driving. We picked up Evans, and he finished the drive.
