Being in the Mara had already gone beyond my expectaions, staying with the Maasai People was great - but things were about to get a whole lot better. Almost as soon as we had driven into the National Reserve I spotted an Elephant feeding from a tree nearby - we headed straight over and sat watching it until it decided it had had enough of that tree and wandered off. Little did I know at that point that it was to be the first of many Elephant sightings we would make over the coming days. As we moved further into the reserve we hit herds of Zebra - not a new animal for this trip by any means, but up until this point we had only seen them in small groups of maybe 6 or 7. Here though on the plains they were gathered in much greater numbers. It was amazing actually how well they blended into the grass, their stipes make for excellent camouflage! It was here too that we first spotted the Wildebeest. A very strange looking animal, gathered also in vast numbers. Although on the first day we saw a lot of them, it was not until day two in the reserve that we really got a sense of quite how many there were. Looking out over the plains there were litterally thousands of them walking towards the Sarangetti on the annual migration. The plains of the Mara set a completely different scene than we had been used to thus far. A never ending stretch of dry grassland leading out to the horizon, it brought back memories of the prarie lands of central Canada. Although here there would be a lone acacia tree stuck out in the middle of nowhere to break up the skyline a little. And under it, or in it, we found a whole host of different creatures, from vultures to eagles, lions to cheetas. The Cheetas were perhaps my favourite of the whole trip, and we were incredibly luck to see them. It was on our drive out of the park on the first day that our driver spotted them and headed over. We were amazed to find a mother with three cubs sheltering under a tree. An absolutely beautiful animal that I could have watched for hours, but with the light fading we had to make our way back to camp. It was on that journey back that I took the sunset pictures - a more impressive sunset I have never seen!

On our second day in the reserve we once again saw elephants and more lions too. It is at this time of year that the lions can feast - with the tired wildebeest making their lengthy journey across the plains they make for easy prey. More than once we saw lions sheltering in the shade of the trees with wildebeest only a couple of hundred yards away. The lions didn't care at all - they had afterall probably killed a fair few during the night. We saw evidence later that day when we came across a group of vultures picking the remains out of a Wildebeest carcus - not the nicest sight in the world it must be said, and they really were going for it - actually getting inside the skin to pick at the meat from the inside! Another of my favourite, most memorable sights was seeing a family of Elephant wandering across the flat grasses. We watched them first of all feeding at a bunch of bushes, and then moving on to have a mud bath and then forming a line and heading off across the plains. All happening right in front of our eyes! I was amazed at just how close we were able to get to these wild animals, however the elephants did start to get defensive as we moved closer - especially as they had young with them - a few ears flared out, and couple of loud snorts showed us who was boss. Knowing that a large elephant could topple our truck with ease we decided not to go any closer, and just watched as they strode off into the distance.

We headed lastly for the Mara River where we saw a large group of hippos wallowing in the water and sun bathing on the banks - they too had young with them, and we were only allowed to go down to the river back with an armed guard. He stopped us getting too close to the river not only because he didn't want to shoot a hippo, but also becuase there were crocodiles in there - everyone stepped back a few paces when he said that! Later we were to see one sat waiting in the river as the Wildebeest gathered on the banks. Having crossed over into Tanzania briefly we sat on the river side for ages just waiting, hoping that we would suddenly see the stampeed and the river crossing. Alas it was not to be, and infact our driver told us that in all the years he had been working here he had not once seen a crossing. Its just amazing then that the camera crews have ever captured it! I cannot guess at how many long hours they have had to sit and wait at the river side for just a minute or two of film. Unfortunatley I will just have to turn on my television to watch the awesome sight of a river crossing!

Apart from out truck falling to pieces on the road back to Nairobi, and our loss of the cooker and number of other essential bits, the whole trip passed without any major problems. As I headed back to Nairobi I sat in the truck in a quiet daze looking back at the last three months. Thinking about where I had been, who I had met and all the wonderful things I had done along the way. It still strikes me as a little hard to believe quite how much I did, and how friendly the people of the world really are. Travelling the world alone was easily the scariest yet most enjoyable and rewarding things I have ever done, and I cannot wait until I can pack up my belongings in a bag and head off to unknown lands again. The kindness of stangers is luring me.......