The 7th New Wonder of the World - Maasai Mara

The New wonders are separate from the conventional Seven Wonders of the world known for centuries and which are classified by UNESCO. The Maasai Mara and Serengeti and the wildebeest migration have recently been classified in this chosen few for its uniqueness of the area and the preservation it provides to so many species living in harmony and boy did I stay in wonder over all the the things I saw on my two day safari. We took off from Downtown Nairobi in a small tour bus. Our crew included a couple from the UK, an aid worker from the UK working in Malawi, a Kenyan from the Maasai tribe who had never been to see the Maasis Mara, an American educator living in Cote D'Ivoire, and yours truly. The long ride out, like most in my journey through AFRICA was both challenging thanks to poor road conditions, and extremely scenic. Very near to our arrival, we stopped at an amazing lookout point of the Great Rift Valley which stretches 3700 miles from Syria to Mozambique - a great photo op and pitstop. There is something about staring out upon a natural expanse that seems to go on forever, that calms the soul while reminding me of the greatness of God. On from there, we marveled at the Serengeti desert until finally arriving at our Safari camp. My two nights at Masaai Mara would be spent in a 'pimped out' tent that included a hot shower and Western style toilet (as opposed to African style squatty potties) with plumbing and electric outlets - my kind of camping! We quickly settled in and jumped into our Safari style van with a roof raising top ideal for viewing the game while standing and driving. The weather that day was most cloudy with drizzling rain throughout. We started our safari at the Maasi village near the reserve to learn about the people who inhabited the land. We were greeted by a Maasai warrior dressed in a traditional red patterned cloak who began to give us a tour of the small village which was lined with mud houses. We met the children and then about 10 men lined up for a show of dance. The dance included chanting and jumping and was a competition and show of strength. The man who was able to jump the highest was considered the most "able" mate. Next up were the ladies, and the four of us in our group were invited to join them. We participated in a series of hand movements while standing one next to another and circling about. We ended our one hour tour by visting the home of some of the villagers. We walked inside to complete darkness apart from some very slight light showing through a small window/opening and learned of the famous Maasai warrior right of passage. When a boy reaches the ages of 18-24 and he is ready to enter into manhood, he joins a group of 20-30 other boys to go on a lion hunt to kill a lion to bring back to the village. The boys cannot return until they are successful in their intention. So, they take their spears and head out into the wild. The boy whose spear is the first to pierce the lion is considered the winner. He will keep the lion skins for himself and have his choice of the ladies for his wife. The other boys will follow in assisting to kill the lion and when they return to their homes, they have now been endowed with manhood and will be able to marry. On our way out of the village, I purchased a Maasai blanket from one of the men as a keepsake of my time, and we all hopped back into the van to begin our gamewatching. Luckily, the animals were still out in full display despite the rain. First, a herd of wilderbeast caught our eyes, followed by water buffalo, ostriches, gazelle, and zebras. It was truly amazing to find all of these species cohabitating in peace so close to one another in a relatively small expanse. I was mostly hoping to spot a lion and I got my wish tenfold. The first "king-of-the-jungle" we saw was doing his afternoon stretching. He was yawning and contorting his legs in what almost looked to be a yoga session. Upward facing lion pose...now there's a new idea to implement for all the yoga lovers out there! Not far from "yoga lion" was another male and they eventually met up and walked away from our sight together in stride. It was a majestic picture. The next lion we saw was female and she was perched atop a small hill. We watched as she opened her mouth wide as a greeting to her onlookers. Finally, at the end of our time, we came upon a pride of lions. Here we saw about 4 mama lions and six cubs just lion around (pun anyone?). There they were relaxing in the middle of an enclosement of small bushes. Along with ours, there were about 5 other safari buses that had come upon the scene and were parked as people took photos. There we were staring at the lions and off in the distance thanks to the slight rains, was a double rainbow over Masaai Mara - truly breathtaking. As the sun started setting, the buses started leaving one by one. One of the vehicles that was parked very close to the lions containing a family with two small boys had become stuck in the mud and was the tires were spinning while while the driver was trying to create enough momentum to get out while at the same time digging himself in further. Our driver stayed behind to wait and see if there was any assistance that would need to be offered. Nobody would be able to get out of the vehicle lest they be eaten for dinner by a protective mama lion, and if another vehicle tried to push the stuck bus out, they were most likely to also get stuck. But there was no other choice, an attempt had to be made. So our driver reved his engine and drove towards the back of the vehicle. We were all left in suspense as our vehicle made contact and started spinning wheels and applying pressure. One minute later, the stuck bus started slowly moving and just seconds after we both found ourselves in the clear alive and in one piece! An incredible sightseeing topped off with an extreme adrenaline rush - truly a wonder of my world!