Everything the Light Touches // Maasai Mara, Kenya

When in Kenya, an absolute must-do is to go on a Safari. The vast savannah calls, and one must respond by hiring a tour guide to drive you from Nairobi to Maasai Mara, or "The Mara," globally famous for its extensive population of big cats and the Great Migration.

Wildebeests heading for Tanzania

Seven hours from Kenya's capital, Maasai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania. The two parks are one large area, separated only for people, not for animals. The Kenyan side is named after the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the land.

When we were researching safaris before leaving, we found that lodges inside the park were quite expensive, as were park entry tickets, $70/person/24 hours, if you stay inside the park ($80 if you don't). Don't let anyone fool you into believing that Kenya is cheap – it's not.

But we found a great deal with Africa Celebrity Tours (through Safari Bookings) that included roundtrip transportation from Nairobi to Maasai Mara in a private tour van, park entrance, and accommodation in a beautiful lodge that overlooks the reserve, Mara Engai. Bootstrapping the trip and staying in a small camp outside the park (others have written how here), would have been almost as expensive. Muli, our driver from Africa Celebrity Tours, took incredible care of us during our entire trip.

As we pulled into the park, the first thing we noticed was how flat it was. You know that scene in Lion King, where Mufasa takes Simba up a cliff, and says "Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom," and you see a vast, flat land that stretches for miles and miles? That's what Maasai Mara looks like.

This flat land, where you can see up to 100 miles away, makes animals easy to spot in the distance, especially larger ones like elephants and giraffes.

But also more plentiful ones, such as zebras and gazelle. When we first drove in, we saw a couple zebra, and just wanted to stop and take photos of them! But our driver assured us that we would see plenty more, and he was right – by the time we crossed the park and made our way up to our lodge, we had seen zebras like they were cows in central California.

Safaris typically take place at sunset and sunrise, when the animals are most active. And we went on one right after we arrived at the park, our first sunset safari!

Our second morning, we came across a pride of lions, and I realized just how lazy male lions really are.

While the male was lying around and yawning, the females were out stalking the antelope.

We rounded out that game drive by coming across a cheetah, my favorite animal. Fun fact, I've wanted a pet cheetah since 3rd grade.

That afternoon, we went on a drive and were headed for the Mara River, in search of crocodiles and hippos. It had rained the night before, and we were heading into increasingly wet ground. Our van was not as well-suited for mud as a Land Rover would have been, and our driver began to get nervous – with good reason. A minute after Michia spotted a giant puddle, we stopped moving, despite an aggressively revving engine.

It took a couple minutes of rocking the car and trying to force it forward before we admitted that we were, indeed, stuck. So we decided to back up, with me driving the car as our driver pushed from the front. Unfortunately, this only got us even more stuck, in a spot of deeper mud.

We ended up flagging down a British man, who had configured his own car to be able to handle the safari roads. It was a beautiful Jeep, and he gave us a beer as we hopped into his car with his family.

He took us to the nearest gate, where someone from our hotel could find us.

We get back to the lodge and I begin to feel unwell. I eat a bit for dinner, but spend the evening with an awful stomach ache. Mara Engai provided water pouches filled with hot water to keep you warm under the blanket (an incredibly wonderful experience), and I used this to heat my stomach and calm it. I toss and turn with chills and cold sweats until I finally fall asleep.

How I felt

The next morning, we're supposed to leave at 8am (instead of 7am) because our guide has to get the van out of the mud. But when I wake up at 6, I feel utterly awful. I have a fever and headache, am in and out of the bathroom, and can't drink water without feeling nauseous. I remembered eating raw vegetables for lunch the day before, and am pretty sure I got food poisoning.

Michia, fortunately, has antibiotics, which are supposed to be taken with food, but I can't force feed myself more than a couple biscuits. Weak and shaking, I alternate between crawling to the bathroom and lying in bed. Finally, it's time to leave, but there is no way I can make the seven hour car ride back to Nairobi. Making it to the lodge entrance from our room was hard enough.

The only alternative is to see the doctor at a nearby lodge, Mara Serena. We drive the hour it takes to get there, only to find both the primary and secondary doctor not there, despite having called ahead of time. With few options left, it was decided that we catch the next available flight back to the city, effectively being airlifted out.

Praise Jesus, there were 2 available seats on a flight that left within minutes of us arriving. The turbulence + nausea was awful, but we made it! And when we landed, Muli had hired a driver to take us to the hospital immediately. Once there, I was ushered in, and immediately seen, while overhearing that there was a long line of waiting patients.

I answered a few questions about what I had eaten for lunch the day before, then had an IV inserted for hydration. Getting an IV drip had always been on my bucket list (don't ask me why), so it was kind of cool to mentally check that one off the list.

I was in the hospital for about 4 hours, and fell asleep for about an hour of it at least. My fiancée was so patient and sat with me, and one of the housemates I had just met came all the way out with his friend, just to make sure I was okay. Muli had called everyone I knew in Nairobi to ensure that I was taken care of. It was so sweet of him. 💜

3 IV bags later, I was released from the hospital, feeling better, walking upright, and with a lot more color in my face. It was a night and day transformation.

Maasai Mara truly is a life changing experience that you have to experience for yourself. Special thanks to Muli from Africa Celebrity Tours for making our experience so special! We took many more photos, and they will be posted soon!