Following breakfast at our hotel we depart on the five-hour long drive through the Great Rift Valley to the Masai Mara Game Reserve and our accommodations for the next three nights at the Mara River Camp. On the way we will stop to view past work activities of a Miami University Peace Corps volunteer in the regional center of Narok and get our first sunset drive through Masaai lands to the Isuria escarpment where the camp resides along the river. We awaken before dawn to the morning chorus of birds, and are soon out in the reserve doing just what we came to Africa to do - find, photograph, observe and learn about the plants and wildlife of this dynamic savanna ecosystem. Our objective is to gain an understanding of the conditions and adaptations that permit specific groups of organisms to thrive in this environment. Afternoon discussions focus on the diversity of the plant and animal communities found here, and some very important relationships between the land and the Maasai people.
Maasai life revolves around their herds of cattle and other livestock.
Their diet consists of milk, meat and blood. Hides provide clothing, containers, mattresses for their bedding and sandals for their feet. Cow dung is used to plaster the walls of their loaf shaped homes and cattle are used to pay fines, establish marriage bonds and as sacrifices to their god Enkai. Overnights, Mara River Camp. Our morning game drive gives us a final opportunity to spend time with the wild herds of this special area.