【Original Graphics】
August 4 Nairobia Masai Mara Wildlife Sanctuary
Depart at seven o'clock and go to Masai Mara, a six-hour drive. At six o'clock in Nairobi, it was cloudy and cool. Heading southwest, there are few pedestrians out of the city. The road is lined with trees on both sides. The direction of the Kenguo car is right, and the car is left. It takes a quarter of an hour to drive to the suburbs, with many simple bungalows. Or mixed with two or three floors. Blacks are heavy on color, and the roof is red, green and blue. Half an hour by car. Light rain. The surrounding area is misty with fine fog, and the road is gradually reversed, and the road condition is similar to the county and rural roads in the backward areas of the mainland. The tour guide said that light rain often falls here in the morning and stops when it reaches the middle of the day. Although the road is poor, there are local sections, but there is a meter-high cement fence in the middle. After 40 minutes of driving, the road surface is like a turtle's back, and the off-road vehicle swings to the left. Wear a seat belt, just in case, the rain will stop and the fog will gradually disperse, and the left side of the car is the East African Rift Valley, and get out of the car at 7:54 to take pictures. (THE RIFT VALLEY IS 9600KM LONG, STRETCHING FROM EAST AFRICA TO JORDAN.) Walking on the mountain, there are long-tailed monkeys jumping on the road, as if entering a no-man's land. The idyllic cottage in the rift valley is more than 100 meters away from the mountain road.
Landforms of the Great Rift Valley
Photograph the scenery of the Great Rift Valley
The mountain road descends, to the flat place, the mountain is far away. There is a lot of corn in the countryside, and there are unknown plants. Like grass in the desert, crawling on the ground. There are patches of shrubs, two or three feet tall, resembling wild date trees. Occasionally see antelope among the trees, leisurely foraging, here seems to be no natural enemies disturbing, can be described as the antelope's "holy place among sheep". Floating clouds connect to the sky, clear green city meets the barren city, birds sing treetops, flat sky and high earth. It's a natural and pleasant place!
This section of the road is in good condition, the road is as straight as a hair, the car is no longer bumpy, sit in the car and watch the scenery on both sides. Eye distances can reach several kilometers. After walking on the ground for nearly an hour, at nine o'clock, the car went up the hill again. Enter a new round of flat land, parallel to the previous one, but there is a height difference of tens of meters. The sky was cloudy and rainy, the mist returned, and only closed the sun to nourish the spirit. Drive uphill and downhill, into the hilly area, and take a break in a market town at ten o'clock. Craft shops are mostly wood carvings, African style, portraits are exaggerated, lifelike, black is called black wood, I don't know the truth or fake, see more and buy less. At ten o'clock, I set off again, and it was three hours to travel, about two and a half hours to drive.
The road is still good, the houses on the side of the road are more rudimentary, mostly using asbestos boards as walls, flat roofs are also covered with this board, low and narrow, black men and women on the side of the house actually show joy, not embarrassed by the environment. It's really different people's interpretation of "happiness" very different.
There are many cactus plants along the way, and the bad road starts at 11:10, dusty, and only wearing a mask is slightly blocked. The leaves on both sides of the trail are covered with dust, and at 13:00 arrive at the hotel in the reserve. After lunch, go to see the animals, the land in the reserve is flat, the grass is yellow, there are few green trees, it is not a green plain as expected. Most places are not as deep as the grass, and some have already seen the grass, but this is a paradise for many herbivores. Along the way, you will see herds of antelope, herds of zebras, maverick giraffes, baboons playing with each other, elephants with their husbands and sons, bison cooling under the trees, wild boar couples scurrying around, pig sisters, and long-tailed monkeys climbing flexibly at the end of trees. The jeep stops and watches while driving, afraid of being attacked by wild animals, tourists can only take pictures in the car, but sometimes they are close to these animals and can see them very well. The most exciting thing was to see a male lion eating a wildebeest, although the car was very close and many people photographed it, but this beast king was still calm and calm, busy with his own work, and disdained the people who looked at it, as if to say. "I am the Beast King, who am I afraid of?"!
(Unfortunately, many photos are lost in storage, which is a pain in my heart.) ）
Hippos in the Mara River
Two hours drive to the banks of the Dermara River. Wilbeest and zebras are accustomed to crossing the river here, and recently many cars with tourists are waiting here every day, hoping to see the spectacular scene of the wildebeest army crossing the river. Yes, black-pressed patches, as many as thousands, stood there, as if waiting for orders. This wildebeest may also be the same as in early human society, with clans, tribes, and leaders, and it is very capable of forbidden orders. There are also groups of wildebeest marching on the banks of the river in the distance, and why they only walk on the bank instead of wading across the river may be that the wildebeest think that the good time has not yet arrived.
Access to the animal sanctuary
The surface of the Mara River in this section is not wide, less than 200M, but the water is turbulent, and dozens of vultures rest on the rocks on the opposite bank, they are waiting to eat the carrion of the wildebeest that was killed by the crocodile when crossing the river, and there are floating and sinking objects in the water, it is the crocodile that is tearing the dead wildebeest, which is the unlucky egg in the wildebeest herd that crossed the river not long ago!
Zebras cross the river
Seven or eight off-road vehicles with dozens of tourists quietly waiting by the river. I hope to see that exciting moment, when a European resembling Marx erects a tripod on an open jeep, waiting for him with long guns and short cannons. During the waiting period, I saw a zebra crossing the river alone, only to see that it was not in a hurry and moved forward calmly. It seems that there is a deadly demon in the water who will attack it at any time. The first horse crossed the river safely, followed by five more horses. Herds of wildebeest wandered on the shore and watched, patrolling and not daring to cross. It is said that wildebeest has a habit of not daring to take the lead easily, and if a wildebeest dares to stand up for the pioneer and leap into the water, the one behind will not hesitate to follow, even if there is obvious danger ahead, it will move forward without hesitation. That's how those heart-stirring scenes were formed. This is true of wildebeests, but not of humans. Today, no brave person is willing to come forward, and there is no movement until the red sun sinks. Only the feathers returned.
A wildebeest on the opposite bank of the river
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