The Blake School Kenya Blog

Leaving Masai Mara

Rand Harrington — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:42:48 +0000

This morning we are flying from the Masai Mara back to Nairobi. We will spend the afternoon doing a bit of shopping and then we board our flight to Amsterdam at 10:20 tonight. We are headed home with lots of stories and loads of photographs, as well as a new perspective on service to others. Thanks to all for an amazing trip.

Our Wild Safari

Rand Harrington — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:22:23 +0000

During our trip in Kenya we had the privilege of being able to go on some amazing safaris. Both at Lake Nakuru and in the Masai Mara, we got to witness beautiful landscapes, birds and animals. Some of the animals we saw include…
-Rhinos
-Elephants
-Hyenas
-Lions
-Gazelle (both Grants and Thompson)
-Cape Buffalo
-Jackals
-Waterbuck
-Impalas
-Giraffe
-Wildebeest
-Eland
-Topi
-Zebra
-Dik Dik
-Warthog
-Rock Hydrax
-And many different types of birds
My favorite safari however was on the morning of the 27th. We got up at about 5:50am, drank our hot chocolate and hopped into our safari jeeps, hoping that we would see something interesting. Within the first 10 minutes we saw a giant pack of hyenas (which are one of my favorite animals). We left the hyenas and headed to a spot where we had seen a lioness eating a wildebeest the previous day. After being there for about 15 minutes, we realized that there was a couple of cubs in the brush with their mother. I managed to get a picture of the two babies before they ducked away from view. It was about then that we realized that there were a few hyenas that were slowly walking closer and closer to where the lions rested. Soon, the youngest hyena disappeared from my jeeps view, one of the lioness got up and also disappeared from view. Suddenly we heard the scariest screams ever. Our jeep drove around the brush just in time to see the two lioness chasing off the group of hyenas. It turns out that the lioness attacked the little hyena and the hyenas mother attacked the lioness, who turned on the mother hyena and attacked her, finally (with the help of the other lioness) chasing off all the hyenas. After that exciting event we drove and found a male lion. He was absolutely beautiful and didn’t even seem to care that we were there. One of the jeeps even blew a tire and had to change it only about 20 meters away from him. After the lion we headed back for breakfast. That was the most exciting safari we had the whole trip. We saw tons of awesome animals and we even had some action.
This trip truly was an amazing experience and I am very glad that I had the privilege to go on it.
-Sydney Armstrong

Lioness chasing a hyena

A few more photos…

Rand Harrington — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:23:00 +0000

Max, Calder, Spencer and Jack

Nakuru Safari

Human Flamingos!

Dancing at LOH

Erin reading with LOH kids

Perrin with friends

Afternoon Safari at Masai Mara

Rand Harrington — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:47:33 +0000

A rainy afternoon drive around the Mara. Lots of baby animals!

Mother elephant with infant

New baby Giraffe with Mother

Mother elephant with infant and children

Morning Safari in Masai Mara

Rand Harrington — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 10:44:44 +0000

Wow! Quite a morning…we left at 6:30 AM (before breakfast). The first thing we encountered was a large pack of hyenas. We then returned to where we saw the lion yesterday. This time there was another female lion with 2 cubs. As we watched, the hyenas approached. Right in front of our eyes we saw the lioness attack the hyenas! We then saw the male lion approach – he passed right by our jeeps. I will upload a video and some pictures.

Video: Lion Kill (lion versus hyena)

Click on link to view video from Jack’s camera and Henry’s flip camera!

Erin and Perrin watching male lion pass jeep.

Lioness attacking a hyena

Male Lion- near where we are changing a flat tire!

Zebra and Giraffes in the Masai Mara during morning safari

Arrived at Masai Mara today.

Rand Harrington — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:03:32 +0000

We left Nakuru Park this morning and drove to Masai Mara (about a 6+ hour ride). Kids were tired, but we all went out on Safari this afternoon. Saw a lion eat a wildebeast! More later (slow connection).

Nakuru NP

Rand Harrington — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:32:08 +0000

Nakuru Group

Nakura Rainbow with Henry and Spencer

Nakuru Rhino

Leaving LOH and headed to Nakura NP

Rand Harrington — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:23:11 +0000

Goodbye to our friends at LOH! Many tears…

LOH Group

Goodbye to Sera

More from LOH

Rand Harrington — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:12:43 +0000

Today is our last day at LOH. We plan to say goodbye in the morning and then we are off to Nakura Park. Today we will be planting trees and playing games. This afternoon the girls have prepared a presentation (song and dance) for the students.

Dancing!

Alex and Margaret

Greeting from Light of Hope Children’s Home

Rand Harrington — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:59:54 +0000

Greeting from Light of Hope. Our days are full- reading, teaching science classes, gardening, painting and playing with the children. The students will post their stories when we get to Nakuru in a few days. All are well!

LOH group picture

Light of Hope Children with Path to Peace T-Shirts

Overlooking the Rift Valley