04.06.2006
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Written Diary Tim Metz <tim@outofafrika.org>
Simba & Friends - Masai Mara (Kenya)
Throughout all these diaries of the past 6 months, one thing is obviously missing. It's Kenya's most famous pull, attracting around a million tourists every year. I'm talking about wildlife.
On a stroll through downtown Nairobi you can't miss them; cars full of tourists going on safari. They move around either in white vans (deluxe matatu's) with expandable roof or big jeeps for the ones with more cash to spend. Often these people seem to think they're already in a zoo when driving around the capital, their heads peaking out of the roof to film everything for the folks back home. From within the safety of the van, the adventure starts from Nairobi and can last from 3 up to 21 days! The latter option takes you all over the country, from Masai Mara to Turkana and Mombassa.
As I'm not a very rich man at the moment, I didn't have a choice but to go for the 3 day trip to Masai Mara in a pimped matatu. We left Nairobi around 10:00 on thursday and by 16:00 we were doing our first "game drive". This basically meant chasing some lions or elephants across the beautiful plains of the Mara, together with around 15 other white vans. To make things even more adventurous, the drivers were in touch with each other through radio's. When a member of the "Big Five" is spotted somewhere, you can be assured the other cars will arrive on the scene within minutes. I felt even more sorry for us humans when I found out it was only low season now, within weeks the visitor numbers will steeply increase. I can already the problem of traffic jams arising on the Masai Mara in the near future...
Although the whole "adventure" made me feel ashamed to be there more often than not, it was still a very beautiful experience. Seeing a family of twenty lions crossing these vast fields against a rising sun is a breathtaking sight, even when there's a couple of white vans behind them. The same goes for the grace of a giraffe or the grandness of an elephant. I could watch them for hours, if only the crackling noise of that radio in the background would die off a bit.
Dreaming up my own ideal safari experience, I would want to cross the Mara on foot, together with some Masai and their cattle. No cars, other tourists and pre-packed lunches, just us and the savanna surrounding us. Slightly dangerous, but therefore a real adventure in which you truly get to experience nature and its inhabitants.
Back to the real world. All in all I can recommend a trip like this to anyone. Seeing these magnificent animals in such a marvelous environment is definitely worth it, even though you'll have to swallow all the tourist-crap. However, don't forget to search for the symbolism behind all this as well; there is some sad irony to be found here.
We have come to a point now where we have to travel halfway across the planet to look at scenes of how the world once was. The van and its occupants represent everything we stand for, the lion lying in front of it obviously personifies the power and beauty of nature. The security of the car is a man-made invention dating from the last decade, the king of the animals has always been The King and remains untouched as ever. We jump around like idiots and franticly grab for our camera's upon seeing this beast, the lion just sits there and doesn't seem to care about the madness going on around him. Us tourists smash each other's head in to get a good picture, the lion just looks around and scratches his head. He keeps wondering when God will realize it was a mistake to give these monkeys cars!
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