Pole to Pole

Day 97: The Masai Mara

Roars, splashes and hippo hoots mark the end of the night and I'm already awake when I hear the first human cry.

'Jambo!' comes from outside a nearby tent, followed by the sound of a door-flap being unzipped and bleary greetings from the occupants. It's six o'clock. There are no lie-ins on safari.

I'm Jambo-ed a minute or two later. A flask of tea, a plate of biscuits, and milk in a china jug are set down by the bed and hot water poured into the washing bowl outside.

Dressed in my Colpro safari outfit, looking and feeling like a cut-price David Attenborough, I set out at 6.45, with the sun struggling to make an impression on a cloudy lifeless sky.

We make our way along the damp uneven track from the riverside towards the tall slope of the escarpment, passing zebra, impala and a grazing warthog. Warthogs - ugly, endearing creatures - live in the remains of anthills into which they insert themselves backwards. For some reason this makes me even more fond of them.

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PALIN'S GUIDES

Series: Pole to Pole
Day: 97
Country/sea: Kenya
Place: Mara River
Book page no: 212

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Pole to Pole

Day 97: The Masai Mara

PALIN'S GUIDES

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