Are there still MORE animals?

We were in the Mara for three days. So, we saw a great many animals, and we saw most of them many times a day. We went on game drive two to three times a day for a couple of hours each time. That's a lot of wildlife. We learned so many things. I kept thinking how educational and wonderful this would be for our grandkids. They would have loved every minute of it! But then, so did we!

We weren't too much excited about birds, although there were numerous kinds to see and some were very colorful and their songs were beautiful heard across the savanna. We did see two or three varieties that interested us. Everybody loves to see the strange looking ostrich, right?

Ostrich

They are the largest bird of all birds. The ones in the Mara spread their wings, which are much larger than I had thought. They just wandered around among the other animals and paid no to anybody.

We also saw the heaviest flying bird in the world.

Kori Buster

They can be 2-3 feet tall and weigh between 25-44 lbs. When a male is courting a female he puffs himself up to look quite different.

Eagles

We also saw a tree full of eagles. Some flew away as our land-rover approached. They looked different than the American Eagle, but were still beautiful in flight.

Secretary Birds

These birds are named Secretary Birds because they look a secretary all dressed up in her black stockings and high-heeled shoes. She is wearing makeup and has her hair styled in a fancy up-do with pencil stuck in it. They 'strut' around looking like a fancy secretary.

Elephants

Elephants were plentiful in the Mara. We saw herds of elephants every day. The first one we saw up close was "The Saggy, Baggy Elephant" from the Golden Book of the same name. He was old and the driver was somewhat wary of him.

When he approached the land rover down the path from us, the drivers didn't waste a minute getting away from there.

One day we saw a large family of elephants out in the grasslands. There were two different sizes of babies. We watched them for a long time. They are very interesting animals.

It's true that elephants never forget.

Aggry told us that babies are under one year old if they can still stand under their Mom. They do it to protect the baby from preditors and the sun. A baby's skin is very thin and sensitive.

Elephants are very attentive and nurturing parents.

Aggry said the other elephant baby would be more than four years old since he was too big to stand under Mom and yet big enough to be out in the sunlight of the grasslands.

Crocodiles

In the murky water of an inlet to one of the rivers we saw crocodiles. There was a large group of them, but most stayed under the water. are certainly menacing creatures. They will attack almost anything.

Zebra

Each one is uniquely stripped. There is more than one kind of Zebra, but these Masai Zebra are the only kind in the Mara.

The most surprising thing to me about the game drives was how much I enjoyed just driving through the Mara. It was a very quiet, peaceful place. Just driving in the calm and beauty of that enormous open land was a treat, even without the animals. Thanks to a flat tire that delayed our return to camp, we even saw a sunset on the savanna. Sadly, these pictures don't do justice to the beauty of this place.

At another devotional by the Randalls, we sang "How Great Thou Art." That song truly testifies of exactly what I thought all day as we traversed the Mara. I will think of this place whenever I hear that song in the future.

The quiet of the savanna, the waving grasses, the unique trees standing alone in the middle of the open plains and the wide Africa sky made it a perfect place to relax and enjoy God's creations. Every minute of it was a delightful!

It was magnificent!