THE MASAI MARA- Camp Intrepid

Tuesday morning we left early for the Masai Mara, one of the biggest and best game parks in Africa. Eleven mission couples, and seven visiting family members from the U.S., loaded into a bus and a van and drove to the airport, which was small, but still much nicer than most we've seen.

Our plane was a tiny, 12-passenger, prop airplane. Can you say terror?! I mustered my courage, found the air sick bag and off we went!

The trip to the Mara was supposed to be 45 min., but we made an unexpected stop at another park camp. Does Rule #1 apply in all of Africa? We just let passengers off and then took off again. Both places we landed were dirt landing strips in the middle of the savannah! I must admit thinking that I might have to live the rest of my life in the Mara if going back on those little planes was the only way home. But we made it safe and sound and it was well worth the trip.

Camp Intrepid was wonderful. It was surrounded by an electric fence to keep animals out and there were paths to our "tents," the dining area, pool, gift shop, patios and other locations. I kept wondering if we could we still be in Africa? They served cold juice and cookies on our arrival and from then on the service was first class. It was a beautiful place, with helpful staff, good food, nice "tents". They even brought hot chocolate to our "tent" in the morning before breakfast and put hot water bottles in our bed at night so that it was nice and cozy when we got home at the end of the day. I did wish that they'd have warned me about the hot water bottle. When I climbed in bed, I thought I was going to be sharing the bed with some fuzzy,warm, but wild creature.

We did stay in a "tent,"but it was no ordinary one like the ones we camp in. It had hardwood floors, nice furniture, a modern, clean bathroom and shower, a pleasant porch with a view of the river and was generally wonderful. The only thing that would suggest that we were in the wilds was the reminded us to keep the tent zipped and put the mat against the opening to keep out baboons. None came, but we did have bush babies (tiny, nocturnal primates) flying around and landing on the tent the first night.

They always sat on the rafters in the dining room at dinner time. The first night one scampered down, grabbed a roll off our table, headed back to the rafters and munched happily for the rest of the evening.

Surrounding the camp is the Masai Mara. It's 1,510 sq. km. of open savanahs, hills, and rivers that are home to thousands of animals, who live in their natural habitat.

They live free and compete for territory, food and survival, just as nature intends. It's a fascinating place to view exotic animals in great numbers and varieties.