Safari & Marathon

Wow - we're having the vacation of a lifetime! We just got back from our Safari in the Maasai Mara. I totally recommend it - it's like "The Lion King" in real life! We saw so many animals! We spent a lot of time tracking a pride of lions. We also saw cheetahs (and some baby cheetahs), leopards, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, a black rhino (very rare), elephants, thousands of wildebeests, gazelles, hyenas, elands, and a warthog (being gnawed on by lions - mmmm). John was fascinated by the lions, since "shumba" is his totem. We stayed in a beautiful resort with a swimming pool and all-you-can-eat buffets. It was cheaper than the rough-it-tent-cook-your-own-food package. Go figure. John, Rhonda and I had our own safari matatu (van) and driver to take us around the park each day. It was amazing fun. We also learned a lot about the Maasai culture. They wear red Maasai blankets, which actually look quite Scottish to us. And it's amazing to see this splash of red in the middle of this vast green/brown expanse. It made me nervous that they were herding cattle so close to the lions, but obviously they know what they're doing. It was explained to me that they're strong and thin from a diet of cow blood, milk and meat. We saw a jumping contest too. Did you know that male Maasai attractiveness is based on ability to jump high?

Now we're back in Nairobi. John ran the half marathon this morning. He was going to do the full, but the altitude and weather conditions are quite different here, so he made a wise decision to finish a bit early. Because of his last marathon time, he was placed in the "elite" section. He tried to go with the regular marathoners, but they wouldn't let him. He was quite easy to pick out of the crowd, which was nice for me. I think it's really cool that John ran the marathon in KENYA with all of these top runners. I must say, they are skinny and SO fast!