This was our tent. Not exactly roughing it, but it was comfortable. Here's Emily studying the bird book.

These yellow stork's were in the tree outside our tent.

And this was our shower. There is nothing better than an outdoor shower.

These are elands. They are HUGE! If you've read Guns Germs and Steal, he mentions people trying to domesticate them. You can see why they didn't succeed.

We woke up early on the second day for a forming game drive. We weren't expecting how cold it would be. Living in Kenya for too long makes you very unprepared for the cold.

Dawn over the savanna. Dawn should always come with zebras.

We kept driving and came across a pack of hyenas. They aren't very popular, but they're pretty cool. This group was just prowling around looking for something to scavenge.

It was still cold, but our guide brought coffee, which was lovely.

An Emily loves coffee.

Toward the end of the first evening, we spotted a group of cheetahs. There was a mother with her two almost full grown cubs. We interupted hunt, so the decided to play instead.

The thought we were pretty luck to spot them.

Then they decided to come investigate.

They weren't afraid of the car

The cubs started fighting, and acting like a couple of cats.

To keep an eye on them, the mother decided to jump up on the bonnet.

For those familiar with Kenya, the Masai Mara looks a lot like other parts of the country, but for reasons I still not sure about, there is an especially high density of animals here. These next few photos give a sense of the landscape. Lots of grassland with patches of wooded areas. It reminds us a lot of eastern Oregon and Washington.

Unfortunately there are a lot of truck tracks. It's fun to just take off across the bush, but when it's wet, it really leaves a mark.

These are topis, funny looking antelope that look like they're wearing blue jeans.

...and they hop!

This is a very large eagle, probably a tawny eagle. The bird nerdiness is in fine form on this trip.

Oh look, there's an elephant.

He's looking at us. How nice.

An he's even posing for a photo. Good thing he's not too close.

Spoke too soon, he's pretty close now. The guide said he was just moving downhill, but it felt a lot like he was charging us.