Maasai Mara

My second trip of April began in Maasai Mara - Mom and Dad came along for the ride, and it was awesome to be able to show 'em the country I've been living in.

Maasai Mara was gorgeous - exactly like all the movies and stories of Africa.  All the wildlife, the savannah, and all that jazz.  

These buffaloes numbers in the thousands - they were all over a specific area in Maasai Mara.

A couple of hyenas waiting for a meal - hyenas do not make the kill themselves, but wait for the lions and cheetahs and then get second dibs.

Speaking of cheetahs - we saw this one along with another one right after they made the kill - our driver started driving like crazy after he got a phone call, and we got there and saw like ten or fifteen matatus / vans with people looking at this sight.  The cats were utterly gorgeous, and apparently my mom's favorite animal (that was news to me and dad).

Mama lioness with eleven cubs - the lions travel in packs, so there were actually three lionesses and they all shared the responsibility of raising these eleven little cubs.

I love this picture - the lioness in the foreground, with the elephant in the background, just hanging around - it's the way life is out there. 

I have so many more photos of various wildlife, and it was hard to pick just a few photos, especially because of the fact that the photos does not do it any justice.  It was more beautiful than I expected, and it was just a nice start to our trip.