Wed Feb 15 Masai Mara to Nairobi

We woke up early for another game drive, quickly drank some coffee and headed out at about 6:30. Titus was determined to find lions this morning. The morning was beautiful with a magnificent sunrise over the Masai village then long shadows cast over the prairies. We ran into 3 male lions resting in the morning sun. They were beautiful. All of the animals we saw took our breath away. We could easily just watch them for hours, even the grazing cape buffalo that seemed to do nothing but eat and laze about were fascinating. We did a sort of park victory lap and headed back to camp.
We ate a modest breakfast, gathered our things and said goodbye to our new friends. We loaded up a Masai boy of about 14 going to Lake Nakuru. We had agreed to take him half way to where the road cut off. I don't think he has ever left his village and was obviously nervous. Though he didn't speak English he managed to point out his village, family and different things we passed along the way as we drove further from his home. The drive was very, very long. The bumpy road of eternity followed by long stretch of desert. We dropped the Masai boy in a strange town, you could tell he didn't want to leave or know where to go but all we could do was watch. We drove off, up out of the Rift Valley into Nairobi traffic and slums. I think I liked it better staring at baby elephants.
It was apparent Titus just wanted to be home. Overall we didn't think much of Titus. He knew the Mara well and could really find some animals but he was not very personable, burnt out and he clearly did not want to be stuck at some camp. Luckily we still had a good time, though we were relieved when we pulled up to our hotel and watched him pull away. Ah free of Titus!
The security around the hotel was excessive. It is located across the street from the Israeli embassy. The reception area and grounds of the hotel were beautiful. Our room...kinda crappy. It did the trick, hot shower, big bed but was pretty dumpy compared to the image to hotel puts out. We shared a pizza by the pool, walked to a local store for some laundry soap then bummed around our room for the night. We were pretty pooped from all the driving!