Day 9 (July 24) - MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE (Side Trip to Hell's Gate National Park) - After breakfast we continue south, pausing briefly to take in the extraordinary beauty of a tiny National Park known as Hell's Gate. Seldom visited by overseas visitors, this is one of only two parks in the country where hiking is permitted, thereby allowing us the unique opportunity to explore and photograph its landscape and wildlife from a new perspective.

Upon entering the park's boundaries, one is instantly taken by a graphic landscape reminiscent of the American Southwest. Towering volcanic cliffs and pinnacles protrude from the surrounding grasslands. The most dramatic of these pinnacles, known as Fischer's Tower, stands almost one-hundred feet in height and acts as a lounging bed for scores of furry rock hyraxes. We will pause at the picnic tables located around the tower's base to enjoy a packed lunch and grab some shots of the social hyraxes relaxing nearby. From there we will continue to the center of the park where we will enjoy a hike into a stunning limestone gorge. While in the park we can expect to photograph baboons, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and many species of birds. This park will also provide us our only opportunity to photograph the small klipspringer, a unique antelope with hooves designed especially for climbing vertical cliff faces.

From Hell's Gate we continue in a southwesterly direction. Late afternoon will find us deep in the heart of the legendary Maasai Tribe's territory. It is here that we reach our final park destination and what promises to be the pinnacle of our photographic safari - the Masai Mara Game Reserve, host to the ultimate wildlife spectacle known as the Great Wildebeest Migration! Though migration times can fluctuate, late July generally affords the best chance to witness this unbelievable wonder of nature. With luck our entrance into the park should take us through thick traffic jams created by the convergence of hundreds-of-thousands of noisily grunting wildebeests. Mixed into the crowds are thousands of zebras and gazelles. We should emerge from the jams just in time to check into our lodge at the Mara Serena. Located on the western end of the park, our lodge is situated atop a high plateau overlooking the Mara River and the crowded plains below. This lodge, though remote, places us within a short drive of the river, guaranteeing us easy access to the heart of the migratory action. This evening we will settle in and enjoy a delicious dinner, after which traditional Maasai dancers will entertain us. Overnight Mara Serena Lodge (B, L, D)