Earth Off Trail

One of my favorite “off-trail” hikes was within the Sarova Mara compound in Masai Mara, Kenya. I put off-trail in quotes because the people who run the safari camp strongly discourage you from actually going off-trail. That is for good reason! It is highly likely that you will be eaten if you are walking about by yourself. The Sarova Mara compound is surrounded by electric fencing and guarded by men with AK-47′s, so going “off-trail” really involves walking around the inner perimeter of the fence to see what wildlife you can find. This may sound about as far from off-trail as you can get, but in fact the area is heavily vegetated and you cannot always see the main compound when traipsing around the perimeter. There is a great deal of wildlife to be seen even inside the fence! Here is a sample of the wildlife that I found within the fence.