I was so excited to hop over to Kenya to go on my first safari! Did you know that ‘safari’ in the local Swahili language means ‘travel’? I also found out that word for frog in Swahili is ‘chura’ – it is a very nice word.
I saw a very tall Mara Giraffe!
The first place I went to was the Masai Mara National Reserve. I visited for what is called “The Great Migration” where two million animals walk here from the Serengeti in Northern Tanzania to find food. They are in the Mara from July until October. There are wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and many other animals too! Two million animals is many animals – imagine a very, very big pond with two million frogs – that is a lot of frogs. Shane told me that he saw more animals in one hour than he did on five other days of safairi elsewhere!
There are many wildebeest at The Great Migration!
There were animals everywhere! The giraffes were very tall and beautiful – their patterns are different, like the fingerprints of a human. The elephants were very big and I was a little scared; and I liked the zebra too – they have beautiful eyes. I saw many lions and cheetah too – they came very close, but I was too small to eat, so they left me alone.
A male lion at the Mara - I hope he didn't want to eat me!
I stayed in a very large tent, it had two big beds and even a shower! This was good because I could spend time resting in the water. Watching animals all days made me tried, so it was good to relax in a big tent.
After the Mara we went to a place called the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It is near the equator and Shane took a photo of me with a sign to say I was on the equator! There were fewer animals in Ol Pejeta, but I still saw many giraffe, and their colours were different. Shane told me that there are different types of giraffe and the colour of the patterns on each one is different. I also saw lots of warthogs, but they are ugly; frogs are much more beautiful.
Polly at the equator in Kenya.
I met a Rhino called Baraka, who is blind. The people who care for him have cut his horn off so bad people called poachers don’t kill him and steal his horn. I do not like poachers. I was able to touch Baraka and his skin is very thick and rough.
Polly with Baraka the blind black rhino - he didn't say much!
The final place I visited was Mt Kenya National Park and I stayed at a place where I saw many elephants and buffalo. One time I saw 27 elephants and another 27 buffalo all together! The animals were very near to me, and I was going to hop away if they came too close, but Shane told me it was safe.
Polly with friends at the Mt Kenya Mountain Lodge - Polly the Travel Frog, Lenny the Lemur (really a Tarsier), Gobi the Camel, Blue the Travel 'Roo.
I was sad to leave Kenya, seeing all the animals made me very happy. I think everyone should travel to Kenya and say hello to the animals too!
Tags: Polly 7
March 19th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Your trips are amazing…Polly #7 is a very lucky frog! It must have been an amazing sight to see thousands of Wildebeest migrating across the plains. Although the picture of the Wildebeest is fantastic, I’m sure you feel it fails to show the magnitude of what you witnessed! Poor Baracka! Do you know what blinded him? Old age? Thanks again for a fantastic post!
Happy Travels!
Candee
March 19th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
Amazing pictures! It sounds like it was a fantastic trip!
March 19th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Shane tells me that Baraka lost one eye in a fight with another rhino and lost the other eye to a crystallized cataract. He is an old rhino, but he is very gentle!
March 22nd, 2011 at 10:38 pm
He’s a gentle giant! Polly was lucky to get so close to him!
March 23rd, 2011 at 6:19 am
Your giraffe picture is perfect!
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:06 am
Yeah, Polly #7….you have the honor of being the first one to post a story from Kenya!
March 24th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Were you scared of the lion? I wouldn’t be scared if I was in the jeep. What was your favorite animal? My favorite animal was the lion. Did Polly like her friends? What did Polly see at the water hole?
Thomas
(Mrs. Schneider’s Student)
April 3rd, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Do frogs wear suntan lotion on the equator? How did you keep from drying out in all of that heat? Great pictures!
April 19th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Hello Thomas, thank you for the questions. I was not scared of the lions, but they were very close! Because there are so many other animals to eat, I am too small for them to be interested in me. I like my friends, they have been to many countries. The camel is a new friend I met in Dubai, but he will stay in Australia and not travel next time.
The water hole had many animals, most were Elephants, Buffalo and the Sykes Monkey. There was also a Mongoose and a Genet at night.
My favourite animals are the giraffe, zebra and leopard, but I like the lion as well.
Jazzy Jeff, my skin did not dry out near the equator because I was in the hills and it was cool!
May 17th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Is Baraka still alive? How old is he? Does it hurt when you cut their horn off? Do you think the rhino still hurts from past battles? Who’s holding Polly? How long has Polly been traveling with you?
July 30th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Hello Mr Miller’s class, Baraka is still alive and he was born in 1994. I think they made Baraka sleep when they cut off his horn, but I do not know if his battles still hurt – Rhinos are very tough!
The person holding Polly is Shane’s friend Maureen – she was born in Kenya and lives in Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya. I have been travelling with Shane since 2010, so not very long at all, but he has taken me to many interesting places!
January 3rd, 2012 at 8:00 am
Does it hurt the rino to cut its horn?