Happy new year to all!

It is the start of another year, with everyone making New Year resolutions and here in the Mara we are no exception - we do hope 2010 will be better. The good news is that we have started the year with lots of rain in the country including the Mara, giving us a break from the previous year’s devastating drought.

In 2009, the Mara River dropped to its lowest level. It made the famous annual wildebeest crossing from the Serengeti and in to the Mara look like a joke, because the animals just walked across the shallow river and we missed the usual action that goes with the crossing. We hope that this year will be different.

The rains have brought a sigh of relief to the pastoral communities in the country who had to search far and wide beyond their normal grazing borders in search of pasture and water for their livestock. It was a year where we saw a lot of conflict between humans and wildlife. This was because the pastoral people brought their cattle into the wildlife protected areas because there was still some pasture and water available. We saw this in Shaba and Samburu game reserves including the national parks like Nairobi National Park and others. We hope that the rains will last long enough to fill the rivers and replenish the pasture plains.

With the rains, we are seeing fantastic game, even in the arid Samburu Game Reserve, north of the Equator. The animals are regaining their health and are more active. Our guests in Samburu can now watch animals coming down to the Uaso Nyiro River to drink. The river, which is the lifeline for the animals and people living along its course, was dry for the better part of 2009.