Safari of my Life – Behind the Scenes – Episode 8
Visiting Talek Village
On our first day shooting out in the Masai Mara we were on a mission to find a pride of lions. The previous week in Amboseli was all dedicated to Elephants, but now was time for the big cats. That morning we found a beautiful pride dozing by a riverside. The cubs played in the morning sun as mom carefully watched over them. Klaus however was struggling with John’s new car.
John had only recently bought his safari car and it still had the back passenger doors fixed on. For Klaus to get the best pics he needed a low angle. The closer to the ground the better so as to keep an eyeline with your subjects. When there are lions lurking around, you not going to climb out and lie in the bush. So he needed one of the doors removed and replaced with a safety bar. Luckily we were only about a 40min drive from the nearest Village: Talek.
Talek: Mechanics, Supplies & Pillows
Talek is a very rural village on the outskirts of the Mara. It lies along the Talek River, no surprise there, only a few kilometers before it merges with the Mara River. It has it’s own gate to the National Park and this makes it an ideal place for supply runs as well as any mechanical fixes.
We parked of at one of the local mechanics that John works with and he made light work of removing the door. He removed the seat while we were at it so Klaus could lie down on the floor. This was much easier than trying to bend over the seat.
The whole process only took 10 minutes. We then went to explore the town in search of a couple of items, like pillows. Klaus needed a couple of pillows in the car so that we could leave gear bags on them to prevent damage whilst bumping down the rural roads of the Mara.
Like a drive though-shopping mall we drove from shop to shop asking for “mito” (Swahili for pillows). Eventually a lady came out with a couple pillows that were as hard as rock. For 1000 Shillings, roughly $10, we drove off with 4 of them. They were happy – we were happy, our gear was almost happy. But it did the trick in the end.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby guesthouse and then made our way back into the park to find our lions again.
The lion-footage from this day is available to be seen in the Film.
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