Kenya 2023: Chapter 32 – Rocks are Boring

The exhilaration of the leopard hunt wore off, the low point of the adrenaline roller coaster. The afternoon was hot and still, a thick humidity hung in the air. We crawled through the southern part of the park. This was definitely territory we had not covered before on the last trip. Tall rolling hills sloped down to a tree-lined lugga full of fig trees and croton thickets. The trees looked like perfect places to hide a leopard or perhaps the Black Rock Pride.

An actual tire check

Across the valley at some point we could see the aptly-named black rocks with wide pink veins cutting through them. Along the road, it appeared that there were footprints and Lenny hopped out to check. They were fairly indistinct and while we were already stopped, decided it was a good time to check the tires. During my check, my eyes caught the glinting surfaces of a small piece of quartzite. 

An agama lizard

The Maasai Mara is part of the Tanzania Craton, a 3-billion year old continent that has neither been faulted apart nor swallowed by the earth. It’s composed of quartzites and other metamorphic rocks. More recent volcanism, up to 23 million years ago, is visible in the western part of the Mara, particularly the scattered hills in the Mara Triangle. Although he thought rocks were boring, I showed him the quartzite and explained how it was formed and what it meant for the larger geologic picture. He was very attentive, locking away this information for another time.

Little Bee-eater

At the top of one of these outcrops, we came upon a pair of agama lizards and a bee-eater in a tree. We exited the hilly area, rejoining the road just west of Keekorok.