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Our eyes meet through the mesh window of the tent as I slowly reach down to close the zip. Our first few hours at the tented safari camp in the Masai Mara had already seen drama after our tent was ransacked by rouge mongoose, which invaded whilst we were at lunch and opened all of the presents mum had bought during the trip to Amboseli National Park, the first stop on our African adventure! Newspaper and the contents of her overnight bag are strewn all over the floor. All I can do is laugh whilst she employs the services of a Masai warrior and his trusty slingshot to stand guard over our tent whilst we’re on our game drive. I, obviously, get allocated the bed nearest the door. I’m now regretting that decision as I’m sat on the bed, reading my book and look up to catch the gaze of a massive baboon sitting on my balcony, staring right at me through the mesh. We’d chosen an African safari for mum’s birthday to connect to nature, but this was a tad closer than I expected to get. Within minutes of leaving the camp and entering the national park we stumble across a pride of lioness and their cubs snoozing in the bush. I’m excited and terrified! The animals feel within arm’s reach, they look amazing but they’re also man eaters! One mother rolls over and I jump a mile! The baby snuggling at her side grumbles and clambers back in to the cosy nook. We spy daddy lion in the long grass but he’s too well hidden to get a good view. We stay for a few more minutes and then leave them to sleep in the afternoon sun. We’re not doing bad with 3 out of the big 5 ticked off the lists provided by our tour operator, and there’s giraffe everywhere I look! A brief stop on the banks of the Mara River leads to us spotting a baby hippo, literally hours old. The tiny thing can’t even stand! Mum is keeping a cautious eye on us, but we’re on the other side of the river so she knows we’re no threat. We go on our way, eyes peeled for the last 2 animals on our list. A crackle over the radio and an about turn in the middle of the dirt track. We look at each other. This feels exciting. The air is thick with anticipation. We drive for a while and join a couple of other vans peering in to the bush. We’ve just missed it. The other vans drive off and leave us wondering what it was. We set off again and our driver takes us “off road”. The guides are meant to stick to the tracks but we head off in to the grass and around the bush. He kills the engine and out of the bush saunters a rhino. He stops and eyeballs us, lifting his tail he sprays the bush with his scent. He charges, but our guide fires up the engine and we’re off too! The rhino stops so we stop and kill the engine once more. Considering how desperately rare these creatures are, I’m thankful for just a few minutes in his company. We never did tick off all 5. Those pesky leopards proved just too shy to say hello. Seeing 3 cheetah feasting on a gazelle almost makes up for it though. We just missed the kill itself but there was a macabre interest in watching the cats tuck in to their prize.