By Bob Van Leer

  (SIENNA SPRINGS, KENYA, East Africa, Feb. 8, 1995) - This evening we dined on fresh Nile perch we caught in Lake Victoria this morning. Betty was not interested in fishing, so I went with four others on a 45 minute flight to the lake for a morning of fishing.

  We left before dawn to the Keekorok airstrip ("Masai International"),the same one we flew into, to meet our plane, a Cessna 106. On the way to the airport, not many animals were up yet. A few hyenas were on the road and didn't want to move off for us. We saw several balloons getting ready for launch.

  The sun was just coming up as we took off but the weather soon turned cloudy and started to rain. From the air the Masai Mara is a rolling, grassy plain with patches of timber and brush. The name, mara, translates as "spotted" we were told.

  From the air we could see the characteristic round settlements of the Masai. The traditional pattern is a circular fence of thornbushes. Inside is a smaller corral of bushes. Livestock are kept in the inner corral at night and the Masai live in wattle huts plastered with a mixture of clay and cow dung in the space between the two fences. As we flew over, the livestock was just being taken out for the day.

  At the lake, the rain let up a little and we headed out for fishing. Small fishing villages line the lake front. Commercial fishermen use long lines and nets. Their boats are almost all powered by oars only. Dozens of fish eagles were visible in trees along the lake. They are easy to spot with white heads and breast feathers.

  Our party of five caught four Nile perch, the principal fish in the lake. The one I caught was the largest and weighed 17 pounds. These perch do not put up the amount of fight a salmon of similar size would. For eating, the Nile perch is one of the more tasty fish we have ever eaten.

  Lake Victoria is described as the second largest fresh water lake in the world, covering 68,800 square kilometers. For comparison, Curry county covers 4047 square kilometers. The outlet from the lake in Uganda is considered to be the source of the Nile. The lake is bordered by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

  The boat we fished from was about 20 feet long powered by two 60 h.p. Yamaha outboard engines. We were fishing from the Reisinga Island Fishing Club. A board in the club listed the largest Nile perch caught there as 203 pounds, taller than the woman who caught it.

  After lunch at the club, we flew back to our original airstrip and were met by our driver who took us on an afternoon game drive. This was very productive. We saw one lion, probably a couple of dozen elephants, and two rhinoceros. We saw two bull elephants about 100 yards from the gate to our camp.

  Betty went on a long game drive during the day to the Mara River where her group found hippopotamus and crocodiles. This finishes our safari and tomorrow we return to Nairobi in small planes to board a jet to Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean. There we will board the Renaissance V for a 10 day cruise in the Indian Ocean.