"The first one is to respect the privacy of the wildlife; this is their habitat. He reads it out.
"And I am sure all of you here know what this means, or do you need more explanation? He asks.
Some nodded and some said no, while people like me just stood there, doing nothing.
"Well, it means that you shouldn't go around trying to disturb the animals while they are resting or what have you; that is even the reason why we don't allow students to come with phones and cameras anymore, or else they would be tempted to take pictures of animals anyhow, and that would disturb them." He pauses for a breath.
"If any of you feel like taking pictures with animals, we have professional photographers for that, and they will direct you on how to do it safely," he adds.
"The second rule is to beware of the animals; they are wild and can be unpredictable," he calls out.
Well, that doesn't need to be explained; we are in the wild, for goodness sake.
"I believe that I do not need to explain this as it is pretty straight-forward," he says after reading my thoughts.
"Thirdly, don't crowd the animals or make sudden noises or movements," he continues.
"Yeah, I know how amazing it is to see a lion or an elephant, and we'll be tempted to gather all around and admire, but trust me, that is not how these animals work; the moment they feel crowded and hear odd noises that they aren't familiar with, it's bye-bye for you, trust me, so be careful," he warns.
"Fourthly, don't feed the animals; it upsets their diet and leads to human dependence," he says.
Yes," he says, looking at all of us with a serious tone.
"No matter how tempting it might look, do not ever try to feed them; they have workers who are responsible for that, and whoever tries to do that," he pauses again.
"I don't want to talk about punishments right now, but be warned," he continues.
"Fifth, keep quiet; noise disturbs the wildlife and may antagonize your fellow visitors," he says.
"I know it's quite fascinating while we're walking and speaking about the new movie that just got out or that new guy and all, but these animals don't, and they won't take a liking to it, and soon they will be out to try and stop that noise or else," he says with a hint of warning again.
"That's another reason for banning phones; students always tend to blare up music all around the place as if they are throwing a party of some sort, but believe me, even the picnics here have rules," he says.
I couldn't help but take a look at the professor, and he gave me that 'told you to look'.
"The sixth on the list is to stay in your vehicle at all times, except at designated picnic or walking areas," he calls out.
"Yeah, I know, this one gets broken all the time, and I'm sure some of you are even going to be walking most of your way on this trip, but you should make sure you are always with your group, mostly before dark," he says.
"Keep below the maximum speed limit (40 kph/25 mph); that's for those who are driving," he continues.
Also, for those driving, never drive off-road; this severely damages the habitat, but there's nothing for you guys to worry about; we have our trained drivers here, but this is especially critical for those researchers and tourists who come with their own cars," he says.
"When viewing wildlife, keep to a minimum distance of 20 meters and pull to the side of the road so as to allow others to pass," he reads out.
"See, always keep your distance unless you want to be eaten," he says, letting out a little laugh.
"Let me be quick with this; I can see some of you giving me the dead glare," he jokes again.
"Leave no litter and never leave fires unattended or discard burning objects," he continues.
"Respect the cultural heritage of Kenya; never take pictures of the local people or their habitat without asking their permission; respect the cultural traditions of Kenya; and always dress with decorum," he adds.
"This one is also important, but it might affect you as you are here for studies, so they'll understand, but no snooping," he warns.
"Lastly, stay over or leave before dusk; visitors must vacate the park between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless they are camping overnight. Night game driving is not allowed," he says, dropping the paper.
"Well, I think that's all," he says again.
"As you can see, they aren't that many, just one, two, three, twelve; they are twelve all together and easy to follow," he says.
"Thank you very much to everyone for listening; I think I'll take my leave now," he says.
Everybody applauded as he walked down the podium.
Soon, he was gone.
Another old man came in and stood on the podium.
"Now everybody settle down," he calls out.
As soon as we, I mean, they are all quiet, he continues.
"As we all heard from our honorable governor, we must ensure to obey these rules at all times," he says.
The man was also black but stood a little bit shorter than the governor.
"Now, you must all be wondering who I am right. Well, I am the director of this place, this huge paradise, our Masai Mara National Park, he says, raising his hand to the air as if he were trying to show how enormous the place is. He is right, it is.
"Well, I won't be taking much of your time since almost everything about safety has been explained to you, and staying is the thing that we prioritize the most," he says.
He coughed a bit.
"Now, the next thing we are going to do is group you guys into two," he says.
"And..."
He stops and looks at the paper in his hand.
"The first group would be the ones to walk through the paradise plain, and their next destination from here is the Rhino Ridge, but be warned... He paused again.
"This first group will have to walk most of their way to their destination as there is no clear road leading directly there, so you have to get ready," he says.
The students start to murmur between them.
"Now silence, please," he says, and with a deep voice like his, we are all tucked back to listening to him.
"The second group will be taking the route along the Opunyata plain, and as we all know, this is much closer to the road, and they will be heading next to the Serena lodge, and from there, the two groups will meet and head to the Mara Ngenche together up till the Mara river border around the Purungat bridge gate, where, if we are lucky enough, we can see the great wildebeest migration happen," he says.
The sounds started echoing once again, and then he spoke again.
I'll be calling out your names and grouping you," he says.
All was silent once again.
I'm sure everyone is busy praying that he doesn't end up in group one.
But if you ask me, it's not that bad.
"John Silvers, group one," he calls out.
The boy named Home Silvers groaned when he heard the group he was assigned to, which means he has too much walking ahead of him.
"Why are you groaning now?" he asks no one in particular.
"Let me tell you, back in my days there were no roads to drive, and so we had to walk to wherever we wanted to go, and that's the most interesting thing about field trips; you will see the nature and the nature will see you, no windshield in between," he says.
The boy smiled at him but was still not convinced.
"When he explains it that way, it actually sounds kind of fun," some murmur.
He keeps calling out name after name.
until mine was finally called out.
"Nina Grifforth," he calls out.
I didn't answer the first time because I didn't think I was the one.
"Nina. Grifforth, Mrs." he can out again.
That's when my eyes met the professor's, and he motioned for me to answer.
Oh! They have actually changed my name to his.
Great.
Yes, sir," I answer, raising my hand.
I could feel all the eyes boring into my soul, but I ignored them.
He nodded.
"Group 1," he calls out.
I silently walked over to the students in group one.
"Hard luck, sis, but I'm sure we'll make it. I hope you are not pregnant, though." A girl asks me
No." I was really quick in answering.
She looks at me weirdly.
"Lily Anderson," she says, extending her hand to me.
"Nina Williams... I mean Grifforth," I say awkwardly, shaking her hand.
"Newly married, huh? she comments.
I just nodded.
She has no idea; I too found out just yesterday that I was supposed to be married.
"But you are really lucky, even though you have an age gap; the man's really good and a legend as well; I've heard a lot about him back at my school back in London," she says.
That explains a lot, then.
Her English sounds quite different.
Just when she was about to say something again, we heard the director speaking again.
"Now, we have finished with the students grouping, now we'll go to the instructors" he says.
"Professor Abraham Grifforth will be leading the group 1 team."