Sunday, November 4, 2018

Home Sweet Mara

Sunday, November 4

Last night had me out cold once the Adrenalin of the day wore off and I could finally settle down.  I slept right through to the alarm and had a hard time shaking the sleep off once I did get out of bed.

I took a good shower and had my coffee and cookies as I finished packing.  I joined Andrew and Thomas for breakfast and the three of us shared a ride to Wilson for our flights to the Mara.  Unfortunately that meant I had to say goodbye to Rashid sooner than I expected.  He is an excellent guide and when I return to Nairobi I would not hesitate to stay at Emakoko and be guided by him again.

Breakfast was the same as yesterday except we had strawberry muffins which were excellent.  I wish I’d taken some for the journey.

Leaving Nairobi National Park we saw quite a few birds which I admired but didn’t bother to dig my camera out for.  I did however get it out when we came across a lioness with four young cubs.  The cubs were pretty mobile and alert enough to be wary of the 5 or so vehicles parked along the road where they were resting in tall grass.  They scooted along first and their mother followed.  I don’t think these are the same as we saw before since this lioness was collared.  Not sure if I managed to get any good shots since the grass was so tall and it was a very quick encounter.  That brings my lion count up to 13 here at NNP, though.  Now I definitely know they exist here!

After saying goodbye to Andrew and Thomas since they were going to another part of the Mara, my SafariLink flight left at 10.  When I checked in my luggage was 2 kg overweight but they seemed to overlook that.  My flight was only 3/4 full and we stopped at one other airstrip before landing at Ol Kiombo which is the closest to Enaidura.

At long last I met Ping.  He welcomed me like an old friend and I passed along many hellos from people at Emakoko and friends of mine who have been on safari with him before.  I’ve read so much and heard so many good things about him and his guiding that this was really cool to finally be with him.

I won’t be alone at Enaidura with Ping but the couple I’d be with weren’t arriving yet so we took a slow game drive to camp, passing a very dark Maasai giraffe and a leopard tortoise along the way.  He’s already shared so many cool stories and told us how Bill and he started Enaidura.  I have a really good feeling here and absolutely love the camp.

He’s set the camp up right along the Talek River, which meets the Mara just down the way.  All the tents front the river, and when I mean right along, I mean RIGHT along.  10 steps outside the front of my tent and I’d be dropping down to river.  The water levels are quite low now but are higher during the rainy season.  He says there is still a chance I’ll get to see a crossing since the wildebeest are so confused this year and there are still good numbers around.

The camp and tents seem to have thought of everything.  The bed faces the front of the tent, the tent is more screen and less canvas, meaning really good air and sight lines to what is going on around me.  The bathroom has a light in the shower (hurray?) and the shelves and coat rack are logically right in front of the bathroom, giving a private place to dress or change and leaving the living area for resting or looking out.

There is a resident bush buck who lives out right next to this tent #1. He stood up and made like he was going to leave when Ping showed me to my tent, but he never did.  I spent a bit of time here lying on the bed watching him eat greens outside and went out to take photos of him right next to the tent.  How relaxing is this?

Lunch today was a pea and carrot salad, spaghetti with tomato sauce and lovely sliced peppers and a cake with a jelly filling and icing.  I saw zebras on the opposite bank, heard a hippo belching out down in the river and heard an alarmed impala quite nearby.  I’m back in the Mara!!  I can’t wait for the overnight!

Since we ate so late after waiting for the other couple to arrive, it’s already 3:45 and almost time for our first game drive!  I’m lying here on the bed and could really take (and use!) a nap but I am afraid to be late for the drive.  The dwarf mongooses keep running by the front of my tent.  They chirp  at each other and run like the wind from cover to cover! 

Ping had either lions or leopard on his mind for the afternoon game drive.  I certainly hoped for either or both but I’m just trying to appreciate being back here, making mental snapshots of the gold and green of the landscapes and how vast and open and fresh it feels.

Pretty soon after we left camp we came across a tower of giraffes.  There were 6 or so and two males, an older and a much younger one, were necking, which is swinging their necks violently to hit each other.  This is a challenge for dominance and can get quite violent and even lethal.  Just recently there had been an instance from another part of Kenya in which both male giraffes died from the effort, both from heart attacks of some sort.  What we saw never got to that extreme but these males meant business.  It is really impressive to see the power and flexibility of their necks, and how they can contort themselves to take a shot.  I could hear the “thump” when a particularly hard hit met its target.  There was a lot of shoving and one trying to force the other up against a nearby acacia tree.  It was really interesting.

As we were watching the giraffes Ping saw a herd of wildebeest streaming at top speed down a hill toward the river.  Since we were close by we decided to follow them.  Ping’s hope was that they were headed toward a crossing point and that we’d get to see a crossing.  He said it’s still possible based on the numbers still around.  This herd was easily 200 strong and that in itself was impressive.  They were all going full steam ahead toward the crossing and then two ostriches ran perpendicular to them and diverted them well inland.  Any attempt at heading to the river was thwarted.  Ah well.

Since we were near the river we took a drive around for the Paradise Pride which tends to hang out there or near our camp.  We saw some relaxed impala nearby so knew there were no lions around.  We then started to explore a different part that is known for leopard and came up short there too.  Then on our right up on a plateau we saw a herd of impala and a few of them were looking intently off in the distance.  Then simultaneously all of their heads popped up and looked at the same point.  So of course that’s where we headed.  It seemed fruitless until I looked across the river to the opposite bank and at the very same time as Ping said “lion”!   And there was my first male of the trip.

Unfortunately, this male was sound asleep and facing away from us.  I could see mane, forehead and a bit of nose.  He also had a pretty deep gash where his mane started.  He was in a deep looking sleep and we were rapidly fighting the dying of the light.  We had maybe 20 minutes until sunset and every minute he kept his head down was a little less perfect of a photo I’d get.  To rub salt in the wound, I was watching him through binoculars and he seemed agitated by flies and even yawned once and that’s when I realized who this lion was, Scarface.

Scarface is an old man likely nearing the end of his life.  His best years are definitely behind him, but he’s named for the rather ugly eye he has from a fight when he was younger.  There’s no missing him, there is practically a hole where his right eye should be, but he has a massive black mane.  Even before I confirmed the bad eye, Ping suspected it was him from the mane alone.  To see him was indeed pretty cool, even as fleeting as it was.  To have a photo would’ve been gravy.  I still have 2 1/2 days though...

What I love about Ping so far are his stories and his eye for a good photograph.  He moves the car into the perfect angle so the sun is behind us.  He’ll even frame a shot to get the elements lined up just so.  I’ve never had a guide so in tune to photos like this and I love it!

We came back to the camp and had a quick shower.  These bucket showers are awesome!  I’ve never had them like this that work so well and have such good pressure!  I forgot where I was momentarily and ended up out of water before I was done.  I don’t know whether I said it out loud or thought it, but I said “oh shoot” when it ran out.  Next thing I know, I heard a voice of a staff member who asked if I’d like another bucket!  Oh heaven, this is great!! Yes Please!

I headed out to dinner back in the common area and sat by the fire with my gin and tonic.  Flavian is a nice young girl who works here (Ping has a few women working here, which is quite different from most other camps). She comes from Narok which is about an hour away from the Mara.   Until she worked here, she never saw any of these animals. She said if they saw anything like this where she grew up, they’d kill them for food.  So she’s thrilled to be seeing them all now, but that when she started she was so afraid.  It was very enjoyable talking to her.  

Dinner tonight was butternut squash soup, vegetable stew (zucchini, carrots, tomato, spinach) over rice and a piece of cake with chocolate sauce.  Another great day of food!

Up at 5:40 for wake up call, off we got at 6:15!!


Sitting here in my tent now at 9:30, I just heard a lion roar!  Already!  Heaven!

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