Day Five — Or, the day there was an elephant in my bathroom

 Thursday February 16

I didn’t bother to read my book last night at all because I didn’t get my siesta and was tired from the day’s events.  I slept very soundly but for Boris the bull elephant who was tending garden behind my tent most of the night and when he left, a warthog took his place, oinking his way through he foliage.

I met Daniel and Larry at 6:30, carrying nothing more than my phone and a lip balm.  I had no idea what Daniel’s idea of a hike was, but it was very clearly different than the casual nature stroll I had in mind.  He had told me at one point that is he is a mountain Samburu, versus a valley Samburu, and I’d say that’s likely true the way he and Larro were ascending the trails like lithe little gazelles while I felt like the clumsy Clydesdale bringing up the rear.  I had only agreed to do a hike if we did it early before it got hot, so were were already into the hike by the time the sun was up over the mountains.  Daniel got me a packed breakfast and a big thermos of water.  That’s when I knew he had different plans than I envisioned.

Almost immediately outside camp, Daniel saw very fresh leopard prints in the dirt, followed by much much larger lion prints.  With no other foot traffic to disturb the prints, he was able to measure the distance between front and rear prints and extrapolate how big the cats who made the prints were.  The leopard was pretty average size but the lion was most definitely a big male.  So they were very nearby last night but are quite shy with vehicles and people.  I knew coming here the likelihood of seeing cats was practically nil but I am excited to know they are really close by.

We hiked for about 45 minutes and I was becoming increasingly buggy and annoyed by the flying critters.  We didn’t encounter any wildlife other than birds, but at one point both Daniel and Larro stopped because they heard the familiar swish sound made when an elephant flaps its ears.  We never saw the elephant though.  (The parents and young boy who were staying here did suddenly encounter 4 elephants on their hike, which I was told was very much the adrenaline rush!). 

The hike wasn’t horrible but it was not sure footing and we are at a good elevation to start with so it was more work than it had to be for me.  Plus, I don’t like sweating in the clothes I’ll be wearing all day or getting annoyed by bugs, so my enthusiasm for the hike was rapidly diminishing.  Daniel asked if I wanted to go another 30 minutes up and I quickly squashed that idea because I’d still have to come down.  We stopped there on a large area of flat rock and had breakfast (a veggie pita roll up and granola with yogurt for me) and we talked for a while.  I had told him about my sister’s exhibition on enslaved people and he asked to see it to share it with the other Samburu here.  

I asked about the Jewish connection the Samburu have and how it came about and he thinks it was lost tribes of Israel that made their way into Northern Africa and came down to Ethiopia and here in northern Kenya.  There are many similarities between the cultures, including the sacrifices they make, and the wedding and funeral ceremonies.  It is really very interesting.

We made our way down without me breaking an ankle or getting terribly overheated.  I took a shower now that our water was back on (naughty Boris took out another pipe last night) and had a big glass of juice to cool off.  This was the first outdoor shower I have had in daylight and it was just amazing to be outside under the sun.  How do I get one of these at home?

We left for Reteti Elephant Sanctuary at 10:45 to be there for the noon feeding.  When we arrived, Daniel turned me over to Gideon, an employee at Reteti, and he explained their mission and the current residents of the orphanage.  Right away, they fed their 4 rescued giraffes. Gideon handed me a bottle and one of the giraffes quickly guzzled it down and immediately tried to steal others’ milk.  Clearly, he has Simon’s (my cat, not my last guide) mindset.

Ten elephants came out and were fed first.  These are the littlest ones and they are put in the stockades immediately after feeding so the older/larger elephants won’t harass them. One seemed not so happy about that but he’d follow a milk bottle anywhere and he quickly calmed down.

Next up were two individual elephants, one being Long’uro, the elephant that one of my vendors at work fostered for me.  He lost most of his trunk to hyenas while he was trapped in a well.  He is a cutie and really adapted well.  Gideon said that they will have to cut back his tusks regularly in order for him to be able to drink and eat on his own.  But he will never be able to bathe or dust-bathe himself, so he will stay with them for the rest of his life, unlike the others who will be reintroduced to the wild.

The first group of older elephants came in next and the workers waiting for them with bottle started to sing to them.  Each elephant seemed to know where it should go to for the right bottle.  In this group was Lomunyak, the elephant I’d fostered.  I took plenty of photos of them both and really enjoyed being around the elephants again.  At one point, the keeper brought Long’uro over to me so I could pat him and he was so cute and inquisitive.  A couple others came over and one tried to grab my phone, which was funny (and I’m glad it didn’t!). 

It sounds like Reteti’s reintroduction plan is different from Sheldricks in that they’ll all be able to be released here since for many this is where they were rescued.  They’ll be able to go at 7 years of age.  I asked if they might recognize their families if they were to find them and Gideon said it is possible but they will likely form their own herd with their fellow orphans.

After the milk feed, Gideon took me to the kitchen where they make up all the milk bottles.  Each elephant and giraffe has a recipe based on its nutritional needs and it’s all on a massive whiteboard by name.  They add honey, whey protein, spiralina and a baby formula to some of the goat milk.  The next room had large pasteurizing vats for the goat milk.  I don’t know why I’d always thought the goat milk went from goat directly to elephant, but it does not.  The goat milk is collected by the milk mammas, local women who own goats and sell it to the sanctuary.  It is a very lucrative business for the women and a lifesaver for the sanctuary who found itself with a shortage of formula during the start of the pandemic.

I signed the guest book and bought a t-shirt and thanked Gideon for the special tour.  I really loved my time here.  Who doesn’t love baby elephants?

Daniel made a quick stop at elephant rock, a large rock on which an American street artist has painted an amazing image of an elephant.  The wildlife photographer Ami Vitale was involved in making that happen.

We had a hot dusty ride back and I arrived late for lunch.  Only one British couple is still here from before, we now have two more British couples in.  I was still on a high from the elephant visit, so I’m foggy on what lunch was, but I recall potato salad like we have at home and a cold vegetable salad with carrots and zucchini.  Dessert was a really nice mango sorbet (funny how I remember the dessert and the nice rosé they served!)

I chatted with the new British arrivals a bit and then headed up for siesta, which I didn’t get to take yesterday.  Well, I didn’t get to take it today either.  I changed into something cooler and hit the daybed out on the veranda.  I only sat for a few minutes before I heard munching in the trees behind my tent.  I looked back and through the branches I could see the rhythmic flap-flap of elephant ears, but they were maybe 50 yards behind me and uphill, so I thought there is no way it will come closer.

Wrong.  It starts coming down the hill to the point where I felt maybe I ought to move inside, so I did.  I continued writing my blog a bit more and heard it quite close behind my tent, so I went to the hallway behind my bed that leads to the bathroom and looked through the open tent flap, and there it was, maybe 20 feet up from the tent, chomping away.  I grabbed my phone and took video.  I’m pretty sure it knew it was being watched because at one time it stopped and looked in my direction straight on and gave out a low rumble.

I came back to my bed to continue writing, and stopped myself.  Am I really going to NOT sit and watch an elephant that close?  Nope!!!!  So I went back and sat on the bench next to the window and watched it.  It was pulling down large branches to get at the smaller tender bits but also chomping down huge old dead branches too like it was nothing.  I sat there for maybe 20 minutes just taking it in and listening to the woompf-woompf rhythm of its ears as it cooled itself off.  It looked like it was turning to leave, so I went back to my bed.  Not two minutes later, and it sounded REALLY close, so I peeked around the wall behind my bed and could see the shadow of a tusk and a trunk against the tent wall!  It was RIGHT THERE, not 6 feet from my tent, up on a low retaining wall.  I did not dare approach closer and at this point wee bit of fear set in, so I went back to the bed.  It continued to move on though and ate along the path to my outdoor shower and is right now on the other side of my shower; I can see legs and trunk from my bed here.  Wow.  Pinch me.  (I confirmed after all this that it was Boris, who doesn’t care about anyone and knows we are safe for him, so they were never worried about my safety…)

I’ve mostly packed to leave tomorrow.  All day the thought keeps occurring to me that I’ll be back in the Mara.  My happy place.  This has been wonderful though, and I won’t rush the rest of the day just to get to tomorrow.  One more game drive with Daniel and Larro.