I wondered whether I would regret requesting my coffee call for 6 am, but I was awake at 5:20, having slept reasonably well from about 11 onward. I woke twice to hearing a dog barking nearby (there are a few at camp but I still confirmed that others heard them too and I didn’t just imagine it.). I also heard falling water every time I woke up, which I presumed was rain but turned out to be the small stream running beneath camp and right under my window. Like most puzzling things, nothing was clear to me until daylight.
It turns out that it did rain overnight, although not terribly much. The day dawned overcast and stayed that way. On our morning game drive there were some nuisance drops, but not even enough to close the roof windows. Johnson was aghast when I met him at 6:30 in short sleeves and crop pants. To me, that was just comfortable, to him it was puffer vest and scarf weather.
One never knows what is on the agenda on any given day on safari, and you kind of have to juggle priorities as things come up. Johnson kept saying last night that the lions looked like they were hungry and were going to hunt. He wanted to head out to find them before they laid down for the day. We drove for a bit in a new direction and after a while pulled up to a pungent patch of crushed grass and some jackals looking for scraps. Indeed a kill had happened and scavengers has already cleaned up the leftovers. But try as we might, we could not conjure up any lions in the area so drove on. We came across a few more reticulated giraffe and saw our big boy elephant friend Boris in the distance.
Johnson said we’d try to find rhino and shortly after he said that we came across a massive white rhino just on the side of the road. I mean MASSIVE. I’ve seen them in zoos (and even done a backstage visit with them at San Diego Zoo) but never recall seeing them this big, maybe because we were so close? We were in fact too close for me to get his whole body in the frame of my camera until he got skittish and moved back. (Note to self: I’m definitely buying a wider angle lens for “next time”! The 100-400 is a bit limiting on the wide end when I’m just getting too close!).
We carried on and started driving toward a thickly wooded area in an attempt to find leopard (which often rest/eat high up in trees). We were quickly intercepted by one of the two big male lions we saw sleeping away last night. He was working his way down the road looking wet and bedraggled but clearly he was a cat with a mission. Johnson pulled off road and angled us so the lion was coming right at us. The lion gave me a bit of side-eye as he passed, but he clearly had something else in mind. We sat and watched him walk off across the savannah until the little speck on the horizon he became finally disappeared. Johnson thinks he was headed back towards his pride. He did not have a big full round belly that he would have had if he’d just eaten this morning, so clearly did not partake in that morning’s kill that we had just passed. How it all went down, and where he was headed, will remain a mystery I guess.
This small spot of forest that we traversed was absolutely amazing. The scents alone were dizzying in their deep fragrance, like a eucalyptus minty lemongrass. It was truly captivating. The deeper within we got, the darker and cooler it felt, but deeper the smells. We did not uncover leopard but it was a completely otherworldly experience. I have to say I haven’t seen any place in Kenya as truly beautiful as it is here. The rolling hills, the beautiful flowers and the smells of fresh nature are addictive. I’ve caught myself more than once planning a return visit. Lewa is pretty special, even before you start game driving.
Johnson surprised us next by pulling up under a large acacia tree under which a table had been set for us and another couple from the UK. Breakfast in the bush! This was far more than the picnic breakfast I’m used to. They had a gas burner for eggs made to order, scones, granola, fresh fruit, coffee and fresh pressed orange juice. It was quite heavenly and I think we’d somehow managed to work up an appetite just sitting and looking for animals. They even had a hand washing station and portable outhouse! This operation is class, no hand sanitizer and squatting behind a bush here!
Yesterday we’d made arrangements with Harry the chef to tour the camp’s garden nearby, so he met us after breakfast. He seemed quite proud of it and so he should be. I was blown away. Their goal is to be self-sustaining when it comes to fruit and veg, and by his count they have 78 different fruits, vegetables and herbs growing here. They’ve built greenhouses, henhouses and a tilapia farm that they feed with flies they breed. The alfalfa they grow they turn into Lucerne that they sell to Sheldrick’s elephant orphanages. It is a massive operation, much larger than I’d imagined, and employs so many local people. Additionally, they have a “craft shop” which makes a lot of the wooden furniture and handicrafts I’ve seen around camp, like headboards, dining tables, chess sets. I was so struck by the intricacies of the woodworking. The complicated lattice and geometric pieces were stunning. Too bad I can’t get anything shipped home! They are currently building all the furniture for a new camp they are opening, so it’s creating a lot of work for local woodworkers. Women are employed for weaving things like the rugs that we see in our tents. It is a great story of self-sufficiency but also of supporting the local community by offering them work.
We returned to camp at noontime and I took a nice hot shower before lunch. Today Harry got out his new toy, a pizza oven. He made a delicious flatbread with his own pesto and some hot honey and chile pepper. His pizza was a gorgeous vegetable pizza (veg from his garden obviously!) and a super thin crust that was light and tasty. There were a mix of salads available, diced veg with lots of herbs. One was a tri colored tomato salad with goat cheese that was to die for, but that stellar pickled goat cheese from yesterday was back, and the UK ladies and I made quick work of making sure we got to it before it was scoffed up by other fans of it. Dessert was grilled pineapple with coconut, lemongrass and basil. It was delicious.
I will say that while I’m eating A LOT of food, it so far has all been really healthy and refreshing. I eat well at home, but certainly not to this degree. I get all of these ideas for great side salads or new veg entrees but my best intentions are thrown by the wayside when I get home and don’t have the time or sous chef to dice all my veg.
Meshack made my lunch drink again and this time I paid attention: muddled mint, half club soda/half tonic water, a healthy couple of tablespoons of honey, a squeeze of lemon, a dash of angostura bitters and top-off of some lemon soda and some cucumber slices. It is so good and definitely refreshing.
Today I am tired. While I’m not sleeping with the help of the Ambien that I brought with me, I think the travel and all day out in the fresh air is catching up with me. I will try to get to sleep earlier tonight if I can.
After a very brief post-lunch siesta (during which I wrote this and did not sleep!) we headed out at 4 pm for our afternoon drive. I feared I’d fall asleep if I laid here listening to the birds and the river, so at 3:45 I headed up to the main house where an iced coffee was waiting for me. Have I already mentioned how incredible Kenyan coffee is, and even better that they’ve figured out how to make it iced, my preference? Yes!
We went out again with the very best of intentions to find the lions, who Johnson believed were sleeping off their kill from this morning. I’ll spare you the suspense and say, alas no lions. We headed up the ridge to a vast overlook and Johnson spotted 3 black rhinos quite a distance away. To me, it looked to be many, many miles and at least 2 hours of driving. To him, it was about 5k and 20 minutes. He was right.
So down the overlook we went and off toward the rhino. It was my vehicle mates’ last game drive here and I think because we’d seen so many white rhino already, he was torn between trying again to find leopard and showing them the black rhino. We democratically decided to head for the black rhino. 20 minutes later we found ourselves with the black rhino, a mother and one older child and one younger child. Boy, were they a lot more skittish and distrusting than the white rhinos we’ve seen! I managed to get a few photos before they scampered in the other direction.
For those who don’t know, “black” and “white” rhino have nothing to do with their color. They take on the color of the earth wherever they live (and roll on the ground). The name “white” is from the Dutch word for “wide” meaning their wide mouth. White rhinos are ground feeders and have wide, flat mouths. They are also larger than black rhinos. Black rhinos eat more off shrubs and bushes and have a narrow, pointed lip. They are also skittish, solitary and smaller. So there, if you read this, you learned something. That we saw three black rhinos together was pretty impressive, I must say.
We headed back to the overlook to try to spot leopard. On our way we came across a mother white rhino and her calf. I could not believe how casually we were spotting rhinos here there and everywhere. It’s practically unheard of. And these two, unlike the black rhinos, could not have cared less about us. It is just nuts!
Johnson heard the alert call of guinea fowl and followed it. We found three guinea fowl on a tree branch squawking an alert call and looking in the same direction. Johnson drove us to the middle of a rocky, thickly grassed area. We sat quietly and waited, the theory being that somewhere in this grass and rocks, there was a leopard. We just need to out-wait it. Well, you know, nature calls and sundowners approached and we gave up after 45 minutes or so. No leopard showed its face but we had fun waiting and hoping and convincing ourselves that that alert call was the real thing.
Ros told me when walking to dinner that they had thought I was slightly nuts when they first heard how often I’d been here, but now, they get it. They totally get it. The not knowing, the wondering whether it will happen, and hoping it will. They understand now. I’m so happy. They now move on to the Mara for 4 days, where I hope…no, I KNOW they will find leopard. They saw 4 of the Big 5 here. They need the 5th to seal the deal.
We headed further up to a different overlook to have our sundowners. It was a great time, lots of good conversation about gin, work, life and all things that matter. I love to bond with people who are crazy (or is it sane?) enough to pay to come here to follow animals around all day. It takes a special person to appreciate that. I lucked out with a pair of wonderful women and an amazing guide to spend these days with. We toasted our shared success and headed back for dinner.
Oh my, Meshack (our bartender) and Harry (our chef) hit me up as I showed up for dinner with a request that I help them whip up a cocktail. They had a small amount of cucumber sorbet leftover from earlier this week, and wondered could they make a cocktail out of it. I suggested gin, of course. So Meshack threw some sorbet, gin, lemon, lime cordial and jalapeno into a cocktail shaker and served it up in a martini glass. It was splendid!! 4 star, highly recommend!
Dinner tonight started with a cheese rarebit over toast, which was quite tasty. The entree a Mexican bean chili with homemade salsa over rice. Dessert was a lemon sorbet in a tart crust. It was all quite tasty but I spent so much time talking, I can’t comment more on it!
We moved to the bar lounge area for “just one more” (I had Amarula) and after a bit longer of a chat I had to say goodnight and goodbye to Lucy and Ros. They leave for the Mara tomorrow and I head out with Johnson for a 6:30 game drive. I’ll miss them, they’ve been splendid vehicle mates!
Off to bed for another 6 am coffee call!
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