Sleep is becoming better with each passing night. Last night I think I only woke very briefly twice. Both times I remember thinking that I would not get back to sleep, but I did and slept right up to the alarm for the first time. I don’t know how my body is ok with getting up at the time it would normally be going to bed, but it is muddling through.
This morning it was just me with Johnson, which was great. I’d told him last night I’m game for anything, but if I had to wish, it’d be lions, rhinos, gerenuk (one of the northern 5 I still haven’t seen yet) and anything else he can conjure up. We went out at 6:30 and took breakfast with us, my thought being that would allow us to go further afield and see territory we hadn’t covered yet. That was indeed the case.
Johnson starts every day with “today is a beautiful day”. I asked him if he says that every day and he said that he does. I wonder if I started to do that at home if that sort of positive affirmation would work for me. Let’s face it, I don’t have the office that he does!
We drove for a long while before we saw anything at all. I think we passed one snoozing white rhino somewhat close to camp but other than that it was just quiet. No other vehicles but strangely not a lot of wildlife either. It was cold, for here. I still didn’t my fleece on, I was comfortable without it. I’d guess it was probably mid 60s or so but a bit humid and really overcast. We need the sun to warm things up a bit. But unlike yesterday, there was no rain at all this morning.
The first wildlife we stopped for was near the marsh and it was a marsh mongoose, which Johnson said he only sees once every 6-7 years. He was so excited about the sighting he called to tell someone about it, even though it had already scampered deeper into the marsh grass.
We came across a large sighting of zebra, both common and Grevy’s species, which was neat to see and be able to compare the two upclose. Nearby this herd were two Besia oryx, another species of the Northern Five that I had seen before, but not this close..
Johnson had spoken with a couple of the guides we passed along the way and heard that there were lions on the move but that they’d gone into thick grass. He saw a ranger’s vehicle from the road and approached it, learning that the lions were right there. But where? All we could see was waist high grass! As we nudged a bit further, several heads popped up, including one big male, a female and about 5 of the cubs we saw on Friday evening. The grass was really a challenge. So much so that we missed seeing the other females and all the other cubs! The ranger said that all 12 were here, safely under cover of the grass. I managed a few documentary shots with the camera, but none that will be worth publishing, I think.
Driving further along Johnson saw a reticulated giraffe (another of the Northern Five) crossing the road. Obviously familiar with the area, he knew it was heading for watering hole and set me up for a shot across from it. I was perfectly positioned for the giraffe to contort itself, spreading it’s legs wide enough for its long neck to reach the water. Hearing that giraffe gulp down gallons of water was pretty cool. It’s easy to see too why they are at their most vulnerable to predation while in this position; it’s not easy to get into or out of!
Johnson then said we were in gerenuk territory and to be on the lookout. I didn’t realize that gerenuk are not nearly as numerous as impala or other gazelles here. He speculated that there are fewer than 20 left now since they are a favorite meal of the leopards. Yet somehow he managed to find a male with 4 females! These antelope are sometimes referred to as giraffe antelope because they have an antelope body and a neck long like a giraffe. What I think is neat about them though is that they never drink water; they get all they need from the leaves they eat. They are also known to stand on their hind legs to reach higher leaves, but I did not see them try that today. I was surprised now that I’ve seen them because I expected them to be larger, at least the size of an impala, and they are really much smaller. In any event, I’ve now seen all 5 of the Northern Five here at Lewa: Somali ostrich, Grevy’s zebra, Besia oryx, reticulated giraffe and gerenuk. Not a bad weekend’s work!
We stopped nearby the gerenuk for breakfast with a view. The valley here is just beautiful. I feel like I’m repeating myself but I haven’t seen a part of Kenya that is so striking and I’m not sure one could ever tire of it. I’ve already started to miss it, and I’m not even gone yet.
Breakfast was coffee and juice, hard boiled eggs, scones, baked cheese sticks (like crackers) and skewers of fresh pineapple, mango and watermelon.
After breakfast we made the slow drive back toward camp. Johnson stopped the vehicle when we rounded a curve and straight ahead was a lovely white rhino and her months old calf. They’d both just wallowed in some mud and were heading toward the tall grass. I stood and shot out the roof of the Land Rover but then made sure to just stop and watch and appreciate this little creature and its mom. How absolutely blessed I am to see them. They were, like other rhinos we’d seen on this trip, very relaxed and unbothered by us, but we were sure to be respectful, shut off the engine and not approach too closely also. It was a spectacular morning.
On the way back we discussed our plan for the rest of today. Johnson feels like the lions looked skinny and in need of a meal. He thinks they will try to hunt tonight and he wondered if I’d want to try a night drive to find them. Part of me thinks that is daft, since we have trouble enough finding lions in this grass, but the other part of me thinks I have nothing to lose. I’ve had some great lion sightings already and still have 6 days in two other camps. So the plan is lunch as usual, a walk at 4:00 followed by a shower and then an early dinner, and then we’d head out 8:00-10:00 or so for a night drive. Sounds like a plan!
Sundays in Kenya are apparently curry days (news to me!) so today’s lunch was vegetarian curry (cauliflower, carrots, chickpeas over rice), a green papaya salad with jalapeños and halumi cheese also curry style. I’m not an enormous curry fan but figured I’d need to eat well to fuel the big walk. Dessert was homemade frozen yogurt made from local berries and the farm’s own yogurt.
I ended up napping for about 20 minutes before I got dressed to hit the trails. Silly me, thinking there were trails. I spent a full 5 minutes debating whether to take my camera, and if so, which lens. I also debated whether to take my wallet with passport in the event I died in an avalanche and my body needed to be identified. I left both locked up here. Wisely.
I met Moosh’s brother and his assistant Simon (I remember his name for obvious reasons) and Nigel, the husband in one of the other UK couples visiting here. Nigel’s wife Celia got the right idea by saying “like hell” when asked if she wanted to do a walk. I’d been convinced it was “basically easy and slow” plus it was part of the package deal, walk first then night drive, so I either did this or just hung about and drank gin and tonic until it was time to go for the night drive. I really need to reconsider my life choices.
I’m fit, I thought. How hard can this be? I run road races and lift weights. I do Spinning on my off days. Altitude shmaltitude. What’s 5000 feet between friends?
So Moosh’s brother warns us we must walk single file between him and Simon. No yelling, no running if you see anything scary. Use tongue-clicks or low whistles to warn others just as the Cape buffalo is steaming you down. Never get ahead of the gun. Wait..what? Yes, Moosh’s brother had the gun, which he loaded with four cartridges as soon as we were off camp property. Gulp.
And off we went. First we had to cross the river, which had two flat logs across it, through which I could see the running water below. Already, good call that I left passport and new camera in my room. That may have been my last smart decision of the day. Simon had to take my hand and guide me over and Moosh’s brother and Nigel leapt like antelope across. I would not be getting the Indiana Jones Hiking Gold Star today. Two demerits for needing help crossing a bridge that would be illegal in the US.
And then the climb started, up up up. And wherever or whoever gave me the misconception that this was a neatly groomed path deserves my wrath. We were cutting our path! My walking stick was moving pricker bushes, checking for aardvark holes and otherwise serving as another leg. Dang. At points the grass was over waist-high. “But wait,” you are asking yourself, “haven’t you been saying all along that lions, leopards and rhinos are getting lost in this very deep grass? Couldn’t they be in the very same grass you are now wading through?” Yes, my friends, that be the truth. Gulp.
We stopped a few times to hydrate (I brought enough water this time, not like when my sister and I walked the entire Cinque Terre path sharing a bottle of Evian and a bag of peanut M&Ms) and take in the view, which of course was tremendous, but I’m fully aware by now that I can see an equally impressive view from any number of spots easily reached by vehicle.
We did see some wildlife. A waterbuck was across the way on another hill, as were two herds of impala. Three giraffes ended up below us, looking up as if to say “now why would you go and do that?” Good question, my long-necked friends.
I vacillated between watching my footing and being afraid to. I traipsed through poop identified as hyena, giraffe, impala and buffalo, and tried to avoid it where I can (these shoes don’t go back into my house anyway, they’re always banished to the basement). I wanted to watch my footing but also did not want to be the one to see any snakes scampering away. I prayed to all that is holy that Moosh’s brother was scaring them away before I got to them.
Various thoughts beyond snakes ran through my mind, like ticks, fire ants, stinging nettles, altitude sickness, dehydration, twisted ankles, and mental incompetence. Try as I might, I just was not in the moment and loving it. The plan had been for Nigel to be met by his guide and intelligent wife Celia and be driven down while I climbed down with the guides. A clap of thunder and black clouds approaching gave me all the encouragement I needed to say “do you think Johnson could pick me up at the top? I’m beat.” And so ended the 75 minute journey.
Celia sat in the vehicle videoing us as we summited. “Do you know how high up we are, it took ages to drive up here!” she yelled. I turned and looked down to find camp and my particular little cottage specks in the tree line. If we were already a mile high, we were easily half that more. Gulp.
Nigel and Celia’s guide drove us about half way down to where Johnson awaited, and he took me and the guides back to camp. My hip is angry, my head hurts and I’m tired, but after a handful of ibuprofen, a shower and the accounting for bug bites (only 2!) I am kind of glad I did it. Once. Onwards dinnertime.
Several hours later….dinner was lovely, yellow pepper stuffed with lots of diced, fresh veg (zucchini, onion, carrots, corn, black beans, etc.) and topped with a cheese crisp, and baked sliced tomatoes. The starter was a wonderful sweet corn soup with onion and yellow pepper. Dessert was a slice of spice cake with a jelly and dab of cream on it. I washed the whole thing down with a dawa (vodka and honey cocktail). You can tell reading this that I am just dying to get to the next part…..
The night drive. Yowza. With how high the grass is, I was skeptical at best. And even at the best of times, night drives are hit or miss. But off we went. Johnson even gave me my own red search light to look for eyes in the grass as we drove along. He’d found out from guides who’d just come back from the afternoon drive where they last saw lions and we headed that way. We also had a guide Mark standing up through the roof window scanning the area, looking for the tell-tale glow of eyes looking back.
After a short time we came across a bachelor herd of impala and they all looked nervous (said Johnson, I had no idea). They also seemed to be looking in the direction we were heading. About 300 feet further, right in the middle of the road, a young hyena was just tearing into a fresh impala kill. When we approached it, it ran off. Johnson said a leopard would have taken it down, not a hyena, and he surmised that the hyena had forced the leopard off its kill. He used the light and scanned the area and the leopard was still standing nearby watching. This was a 4 year old female leopard the guides call Nala. As we settled down and moved the light away from her (red light so as not to blind her), she started to creep back over to her dinner. We sat and watched her for maybe 20 minutes while she ate. The hyena sat on the opposite side of her and waited his turn. At one point Johnson said we should leave so the hyena could get his share, but I wanted to make sure she was satisfied, after all she did kill it! At last she walked off into the tall grass and the hyena quickly moved in. Normally leopards will drag their kill up a tree and save it for later, but there were no trees nearby for her to do so.
While we missed the actual kill, it was still an adrenaline rush to see her at night, right out in the open and be able to piece together what had happened. On top of it all, she was a gorgeous cat and I was happy we helped her return to her meal and get her fill.
The rest of the drive was not productive for the cats but we did see 5 huge white rhino blocking the road, one with an incredibly massive horn. And I kept seeing hares as I flashed the side of the road with my light looking for the glowing eyes. It was, in a word, a pretty special night. One sighting like the leopard is all it takes. (My track record on night drives is now 3 for 3 when it comes to cat kills!)
Not able to go right to sleep I sat up and chatted with the folks from Connecticut who are moving on to the Mara over my gin and tonic.
The bar is set high for the next two camps. I’ve seen the Big 5, the Northern 5 and had a stellar night drive in my first three days!
Going to try to sleep now. I’m tired from the walk and all the excitement. I get to sleep until 7:15 tomorrow since I’ll be leaving for Ol Pejeta at 10:00. Johnson and I will meet for breakfast at 8:00.
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