16 Jan 2024
I lost wifi the last two days in Ol Pejeta, so I’m back posting these.
Last night I felt rough. I feel like I ought to go back and fill in the edges around yesterday’s blog because I charged through it only to get to sleep. The intestinal distress had kicked up and it was freezing flipping cold here. There were three blankets and a comforter on the bed as well as a large hot water bottle when I got back, and that was still not enough to get warm. I hugged the hot water bottle all night. No, this is not typical for this time of year. This is climate change, my friends.
I took a Zithromax to try to head off my issues and shut out the light early. I slept well, but I’m also back in lion country and remember waking 4 times to hear them near camp roaring their heads off. I liked that, no worries.
Coffee was delivered in a to-go thermal mug at 5:30 (what took them so long, I’ve wanted this on every safari for the last 10 years!) and I was picked up and walked to the Land Rover at 6 (back where I can’t walk around unaccompanied in the dark; lions you know). It was cool enough for my fleece and the flannel lined poncho in the Land Rover, as well as the hot water bottle on the seat. But it’s still a far cry from the 20 degree weather at home!
We headed out in the direction of the last lion calls. We finally came upon one big male who had just flopped indiscriminately in the middle of a clearing next to a mud bath. It’s as if he had been walking along teh savannah and said “ah, to hell with it, I’ll nap here”. That was before sunrise. He won’t have lasted long once the sun came up over Mt. Kenya.
Sunrise here is neat because it gets light long before you actually see the sun due to Mt. Kenya. There’s the painted sky that lasts until the orb finally crests over the mountain and lights everything properly. It is just beautiful. There was also a fog that had settled at ground level that gave everything an ethereal feel. It was really pretty.
We came upon a small herd of elephants in front of Mt. Kenya and we stopped to watch them. The matriarch of the group paused, then started to approach us. I was in the back-most window on her side. She kept coming closer and closer and for a moment I felt panicked but then I just relaxed as I looked her right in the eye and whispered “good morning”. She was easily within 10 feet of me and she held the connection. I could see the scratches in one of her tusks and the mud that had filled them. I could see the remnants of some greens stuck to the point of the other tusk. Finally she flicked her trunk at me and stepped aside, our connection broken. It was an amazing, sobering and very special moment. My eyes filled when she walked off. I had been given a gift.
I still had the young American newlyweds (Floridians, I don’t need to say anything more) but thankfully they were moving on after bush breakfast. I had to let it go, but they had no safari etiquette and he talked louder to our guide, thinking he would be better understood. I’m not sure they were aware how special last night’s leopard sighting was or this morning’s elephants were. It’s a shame.
Bush breakfast this morning was at a river crossing under a pretty yellow fever tree. I had frittata, mini pancakes, a hard boiled egg and museli and a dab of homemade yogurt, oh and the pastry of the day which was a delectable cinnamon bun. Man, that was delicious!
I had so many sightings of rhinos today that I can’t remember the order. Most were mom and calf pairs, both black and white species. One pair of whites was just so relaxed and calm, they didn’t give us a second glance. We watched them graze for a while in an area called Zebra Plain, this immense flat plain that goes on for as far as the eye can see in any direction. They ate for quite a while and then moved to a dusty clearing and just stood there. And stood. And stood. The calf laid down. The mother continued to stand. Peter said, “the mother wants to wallow” and he motioned to the mudbath about 30 feet from us. So we decided to wait it out. After another 10 minutes or so he spotted a pair of black rhinos about 1/4 mile away, so we moved on to them for just a few minutes before they laid down to nap. We turned around and headed back to where the whites were, and they were both in the mudbath! How Peter knew this would happen is a mystery!
Another memorable rhino sighting came on the afternoon drive, when we found a massive male white rhino grazing on his own. White rhinos are sociable, so it would be normal to see this one with others, but he wasn’t. He was grazing and I was taking photos. Suddenly Peter started the vehicle and we left, without him asking me “are you good?” as he normally does before we move on. I didn’t think much of it, other than that it was a short sighting and maybe he saw something else to move on quickly to. After a few minutes, he said “sometimes I just don’t trust white rhinos even though they are supposed to be calmer.” So his gut had told him to move on.
I had a whole bunch of elephant sightings today which were just so relaxing to watch. We transferred the Floridians to the car heading to their next camp at the marsh area, so we stayed there and watched the wildlife. There was a huge troop of baboons there, as well as lots of impala and a small herd of elephants, all coexisting peacefully. I could quite honestly sit and watch elephants eat all day, the chill way they pull up grass and transfer it from ground to mouth is mesmerizing.
At lunch there was a small family of a mom and 3 younger eles who were across the river from camp. They were drinking at the watering hole and then headed off, but not before the mother rumbled and acted all in a dither about something, as if she saw something that disturbed her. After lunch when I went out with Peter, I’m fairly certain we saw them again, only with one more family member, and Peter thinks the extra member was a male recently kicked out of the family (to prevent inbreeding) and that his returning upset the mother. Every time the family moved on as it grazed, the male would try to tag along, and sometimes the mom or one of the older siblings would push him away.
One of the last groups of elephants we saw was a herd of 9 plus one massive bull grazing in the south side of the conservancy. The male was in musth and not so patiently waiting for one of the females to be in estrus. He was agitated and three times took an aggressive step towards us, which Peter thwarted by starting the Land Rover. That noise got him to stop and rethink his next move. It was a bit unsettling that he was so wound up that we agitated him, but that is love in nature. Peter only let him try that twice before we decided to move on though. No sense poking the bear (or bull elephant, in this case!)
At one point this morning, Peter stopped in the middle of the road and pointed out a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung across the road. I sat and watched it because there appeared to be a female clinging on to it while the male pushed it. The dung had been smoothed to a perfect round ball and once the male found the safest spot for it, he started to dig a hole for it and then the female would deposit eggs into it. The eggs would be fed by the dung apparently. To see a beetle pushing a ball many times its size was what captivated me the most though. Nature is amazing.
Our sundowner was at a hyena den. We first came upon two sub-adult hyenas just lying next to a hole. Peter said the parents go off and “rest” away from the kids all day and leave a couple of the older kids in charge of the younger hyenas in the clan. I didn’t see any other kids, but the longer we sat there, more younger hyenas came up out of the ground from another hole maybe 50 feet away. They all piled together either for safety or to keep warm while they waited for their parents to return. We left after sunset, so I didn’t see the parents.
Lunch today was a really fresh lemon avocado soup with a “make your own pizza” and a just-right pineapple frozen yogurt. I am certainly eating well. After lunch I did yoga (yay for Peloton connecting here!) and had a shower. My hip had really bothered me since the hike from hell, so getting everything moving again really helped it.
Dinner today was red snapper with a pineapple coconut sauce, brown rice and stir fry veg. Dessert was a wonderful chocolate brownie with whipped cream and a cherry tulle.
It was not nearly as cold after dinner as it was the night before. I did not need the several layers of blankets on the bed or the hot water bottle, thankfully. I did fall asleep while writing this though, so this is being finished at lunch on the following day!
No comments:
Post a Comment