Here we are in Nairobi at the Milimani Backpackers and we can finally get a decent connection to Safaricom...So at long last, we can give you the blog as it should have been...
Day
One...The Journey
We
left Aberdeen in the afternoon and headed for the airport. Check-in
did not go as smoothly as planned, as the cheap scales we had weighed
our luggage on did not read the same as the check-in desk scales, so
we were forced to unpack in the middle of the airport and jam several
items into our camera bags.
Waiting
in the departure lounge, we chuckled as the girl on the desk decided
to step on the baggage scales and it flashed up “overweight”.
The
flight to Amsterdam was a tight squeeze, as Howard's camera bag, with
it's additional consignment of clothing, was now too fat to fit in
the overhead locker, so he had to sit with it jammed between his legs
for the whole flight; thankfully it was only a short flight.
After
a five-hour lay-over in Amsterdam, we boarded the Kenya Airways
flight to Nairobi. The long journey was made even longer because the
in-flight entertainment system would not work and the people in the
seats in front seemed to think they owned the aircraft.
The
one fantastic highlight of the flight was a spectacular thunderstorm
over Juba, in Southern Sudan, which lit up the night sky and looked
breathtaking from 37,000 feet.
We
arrived in Nairobi to find that Locks and Pam's luggage had never
left Amsterdam. This left them with no tent, so we decided to spend
the first night in Ndololo Safari Camp, which is right next to the
campsite we normally use, whilst we waited for the missing luggage to
arrive. Locks filled in the necessary forms and asked them to
deliver the luggage to Ndololo.
The
journey down the main Nairobi-Mombasa highway to Voi was
straightforward for us but along the way there were numerous
reminders that this can be a dangerous road. We saw several
accidents, including one that certainly resulted in fatalities.
Because
of the long delay, chasing lost luggage, we did not arrive at Tsavo
East until 4pm, so we took a short game drive along the Voi River and
headed for Ndololo. Along the way we saw Zebra, Giraffe, Elephants,
Grant's Gazelle, Impala and numerous bird species. Locks asked us if
we were just exceedingly lucky or if this was normal. We replied
that this was actually a quiet game drive for Tsavo East! Thankfully
they had room to put us up and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening
with friendly staff in beautiful surroundings. During the night we
listened to lions roaring, first about 2km away and moving closer to
about 500m away. Magical Kenya!
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Elephant and Impala |
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Later we would wish the Giraffe had stomped on the Baboons! |
Day Two...
Water for Elephants
Today
we began with a visit to Kanderi Swamp, where we found many elephants
browsing and searching the dry ditches for water. There were also
lots of Zebra and Coke's Hartebeest there too. We also got a brief
sighting of a gang of Banded Mongoose. We then took a drive up to
Lugard's Falls, via the Pipeline Road and Mudanda Rock. It was a
pleasant trip with lots of Elephants looking for water along the
Pipeline Road and a large herd of Elipsen waterbuck at the pumping
station, along with several Impala.
On
the road across to Mudanda Rock from the Pipeline Road, we found
several male Somali Ostrich. On reaching Mudanda Rock, we found that
the waterhole at the base of the rock was completely dry, for the
second year running. We also noticed how much the vegetation had
dwindled due to the continuing drought.
As
we neared Lugard's Falls, we were treated to the sight of one of the
prettiest antelopes, the Lesser Kudu and on our way back to camp, we
found a Lioness sleeping under a bush.
We
discovered today that Kenya Airways had not delivered Locks and Pam's
bags to Ndololo Safari Camp, as agreed but had instead tried to
deliver them to Finch Hatton's in Tsavo West, before returning them
to Nairobi! Several irate phone calls, many of which were cut off
half way through due to patchy coverage eventually led to a promise
that the bags would be delivered to the G4S office in Voi by 8am.
This meant that we needed to spend another night in the Safari Camp
instead of the campsite. With pleasant surroundings, good food, cold
Tusker and lovely staff, this was no hardship but it did add
significantly to the cost of this part of the trip.
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Elephants splashing around in the water along the Pipeline Road |
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The Lovely Lesser Kudu |
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Lugard's Falls |
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Karen taking photos at Lugard's Falls |
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Lion having a cat-nap |
Day 3 …
Attack of the Baboons, My Precious
Today
we began with a short drive around Kanderi Swamp, where we found the
strange-looking Gerenuk, a family of Ground Hornbills, Coke's
Hartebeest and the most magnificent Kori Bustard. Afterwards, Howard
and Locks headed into Voi to pick up the missing baggage, whilst
Karen and Pam took a game drive along the Voi River circuit. We met
up again at the public campsite for lunch.
One
problem with the public campsite is that too many ignorant visitors,
sometimes encouraged by poor guides have thrown food to or left food
for the resident Yellow Baboon troop. These aggressive opportunists
now associate humans with easy pickings and we have seen people
attacked there before. Sometimes the only way to keep them away is
to throw stones at them. As we were raking in the back of our
vehicle for lunch and Locks & Pam were doing the same in their
vehicle, Howard spotted a large male Baboon preparing to attack
Locks. Grabbing a small stone, Howard yelled at the baboon but it
was too far into it's plan to back off, so he threw the stone but
missed, The Baboon then turned on Howard and was inches away from
contact when Locks charged it from the side, wielding a panga and
distracted it enough to make it hesitate, before kicking a heap of
dust into its face. The Baboon then realised he was outnumbered and
beat a hasty retreat.
Only
after the Baboon was gone, did Howard realise he had lost his wedding
ring in the scuffle. We searched and searched the area for over half
an hour but could not find it. After lunch, as we were preparing to
leave, Pam suggested we move the Land Rover back and search the area
where it was parked. After several minutes searching, we were just
ready to give up, when Howard spotted something in the dirt. With a
cry of “I got it!” he grabbed the ring, held it up in front of
his face and making his best Gollum impression said “My Precious!”.
That
afternoon, Locks & Pam headed over to the pipeline road and we
did a loop of Ndara Plains, where the highlight was seeing several
curious baby Dwarf Mongoose popping their heads out of the
ventilation holes of a large termite mound. Cute does not begin to
describe the scene! Meanwhile Locks and Pam were having an
altogether more intense experience, as an Elephant took great
exception to their presence on the pipeline road. They backed off
but she just kept coming towards them, eventually forcing Pam to take
a sharp lesson in reversing, as she charged them for 500 metres back
along the road.
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The Baboons have got far too used to thinking of Humans as a source of food |
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Southern Ground Hornbill hunting in Kanderi Swamp |
Day 4 … Elephants, Elephants, Elephants
During
the night we were surrounded by elephants, browsing on the foliage of
the campsite trees. Occasionally they would rumble but mostly the
only clues to their presence were the sounds of branches snapping and
being chewed up and a massive shadow blocking the moonlight from the
reaching the tent. Just before dawn, the generator at the lodge
kicked in and startled a nearby Elephant, who let out a massive roar.
As daylight began to appear, we emerged from the tent to see another
herd of Elephants arriving at the campsite. The lead female spotted
us and faced us with ears wide and head high. We got the message and
returned to our tent! After the elephants passed through, the Baboon
troop attacked en-masse, with several of them on the vehicles,
swinging from the door handles to try to open them and others in the
trees above, shaking the branches and throwing half-eaten figs down.
Karen clapped her hands loudly and they all scarpered.
After
breakfast we had a drive around Kanderi Swamp, spotting a herd of
Oryx on our way from there to the pipeline road. We then headed into
Voi to see Tiju, who kindly helped us sort out the connection problem
with a new sim card.
From
Voi, we headed the short distance to Ngutuni Lodge, which we had
visited for the first time last year. On the drive through this
private reserve we were delayed for several minutes by an anxious
female elephant, who was not comfortable with vehicles. We arrived
at the lodge to be greeted with facecloths and fruit juice. After a
shower and change of clothes, we headed to the terrace to watch the
wildlife at the waterhole and sip a cold Tusker.
What
we have noticed on this trip, which appears to be a result of older
Elephants being poached for ivory, is that many of the family groups
are being led by females that are much younger than a matriarch
should be. We think this may be the cause of the increased anxiety
we are noticing in herds that would previously have had an
experienced matriarch to reassure them.
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Fringe-Eared Oryx |
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Zebra trio at Ngutuni |
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A family of Elephants at the Ngutuni Waterhole |
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Elephant and a dazzle of Zebra at the Ngutuni waterhole |
Day 5 …
The Big Herd and on to Rhino Valley
We
rose early this morning, planning to have an early game drive but
there was so much action at the waterhole that we decided just to
relax and watch the show and what a show it was. We had several
Elephant families, warthogs, Zebras, a Jackal and a massive herd of
several hundred buffalo. There was plenty of argy-bargy as Buffalo
fought for the best spots, Elephants chased Buffalo, Buffalo chased
Elephants and everyone chased the poor Warthogs.
We
left Ngutuni around 11am and headed for the Tsavo River gate to Tsavo
West National Park. We first tried the Tsavo River track, thinking
it would be the most likely place to see game, being near to the
water. However, part of the track had collapsed and the road was
impassable to the Rav4 Locks & Pam were driving; it would have
been a tough call for the Land Rover too, so we turned back and
sought an alternative route. We arrived at Rhino Valley Bandas to be
greeted with damp facecloths and fruit juice, just the thing after a
long, hot, dusty drive. After dinner we sat on the balcony, watching
the Elephants at the waterhole and listening to the chorus of frogs.
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A massive herd of several hundred Buffalo barge the Elephants out of the waterhole |
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A stroppy Elephant chases the poor Warthogs away from the waterhole |
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Buffalo and Elephant squaring up at the waterhole |
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Junior has fun chasing the poor downtrodden Warthogs...again |
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A clash of tusk on horn as the Buffalo and Elephant clash |
Day 6...
Spots Before Our Eyes
We
awoke around 6.30am and went out onto the balcony to check the
trailcam but nothing had come past in the night. However, we were
entertained by the antics of the half-dozen Unstriped Ground
Squirrels capering about for ages around our banda.
Just
after 8am, we headed out for a trip to Mzima Springs. Along the way
we decided to take a quick look at Kuldip's Ponds and found a
Saddle-Billed Stork. We passed a minivan tour and flagged them down
to tell them where to find the Stork and their driver/guide replied
by telling us where he had just seen a Leopard with a kill. It pays
to share! After six years of trying to see a Leopard in the wild, we
finally managed to see not one, but two!
We
spent over an hour photographing a beautiful female Leopard in a tree
with her Impala kill, then headed on to Mzima Springs. Howard went
to sign us all in with the Rangers and told one of the tour guides,
who was waiting for his punters to come back from their Ranger-guided
tour of Mzima Springs, where to find the Leopard.
After
about an hour at Mzima Springs, we had photographed Hippos,
Crocodiles, a Cormorant, several species of Kingfisher and a wagtail
and started to head back. Along the way, one of the other tour
guides that had also been waiting, told us of a report he had
received about two Leopards near to where we had previously seen one.
We headed over and sure enough, we got there just in time to see a
Leopard slinking into a thick bush to wait, as a few alert Impala
spotted the danger and began to bark.
We
got back to the Rhino Valley Bandas around 2.30pm and decided just to
skip a second drive and opted instead for a shower and a relaxing
afternoon at the bar, watching family after family of Elephants
arrive at the waterhole, whilst “shooting the breeze”. A
particular treat was the tiny baby Elephant, not more than a few days
old, that appeared with it's family just before dark. We also
enjoyed the craziness of a slightly older baby acting up and teasing
the adults. It was very nice that several of the staff recognised us
from last year and seemed happy to see us back. All in all it was a
very successful day and a very pleasant evening. Tomorrow we head to
Nairobi, where we will spend the night in the Backpackers' before
picking up another friend at the airport and heading to Masai Mara on
Sunday.
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Unstriped Ground Squirrel on the balcony of our banda |
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Saddle-Billed Stork at Kuldip's Ponds |
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Our gorgeous spotted friend with her Impala kill |
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Close-up of our beautiful Leopard |