Each day is more amazing than the one before. It rained very hard last night and the river was even wilder and higher than yesterday.
And Samburu is even greener.
We were out before the sun.
We just happened to stumble upon the end of a fight between a leopard and a striped hyena. The hyena was running off with most of the kill. The leopard has killed a waterbuck. She had taken the head and the stomach up a tree but the hyena stole the body. The leopard laid down and watched to make sure the hyena was gone. She gave herself a bath. And we could hear her talking to a cub. We waited and finally she called the cub. It was up in a tree! It came down and went with mom who hid it in a very thick bush. The cub was about 2 months old. I’ve never seen a leopard cub before!
I also saw my second new thing of the day—
The kori bustard
Is the heaviest bird that can fly and I saw two flying! We have kori bustards at the zoo so I’m familiar with them. But I have not seen that heavy bird fly.
We got a call from Jeneria, a Samburu warrior who works with Ewaso Lions, that he was stuck in the mud. (I know Jeneria quite well; he has stayed at my home in Arlington.) So we went to help him. He was stuck so deeply! After we got him out one of the guys stood in the place where his front tire had been and he was in mud up to his knees.
Jeneria said he was there to find the male lions and would let us know where they were. Well, we found one first! It was the one I had not seen.
He was on a honeymoon! And the female he was with was one Ewaso Lions (who tracks all of the lions) had not seen for months. The male was following the female—she was making all of the decisions.
Then we got a call someone else was stuck in the mud and went to rescue them. On the way we saw a ginormous crocodile sitting by side of road. You can see the edge of the car in the photo.
I came back to camp for a about two hours; time for lunch and a quick break. The morning was sunny but while I was at lunch it started raining very hard. Roads are getting flooded or becoming impassable due to mud.
I want to make sure I have pictures of everything so this afternoon we just meandered around. I took pictures of birds, impala, an owl, a giant lizard. Then we went and saw the lioness and her cubs again. I’m so glad we did. That was part of my pictures I lost and although I saw them last night my photos were not good because it was too dark. Today I got fantastic video and photos so I’m very excited! Those little ones have fat bellies.
Then we found a cheetah who was eating a Grant’s gazelle.
Then nearby was another cheetah with her three 8-month old cubs! (This is not the same cheetah with cubs I saw earlier in the week. These are much older.). They were eating a dik dik.
I got great video and photos. One cub cleaned its mom’s face!
I’ve seen very few elephants here and usually I’ve seen a lot. I have found out that even though elephants love to play in water and love mud baths, they hate rain. And they move away from it. I find that humorous.
Tomorrow morning we are going back early to see if we can find the leopard and cub from today. Then I am going to take lots and lots of pictures. I really am sorry tomorrow is my last day up here in Samburu. I love it here. Even though there are many more animals where I am going next, there is a wildness here I find attractive. And I have really enjoyed my guide, Jelly. He’s outstanding at spotting things and fun to be with.
Current count:
- Lions – 10
- Leopards – 5
- Cheetahs – 12!
Looking Out Seeing Within 