Just sitting on my porch in Kenya, listening to the birds and looking at the view…
We went out about 9. It’s so fascinating to me how quickly things grow in the desert once they get some water. Grass is already up. There are tens of thousands of tiny bushes that I thought were all dead. They have already sprouted leaves!
We went to check in the lion cubs. They were hidden in a bush but we saw mom and the three subadults.
Then we discovered another lioness!
Next it was onto the youngest cheetah cubs. The three were under a bush, playing with one another. Mom was in front searching. She’s hungry. She was searching both for something to eat and to make sure there was nothing around that is a threat to the cubs. Then she started stalking. Gazelles were at least 1/2 mile away. I followed as long as I could with my camera and then switched to my binoculars. She is patient. It took a long time. She would go a little way. Then stop and hide over and over. We thought she was going to get one but they smelled her and ran. The cheetah never made her final run.
The cubs had been playing and when no left she did not turn around and say anything to them. She just walked away. As soon as she left the three cubs quit playing, laid down and stayed still until she returned. i am fascinated and befuddled at how they get trained to do that.
Mom came back empty handed, got her cubs and crossed the road right in front of our car to another bush. She didn’t stay there long but crossed another road. This time they were in a field and the cubs played, ran, jumped and wrestled. I got great video.
Mom climbed some deadfall looking for prey. Then off they went. She’s going to keep moving the cubs until she finds something to eat.
All in all I think we spent about 1 1/2 hours with the cheetahs.
I saw the smallest bird of prey, the Pygmy falcon, eating a lizard. Yesterday I saw the largest bird of prey, the Marshall eagle.
We went to Buffalo Springs this evening looking for our cheetah and her cub. Baboons were in the area so she had moved on. We just drove around snapping a lot of pictures.
We saw a baby crocodile on dry land well away from the river. He must have gone up there when the river was at its height and gotten stranded. A group of about 8 doves and 3 dik diks were following it. The doves even walked behind it into the bushes. It was funny. I don’t think they knew what to make of this strange creature.
The very last thing I saw was a leopard up in a tree. A very large leopard. And two small giraffes and their mom were very close. Our vehicle scared the leopard and he ran off. When he moved the mother giraffe saw him. I think we saved the life of one of those young giraffes!
I leave tomorrow for the Maasai Mara. This is the area on the Tanzanian border which is most popular for safaris. There are a lot of animals which are easy to see. It’s a flat plain. I am told I will have no WiFi there. If that proves true you will not hear from until Friday Oct 25 when I get to the beach. However I will keep writing daily so on that Friday you will receive 5 days worth.
It will be different there because I am not going on reserves. Here I’ve been in two game reserves. No one lives on them. Anyone can pay the fee ($70/adult ; $40/child) and go on them. You can rent a private vehicle and drive in them —though I’m sure those people miss a lot. I am not going to the huge Mara reserve. The Mara reserve is a crowded place. I’ve been twice. Instead I’m going to be in two conservancies. People live and coexist with wildlife in conservancies. They limit to a very few the number of camps allowed there. And the only people allowed to drive in the conservancies are the camp vehicles. It’s not crowded and is more peaceful. I’ll be in two I’ve never been in before.
There are a lot of animals in the Mara including huge lion prides.
My camp will be different too. This one is large. The one I am going to only has five tents. This one is fenced. My next one is not so the wildlife can roam through which I think is awesome! I will be able to hear the noises of the wildlife at night! My next camp is more rustic. While I thankfully will have a toilet, I will take bucket showers. They heat up a bucket of water and pour it into the top of your shower. You get wet, turn water off, soap up, turn it back in etc. At this camp there is a restaurant and we have three choices for meals. My new camp is communal meals where we get one thing. Here I can charge things in my room. There we have a charging tent where you put things to be charged. It’s cold there at night so they out a hot water bottle in your bed to keep you warm.
Things will be new for me. A camp and guide I don’t know. A new area. So we will see what adventures I have!
Current count ;
- Lions -11
- Leopards-6
- Cheetahs- 12
I will miss Samburu. This is a special holy place for me. Please enjoy these photos from Samburu.
Looking Out Seeing Within 