Month: October 2019

I had the most fantastic day!

I flew into Kamala, and Jelly – my guide from 3 years ago – picked me up.  He said it would take about one hour to get to camp.  Well, it took two because we saw so much along the way!  

I’m in the high desert—at about 4,000 ft above sea level. It reminds me a lot of Arizona. 

My first animal was a goat! Ha! 

My first wild animal was a dik dik. A cute tiny antelope that reminds me of an Italian Greyhound.  It’s about the same size and has tiny thin legs.

We saw a cheetah!

We saw Samburu’s big 5 – these are five animals that only live in Samburu:

• The genernuk — an antelope with a long neck.
• The Somali ostrich which has a blue neck and blue legs
• The Beisa oryx — a very large antelope
• Grevy’s zebra
• The reticulated giraffe

We also saw a herd of about 20 elephants , including two babies which are less than one month old).

The elephants walked right by us — about 6 feet away.

Before I even checked in I had seen a total of 13 different mammal species! After lunch I unpacked. We have to do even more to keep out the monkeys now.  We have to hook the tent with a carabiner clip. Then put a mat against it and then a table!

I sat outside and a monkey joined me like she owned the place. 

Then when I went in, she started crawling under the tent flap to come in while I was inside!!

I went on an afternoon game drive with Jelly. We saw a leopard!  And EIGHT lions!  One very fat and full male.  He had obviously just eaten.  He has blood on his face and paws and a big belly. He was so tired that he laid down on the road.

Then across the road was the rest of the pride. A mom (Nashira—whom I have seen on previous visits), two 4-month old cubs, and get 3 subadult children—about 3 years old. It was getting too dark for my phone to take decent pictures but maybe you can see a cub here lying in front of her mother 

We stayed with them awhile.  Mom and cubs got up to go down to the river. Finally dad got up and decided to join them.  He passed about 10 feet beside the car.  The white border at the bottom of the picture is the window sill of the car. 

Finally I saw a mammal I have never seen— a genet. They are nocturnal and we came back after dark, so no picture.  They look like they are in the raccoon family.  

I cannot believe how much I saw in only 6 hours!!!!  This place feels like home!

Once I checked out of the hotel this morning, my driver took me to a supermarket to get my adapters. I had to go get wanded (for metal) to enter the supermarket. This is something Kenyans deal with on a daily basis—constant security no matter where they are going. I got my adapters which unfortunately were expensive and took out a chunk of my spending money, but they were necessary. 

As I was waiting at the small airport for my flight to Samburu, about 60 cases of water were delivered to the small snack bar there. Each case was sent individually through a metal detector. 

Then I board my small plane for my flight to Samburu. There were nine of us on board!

I’m in Nairobi! I got to my hotel about 11 pm. It’s just after midnight now. 

It’s surprisingly cool here in Nairobi. I planned for heat!!  Samburu where I am going next should be hot. 

I received a gift when I arrived of a beautiful book of East African animals. I love it. But I can’t handle the weight of a book. I’m going to give it to my driver tomorrow and ask him to bring it back to me when they take me back to the International airport for my return. I hope they are not offended by my rudeness. 

My only other glitch is two of my adapters don’t work. I suspect they didn’t last trip either. This time I’m tossing them. There is a gift shop here in the hotel that opens at 7 am. I’m trusting they will have some. 

I leave here at 8:20 am to go to the little airport. My flight on the small plane is @1020. 

Time to try to get some sleep. 

I arrived in Amsterdam. Checked into the Yotel for 3 hours to have a rest in a “capsule”.  

The capsule does have a tiny bathroom too. 

Then it’s another 8 hour flight to Nairobi.

I’m all checked in and sitting at the gate about to begin this journey. I’m not very excited about the 48 straight hours of travel ahead … wish I were like Hermione and could apparate!!

I heard from Shivani Bhalla, at Ewaso Lions, whom I am headed to visit. She said “lots” of rain on the way. And she said wildlife viewing will be “low”.  They are thrilled it’s going to rain. I certainly am not. I was even less thrilled when I pulled up the weather and saw rain every single day of my trip no matter where I am. The rains are early. They usually come in November. So I threw a pair of rain pants into my duffle. I do hope I see plenty of wildlife. And I hope the lions are not all taking cover under bushes. 

My bags are overweight. On the small planes we are allowed a total of 33 pounds INCLUDING hand luggage. They weighed my duffle at 23.5 pounds here. I know my backpack is more than 10 pounds. We will see what happens in Nairobi Wednesday morning. 

In the meantime a lot of time in planes before then.

I wonder…….

I wonder how many different lions I will see? 
In 2014 I saw 117 different individual lions.
In 2016 – 94.
I wonder how many I will see this year?

I wonder what will be the first mammal I will see?
In 2014 it was a zebra.
In 2016 – an impala!
I wonder what it will be this year?

I wonder what new things I will see?

My trip to Kenya is getting closer!  

Here is a map of where I’ll be going.  

• A: Nairobi, where I land and spend a quick night.
• B. Samburu: where my friends at Ewaso Lions live and work. I’ll spend the bulk of my trip there.  
• C. Then I move on the Massai Mara for safari.  
• D. Finally, Diani Beach on the Indian Ocean for a few days of relaxation.  
• A. Back to Nairobi for a flight home.