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Borana ranch and the Lewa Conservatory on the Laikipia plateau:
Just like the flight into the Mara, the flight out was mostly in a cloudless sky. We only saw rare man-made blemishes on the landscape below. About an hour into our flight, we flew over the rift valley; a geological ditch running from Syria to South Africa containing some of the world's deepest lakes. 30-minutes later, we approached a cloud bank with the jagged snow capped peaks of Mt. Kenya jutting through. We knew we were close, and not long after, we began our decent and spotted the single dirt/grass airstrip we were getting accustomed to. Since we were on Borana Ranch land, only one rover was waiting, and only after a short drive, we arrived. We were welcomed by the manager, Alice and several staff members who carried our bags to the cottage. Alice told us that we would be the only guests during our entire stay. Once again, our hope for an un-crowded vacation had turned into what had become an almost exclusive vacation.
Eight cottages dotted a hillside and were separated by thick vegetation. All buildings were constructed of heavy logs and thatched roofs. Our cottage was luxurious with the same heavy log construction inside and out. Five slated stone steps led down to a large bathroom. The shower and separate tub were built into boulder outcroppings. The living area had a fireplace and a sitting area next to "floor to ceiling" windows, providing us with wonderful views. From this room, wooden steps led down to our private cabana that also had a view of the valley. A grassy heliport was next to our cabana. Not far away was an infinity pool, sitting area and a large brick oven and bar.
The Ranch: Initially homesteaded around 1918, the third generation of family is now stewards of Borana. The ranch is over 35,000 acres and is adjoined to the 55,000 acre Lewa conservancy. Lewa was created from part of Borana and two other ranches to protect endangered rhino. Borana is less than 20 miles from the equator but considering it is 7000 feet above sea level, it was cool enough that the staff had a fire burning when we returned from our sundowners each evening. We had also become accustomed to hot water bottles between the sheets. Rather than vast grassy savannahs, which we experienced in our first two venues, Borana is similar to the foot hills of north Georgia. The dirt roads were bumpy and steep at times. There were large open areas, but the landscape was dominated by small trees shaped exactly like whatever animal you were looking for at the time. Some of the hills were steep and had rocky outcroppings. One very prominent rock was called pride-rock and we were told it was the inspiration for pride-rock in the "Lion King". The Borana folks believe it, so heck, I believe it too. It certainly looked like pride-rock in the "Lion King". Pride-rock was to become part of one of our most memorable days.
Cast of characters: Both in there 80's, Tony and Rose Dyer are the patriarch and matriarch of Borana and their sons, whom we did not meet, run the businesses. We met Jack, one of two grandsons. Jack is an accomplished photographer and wildlife painter. A couple of his paintings hung in the lodge and seemed quite good to me. He also takes pride in being a chef. Since we were the only guest, we gave him permission to experiment on us with new recepies, and we enjoyed several original, artfully presented meals that he tried out on us. Jack is only 23 years old, and he impressed me. Brita, his German girlfriend was visiting, and we enjoyed sharing a couple of lunches with them served around the pool. Alice, the manager, is from England and probably in her mid 20's. We discovered she had been at Borana about two days longer than Peggy and I. She was standing in for one of the ruling sons who had just left for a 4-month holiday. Of course the man who collected us from the airfield, and who we spent several hours each day with, was our guide and driver, Albert. Albert was a very interesting guy. Besides being extremely knowledgeable about plants, trees, insects and every kind of animal you can think of, he had a deep understanding of the relationship between things, almost on a cellular level. With eyes like an eagle, he could spot animals that I could barely see with my binoculars. He was multi-dimensional, and is competing in a 170 kilometer mountain bike race this week. He has also climbed Mt. Kenya 50 times. All non-European Kenyans are members of one of 20 or so tribes. When I ask him which tribe he belonged to, he said he was only Kenyan and obviously had a great deal of national pride. He seemed conflicted talking about folklore and the differences between the way he was raised, and the adoption of new modern ways. He did carry a smart phone. I ask him if he had a family, and as fast as a gun-slinger he slung out pictures of his wife and 2-year old son and obviously was extremely proud. If we lived on the same continent, he was truly a guy I would enjoy being friends with.
Animals and behavior: On our first afternoon drive we came across a lone male buffalo that was limping. As we got closer, we could see a terrible wound on his front left leg. Buffalo, whether alone or in a herd, always look at you with an "I may trample you or a may not" look on their face, and this one had a particularly nasty sneer. We had interrupted him as he walked back and forth through a deep mud hole. I thought he was simply trying to sooth his pain, but Albert said he was covering the wound so predators would not see that he was injured. Later, some herdsman told us that two lions had attacked a buffalo which was probably the one we saw. Not sure how the lions faired, but obviously the buffalo gave as good as he got and survived for one more day.
For our first Borana sundowner, Albert stopped on an open plain. It was cold enough for our coats and Peggy wrapped up in a blanket to enjoy the sunset. In the distance, we could see a herd of cattle. Borana Ranch is named for the breed of cows native to the area, so we asked if we could see them. We arrived to see a newborn calf on shaky legs trying to find the right spigot on mom. The herdsmen told Albert we arrived less than 5-minutes after his birth. Even though we had seen so many wild animals, this scene was Very cool!
We had watched dozens of dominant male animals, like gazelle and impala, trying to defend their harems from other bucks. Usually the females were disinterested in the outcome and just continued grazing. On one occasion, the females seemed very interested in the outcome. They ran along watching all the skirmishes between two buck impalas. I couldn't help wonder who they were pulling for. Were they looking for a new spark in their relationship?
One day we drove into the conservancy to find rhino and were treated to some new critters. Helmeted guineafowl, crowned cranes, kori bustards, a 40 lb leopard tortoise, grey and yellow-billed hornbills, yellow-billed oxpeckers, reticulated giraffe, duikers, spiraled horned kudu, oryx, grevy's zebra and rock hyrax. Two particularly beautiful deer like critters were the klipspringer and the gerenuk. The tiny klipspringers have Velcro like pads on their hooves to help them climb. We watched a family of these easily climb sheer rock walls. The gerenuk has a giraffe like neck with a deer-like body. Looks like a gummy deer. We also drove by a small lake in the conservancy. We watched a crocodile unsuccessfully stalk some waterside grevy's zebra, and on the day of our departure, we witnessed a true African watering hole site. Zebra, buffalo, impala, rhino and elephant were all gathered around drinking. No sign of the croc. One of the rhino must have said something about an elephant's mama, because the elephant challenged the rhino family. The rhino retreated a short distance, but the elephant, kicked up dust, flapped his ears, shook his head, raised his trunk and trumpeted over and over until the rhino said "WHAT EVER" and left.
On this same trip across the conservancy, we also witnessed a battle between two male giraffes. They used their long necks and heads as battering rams and delivered body blows and blows to each others legs over and over. In soccer, they would have gotten a "play-on", but in football you would have seen a yellow flag. Albert said this could go on for hours and with a flight to catch, we couldn't wait to see the outcome.
For lunch, Albert stopped in a shaded area where 3-white rhino were enjoying lunch. Albert asks if we were ready to eat..."yeah why"? You want to eat here..."sure". He made our table on one side of the rover and the rhino continued to dine 40 yards away on the other side. Protecting these animals is serious business. If caught poaching rhino, there's no jury of your peers, the poacher is shot on the spot. Likewise, if poachers get the drop on a ranger, they shoot him. With no sign of poachers in sight, we enjoyed a 3-course meal featuring roasted chicken. I hope the rhino were as satisfied with their lunch
.
On this same drive we found ourselves in the path of a huge old bull elephant lumbering alone and heading to wherever elephants go. He was sort of snaggled toothed with a broken tusk from some past battle. He and I could possibly be about the same age, and I wished we could have compared notes. I would have like to have known if he thought it was worth it all, and if he had any regrets. I wondered if failing vision and hearing were taking its toll or if tremor in his trunk or if flatulence was a problem.
We had run into black-faced vervet monkeys several times during our trip, but on one occasion they were uninvited house guest. One morning, we had gone to have breakfast under shade trees on the lawn, and Peggy had left a window open in our cottage. After eating, I went to get our telephoto camera. When I entered, 3-monkeys were ransacking our room. Two of them disappeared out the window in a flash; the third froze and had an OMG look on his face, he was still too quick for me to get my pocket camera out to document the crime. I did get some pictures of these little cat burglars with their hands and faces plastered against our picture window like innocent kids looking into a candy store window. Luckily, nothing was missing.
A truly memorable day: The day before departure was a day of surprises. We decided to try animal viewing by horse back and the plan was to have breakfast at the stables. Albert picked us up early and told us that breakfast at the stables meant breakfast with Tony and Rose Dyer. We arrived after a 30-minute drive. The Dyer's farm looked like farms that I remember as a kid with a farm house and several out buildings that included stables, and animal holding pens. It obviously had a woman's touch and these pens and buildings were lined with flowering trees and bushes. One thing I noticed right off was that there were no tractors or other machinery visible. We did see an ox cart driven by two farm hands. We were greeted by Rose, who still rides horses by-the-way, and she led us inside their modest farm house to freshen up. There furniture either was upholstered with animal hide or had animal hide throws covering them. The walls were packed with photos, sketches and paintings that told the decades long Dyer's story. We also met the first American we had seen since getting off the plane in Nairobi. Her name was Liz. She was from Washington State, and had recently graduated from college with a degree in anthropology. She was on the first leg of her "year off" world travel plan, and was living and working for the Dyers schooling their horses. I believe she is leaving for Greece in February. She was a delight, and accompanied us on our ride. We sat down and were served an old fashioned farm breakfast beginning with porridge with heavy cream, followed by scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, homemade butter, jam and tea. All except for the tea was raised on this farm. Tony and I chatted about Tony's early days guiding safaris. Peggy and Liz discussed the therapeutic use for horses. Rose was interested in what Peggy and I do and our family, and in general we had a wonderful conversation with these two octogenarians and Liz. I don't know if you remember the TV show Bonanza. It was about a huge ranch named The Ponderosa and about the Cartwrights who owned it. If you do, you're dating yourself. If you don't there are a number of parallels between the Borana and Ponderosa stories. I felt like we were breaking bread with the Cartwrights, and I couldn't help wonder if it was common for other Borana guest to be invited into their home.
We enjoyed our ride and every minute of our visit with the Dyers then we returned to Borana for lunch. It was a little early for lunch, so we went to our cottage. We could see a number of elephants grazing on the slope across the lake. One family made up of a matriarch and a couple of other mature females plus a couple of almost full grown youngsters and a baby in tow. They were headed down the slope to the lake. They split up and reached the lake about 100 yards apart. They simply drank at first, but the two away from the group took a short cut and waded into the lake at shoulder deep depth and rejoined the others. Once together, they all began to wallow in the mud. They would stick only their heads under water, and I swear these animals were just blowing bubbles. They engaged in head butting, pushing and trunk wrestling contest. They threw mud on themselves, they threw mud on each other, they squirted water on themselves and each other. We could hear, what I am sure was, elephant laughter rising up from the lake.
Watching these elephants have fun Was! Pure! Joy! It was at this moment, I realized that I could never go to another zoo as long as I live.
We shared lunch with Jack, Brita and Alice. Jack wanted us to give our opinion on three pizza recipes cooked in the poolside brick oven. We all gave him our vote which for me required several pieces of each. By this time in our trip, we had seen almost every animal from Noah's ark except a leopard. We decided to skip our afternoon drive, and Albert suggested we leave in time for our sundowner then go leopard shinning after dark. He and a fellow named William picked us up and we drove around for a while before stopping down the slope from pride-rock for our sundowner. We weren't sure if we could make the climb, but we headed up and with some difficulty, including spooking a buffalo that decided to run rather than charge, we made it to the top. Out of breathe we were treated to a fantastic view and we enjoyed our wine toast. After singing a few bars of "hakuna matata," we picked our way down through the boulders. Little did we know that we being tested for something later?
After dark Albert gave Peggy and William spot lights and we drove up and down, over and through the hills and valleys looking for glowing eyes. We saw hundreds, which was actually kind of freaky, but all were dik-diks, grazing animals of bush babies. I think bush babies are members of the raccoon family but are more like squirrels with large hyperthyroid like bulging eyes. By now it's after 9pm and no leopard. Albert excitedly said he saw a hyena and speculated he may be trying to steal a leopard's kill. I didn't see anything but I felt a little excitement at the prospect. Albert said he wanted to check a particular tree, but when we drove off into the vegetation, Peggy and I saw a tree lighted with kerosene lanterns with steep wooden steps also lighted with lanterns leading up into a tree house. A couple of the Borana staff were in the tree and one was on the ground. In the dark, Peggy and I were still confused about what was happening. Albert and William began to laugh and announced this was where we were having dinner. To say we were surprised would be an understatement. We made it up the difficult steps and in the glow of the lanterns found sultan pillows, warmed with hot water bottles, lap blankets and a wonderful 3-course meal and wine. Later we learned there was some concern about the ability of two old f**ts to climb the ladder to the tree house, so we were tested at pride-rock, and in addition, they had a contingency ground level plan. As we enjoyed our meal, all Peggy and I could do was giggle and wonder if we could get out of that tree.
What a day! One of the most memorable of many memorable days. Erin called after we had returned to Athens and I told her about our breakfast and tree house dinner. She assured me that guest weren't typically treated this way so I can only conclude that Peggy and I must be more charming than you folks give us credit for.
Departure day: As the staff loaded our stuff in the rover, Alice brought Peggy a parting gift. After one of our meals, a couple of small squares of fudge were included with dessert. Peggy mentioned to someone that this was as close to her mom's fudge as any she has ever had. When Peggy looked at her gift, it was a container filled with fudge. I only hope I gave a respectable tip, but I left feeling these folks had gone above and beyond.
We were flying from a different airfield and the rout took us back through the conservancy. We enjoyed our last looks at many of the wonderful animals we had seen in the Mara and here. We actually made it to the airstrip 10 minutes before our 12 passenger plane touched down. It only took a few minutes for a single passenger to deplane and to get our bags stowed aboard. Before taking off, the pilot told us we had two stops before arriving in Nairobi, and as we sped down the grassy strip, we waved goodbye to Albert and the Borana Ranch. Next up Zanzibar.
Just like the flight into the Mara, the flight out was mostly in a cloudless sky. We only saw rare man-made blemishes on the landscape below. About an hour into our flight, we flew over the rift valley; a geological ditch running from Syria to South Africa containing some of the world's deepest lakes. 30-minutes later, we approached a cloud bank with the jagged snow capped peaks of Mt. Kenya jutting through. We knew we were close, and not long after, we began our decent and spotted the single dirt/grass airstrip we were getting accustomed to. Since we were on Borana Ranch land, only one rover was waiting, and only after a short drive, we arrived. We were welcomed by the manager, Alice and several staff members who carried our bags to the cottage. Alice told us that we would be the only guests during our entire stay. Once again, our hope for an un-crowded vacation had turned into what had become an almost exclusive vacation.
Eight cottages dotted a hillside and were separated by thick vegetation. All buildings were constructed of heavy logs and thatched roofs. Our cottage was luxurious with the same heavy log construction inside and out. Five slated stone steps led down to a large bathroom. The shower and separate tub were built into boulder outcroppings. The living area had a fireplace and a sitting area next to "floor to ceiling" windows, providing us with wonderful views. From this room, wooden steps led down to our private cabana that also had a view of the valley. A grassy heliport was next to our cabana. Not far away was an infinity pool, sitting area and a large brick oven and bar.
The Ranch: Initially homesteaded around 1918, the third generation of family is now stewards of Borana. The ranch is over 35,000 acres and is adjoined to the 55,000 acre Lewa conservancy. Lewa was created from part of Borana and two other ranches to protect endangered rhino. Borana is less than 20 miles from the equator but considering it is 7000 feet above sea level, it was cool enough that the staff had a fire burning when we returned from our sundowners each evening. We had also become accustomed to hot water bottles between the sheets. Rather than vast grassy savannahs, which we experienced in our first two venues, Borana is similar to the foot hills of north Georgia. The dirt roads were bumpy and steep at times. There were large open areas, but the landscape was dominated by small trees shaped exactly like whatever animal you were looking for at the time. Some of the hills were steep and had rocky outcroppings. One very prominent rock was called pride-rock and we were told it was the inspiration for pride-rock in the "Lion King". The Borana folks believe it, so heck, I believe it too. It certainly looked like pride-rock in the "Lion King". Pride-rock was to become part of one of our most memorable days.
Cast of characters: Both in there 80's, Tony and Rose Dyer are the patriarch and matriarch of Borana and their sons, whom we did not meet, run the businesses. We met Jack, one of two grandsons. Jack is an accomplished photographer and wildlife painter. A couple of his paintings hung in the lodge and seemed quite good to me. He also takes pride in being a chef. Since we were the only guest, we gave him permission to experiment on us with new recepies, and we enjoyed several original, artfully presented meals that he tried out on us. Jack is only 23 years old, and he impressed me. Brita, his German girlfriend was visiting, and we enjoyed sharing a couple of lunches with them served around the pool. Alice, the manager, is from England and probably in her mid 20's. We discovered she had been at Borana about two days longer than Peggy and I. She was standing in for one of the ruling sons who had just left for a 4-month holiday. Of course the man who collected us from the airfield, and who we spent several hours each day with, was our guide and driver, Albert. Albert was a very interesting guy. Besides being extremely knowledgeable about plants, trees, insects and every kind of animal you can think of, he had a deep understanding of the relationship between things, almost on a cellular level. With eyes like an eagle, he could spot animals that I could barely see with my binoculars. He was multi-dimensional, and is competing in a 170 kilometer mountain bike race this week. He has also climbed Mt. Kenya 50 times. All non-European Kenyans are members of one of 20 or so tribes. When I ask him which tribe he belonged to, he said he was only Kenyan and obviously had a great deal of national pride. He seemed conflicted talking about folklore and the differences between the way he was raised, and the adoption of new modern ways. He did carry a smart phone. I ask him if he had a family, and as fast as a gun-slinger he slung out pictures of his wife and 2-year old son and obviously was extremely proud. If we lived on the same continent, he was truly a guy I would enjoy being friends with.
Animals and behavior: On our first afternoon drive we came across a lone male buffalo that was limping. As we got closer, we could see a terrible wound on his front left leg. Buffalo, whether alone or in a herd, always look at you with an "I may trample you or a may not" look on their face, and this one had a particularly nasty sneer. We had interrupted him as he walked back and forth through a deep mud hole. I thought he was simply trying to sooth his pain, but Albert said he was covering the wound so predators would not see that he was injured. Later, some herdsman told us that two lions had attacked a buffalo which was probably the one we saw. Not sure how the lions faired, but obviously the buffalo gave as good as he got and survived for one more day.
For our first Borana sundowner, Albert stopped on an open plain. It was cold enough for our coats and Peggy wrapped up in a blanket to enjoy the sunset. In the distance, we could see a herd of cattle. Borana Ranch is named for the breed of cows native to the area, so we asked if we could see them. We arrived to see a newborn calf on shaky legs trying to find the right spigot on mom. The herdsmen told Albert we arrived less than 5-minutes after his birth. Even though we had seen so many wild animals, this scene was Very cool!
We had watched dozens of dominant male animals, like gazelle and impala, trying to defend their harems from other bucks. Usually the females were disinterested in the outcome and just continued grazing. On one occasion, the females seemed very interested in the outcome. They ran along watching all the skirmishes between two buck impalas. I couldn't help wonder who they were pulling for. Were they looking for a new spark in their relationship?
One day we drove into the conservancy to find rhino and were treated to some new critters. Helmeted guineafowl, crowned cranes, kori bustards, a 40 lb leopard tortoise, grey and yellow-billed hornbills, yellow-billed oxpeckers, reticulated giraffe, duikers, spiraled horned kudu, oryx, grevy's zebra and rock hyrax. Two particularly beautiful deer like critters were the klipspringer and the gerenuk. The tiny klipspringers have Velcro like pads on their hooves to help them climb. We watched a family of these easily climb sheer rock walls. The gerenuk has a giraffe like neck with a deer-like body. Looks like a gummy deer. We also drove by a small lake in the conservancy. We watched a crocodile unsuccessfully stalk some waterside grevy's zebra, and on the day of our departure, we witnessed a true African watering hole site. Zebra, buffalo, impala, rhino and elephant were all gathered around drinking. No sign of the croc. One of the rhino must have said something about an elephant's mama, because the elephant challenged the rhino family. The rhino retreated a short distance, but the elephant, kicked up dust, flapped his ears, shook his head, raised his trunk and trumpeted over and over until the rhino said "WHAT EVER" and left.
On this same trip across the conservancy, we also witnessed a battle between two male giraffes. They used their long necks and heads as battering rams and delivered body blows and blows to each others legs over and over. In soccer, they would have gotten a "play-on", but in football you would have seen a yellow flag. Albert said this could go on for hours and with a flight to catch, we couldn't wait to see the outcome.
For lunch, Albert stopped in a shaded area where 3-white rhino were enjoying lunch. Albert asks if we were ready to eat..."yeah why"? You want to eat here..."sure". He made our table on one side of the rover and the rhino continued to dine 40 yards away on the other side. Protecting these animals is serious business. If caught poaching rhino, there's no jury of your peers, the poacher is shot on the spot. Likewise, if poachers get the drop on a ranger, they shoot him. With no sign of poachers in sight, we enjoyed a 3-course meal featuring roasted chicken. I hope the rhino were as satisfied with their lunch
.
On this same drive we found ourselves in the path of a huge old bull elephant lumbering alone and heading to wherever elephants go. He was sort of snaggled toothed with a broken tusk from some past battle. He and I could possibly be about the same age, and I wished we could have compared notes. I would have like to have known if he thought it was worth it all, and if he had any regrets. I wondered if failing vision and hearing were taking its toll or if tremor in his trunk or if flatulence was a problem.
We had run into black-faced vervet monkeys several times during our trip, but on one occasion they were uninvited house guest. One morning, we had gone to have breakfast under shade trees on the lawn, and Peggy had left a window open in our cottage. After eating, I went to get our telephoto camera. When I entered, 3-monkeys were ransacking our room. Two of them disappeared out the window in a flash; the third froze and had an OMG look on his face, he was still too quick for me to get my pocket camera out to document the crime. I did get some pictures of these little cat burglars with their hands and faces plastered against our picture window like innocent kids looking into a candy store window. Luckily, nothing was missing.
A truly memorable day: The day before departure was a day of surprises. We decided to try animal viewing by horse back and the plan was to have breakfast at the stables. Albert picked us up early and told us that breakfast at the stables meant breakfast with Tony and Rose Dyer. We arrived after a 30-minute drive. The Dyer's farm looked like farms that I remember as a kid with a farm house and several out buildings that included stables, and animal holding pens. It obviously had a woman's touch and these pens and buildings were lined with flowering trees and bushes. One thing I noticed right off was that there were no tractors or other machinery visible. We did see an ox cart driven by two farm hands. We were greeted by Rose, who still rides horses by-the-way, and she led us inside their modest farm house to freshen up. There furniture either was upholstered with animal hide or had animal hide throws covering them. The walls were packed with photos, sketches and paintings that told the decades long Dyer's story. We also met the first American we had seen since getting off the plane in Nairobi. Her name was Liz. She was from Washington State, and had recently graduated from college with a degree in anthropology. She was on the first leg of her "year off" world travel plan, and was living and working for the Dyers schooling their horses. I believe she is leaving for Greece in February. She was a delight, and accompanied us on our ride. We sat down and were served an old fashioned farm breakfast beginning with porridge with heavy cream, followed by scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, homemade butter, jam and tea. All except for the tea was raised on this farm. Tony and I chatted about Tony's early days guiding safaris. Peggy and Liz discussed the therapeutic use for horses. Rose was interested in what Peggy and I do and our family, and in general we had a wonderful conversation with these two octogenarians and Liz. I don't know if you remember the TV show Bonanza. It was about a huge ranch named The Ponderosa and about the Cartwrights who owned it. If you do, you're dating yourself. If you don't there are a number of parallels between the Borana and Ponderosa stories. I felt like we were breaking bread with the Cartwrights, and I couldn't help wonder if it was common for other Borana guest to be invited into their home.
We enjoyed our ride and every minute of our visit with the Dyers then we returned to Borana for lunch. It was a little early for lunch, so we went to our cottage. We could see a number of elephants grazing on the slope across the lake. One family made up of a matriarch and a couple of other mature females plus a couple of almost full grown youngsters and a baby in tow. They were headed down the slope to the lake. They split up and reached the lake about 100 yards apart. They simply drank at first, but the two away from the group took a short cut and waded into the lake at shoulder deep depth and rejoined the others. Once together, they all began to wallow in the mud. They would stick only their heads under water, and I swear these animals were just blowing bubbles. They engaged in head butting, pushing and trunk wrestling contest. They threw mud on themselves, they threw mud on each other, they squirted water on themselves and each other. We could hear, what I am sure was, elephant laughter rising up from the lake.
Watching these elephants have fun Was! Pure! Joy! It was at this moment, I realized that I could never go to another zoo as long as I live.
We shared lunch with Jack, Brita and Alice. Jack wanted us to give our opinion on three pizza recipes cooked in the poolside brick oven. We all gave him our vote which for me required several pieces of each. By this time in our trip, we had seen almost every animal from Noah's ark except a leopard. We decided to skip our afternoon drive, and Albert suggested we leave in time for our sundowner then go leopard shinning after dark. He and a fellow named William picked us up and we drove around for a while before stopping down the slope from pride-rock for our sundowner. We weren't sure if we could make the climb, but we headed up and with some difficulty, including spooking a buffalo that decided to run rather than charge, we made it to the top. Out of breathe we were treated to a fantastic view and we enjoyed our wine toast. After singing a few bars of "hakuna matata," we picked our way down through the boulders. Little did we know that we being tested for something later?
After dark Albert gave Peggy and William spot lights and we drove up and down, over and through the hills and valleys looking for glowing eyes. We saw hundreds, which was actually kind of freaky, but all were dik-diks, grazing animals of bush babies. I think bush babies are members of the raccoon family but are more like squirrels with large hyperthyroid like bulging eyes. By now it's after 9pm and no leopard. Albert excitedly said he saw a hyena and speculated he may be trying to steal a leopard's kill. I didn't see anything but I felt a little excitement at the prospect. Albert said he wanted to check a particular tree, but when we drove off into the vegetation, Peggy and I saw a tree lighted with kerosene lanterns with steep wooden steps also lighted with lanterns leading up into a tree house. A couple of the Borana staff were in the tree and one was on the ground. In the dark, Peggy and I were still confused about what was happening. Albert and William began to laugh and announced this was where we were having dinner. To say we were surprised would be an understatement. We made it up the difficult steps and in the glow of the lanterns found sultan pillows, warmed with hot water bottles, lap blankets and a wonderful 3-course meal and wine. Later we learned there was some concern about the ability of two old f**ts to climb the ladder to the tree house, so we were tested at pride-rock, and in addition, they had a contingency ground level plan. As we enjoyed our meal, all Peggy and I could do was giggle and wonder if we could get out of that tree.
What a day! One of the most memorable of many memorable days. Erin called after we had returned to Athens and I told her about our breakfast and tree house dinner. She assured me that guest weren't typically treated this way so I can only conclude that Peggy and I must be more charming than you folks give us credit for.
Departure day: As the staff loaded our stuff in the rover, Alice brought Peggy a parting gift. After one of our meals, a couple of small squares of fudge were included with dessert. Peggy mentioned to someone that this was as close to her mom's fudge as any she has ever had. When Peggy looked at her gift, it was a container filled with fudge. I only hope I gave a respectable tip, but I left feeling these folks had gone above and beyond.
We were flying from a different airfield and the rout took us back through the conservancy. We enjoyed our last looks at many of the wonderful animals we had seen in the Mara and here. We actually made it to the airstrip 10 minutes before our 12 passenger plane touched down. It only took a few minutes for a single passenger to deplane and to get our bags stowed aboard. Before taking off, the pilot told us we had two stops before arriving in Nairobi, and as we sped down the grassy strip, we waved goodbye to Albert and the Borana Ranch. Next up Zanzibar.
Kicheche Bush Camp; Olare Orok Conservancy in the Maasai Mara Region
45 minutes into our flight and with Nairobi well in our rear view mirror, we began to glide back to earth. We touched down at Maasai Mara International Airport on a runway that wasn't quite grass nor dirt, but a little of both. 4 or 5 land rovers waited next to the tike terminal, and several passengers deplaned. All drivers were wearing Maasai dress, which basically, is a red blanket slung over one shoulder. We were told that red scares off lions, which is good stuff to know. Of course, the first man I shook hands with in the true wilds of Africa was named Livingston.
Gear stowed, we headed down the road. Actually, to call it a road would be elevating what it truly was...more like a track that other vehicles had driven over a time or two. The ruts were little rivers and in some cases, traction was better off the track. Not long into the drive, Dr. Livingston turned off `the road" and stopped near some bushes where 3 lionesses were sleeping. We took a wad of photos before moving on. A quarter mile further, we spotted a herd of elephants that included several babies, so he "off roaded" again. For several minutes, we watched them graze, trunk-wrestle and drink from a river before continuing to our camp. We've been in the Mara 30 minutes at this point.
Along the way we see large herds of Ruminants including a new one for us called a topi. They are medium sized and fast enough to be lion proof, except when they sleep. When sleeping, they lie down and support their mouth and nose pointed directly into the ground. Not sure how they breath, but apparently they sleep soundly. Sometimes lions will catch them napping. "You snooze you lose".
Anyhow, we make it to camp and are met by our host, Emma (not the Emakoko Emma) and Darren and the other guests.
Darren explained camp rules, the first being, don't leave your tent after dark without an Ascari escort. We were introduced to these night watchmen, security guard types at Emakoko. You never see them in daylight, but wave a flashlight outside your tent at night and they show up to protect you from animals. Each morning, we found new tracks and droppings in camp, and although we didn't see lion tracks, we could here lions talk at night.
The camp consisted of a main tent, completely open to air and designed for gathering. It consisted of a dining room and sitting parlor. Six guest tents were scattered amongst the trees, ours being the most distant by request. All power was solar, and Peggy was distraught that she couldn't use her curling iron. Peter was assigned as our attendant. He brought us coffee each morning, prepared our room each evening, and poured our bucket shower at night (more on bucket showers later). Darren issued us mud boots to protect our shoes before walking us down the 100 yard path to our tent. The path contained standing water and mud puddles; thus the mud boots. The floor plan consisted of a comfortable size sitting room with an entire wall that unzipped and rolled up during the day for viewing Africa and the host of animals in our front yard. We had a nice size bedroom that contained a comfortable queen size bed. This room adjoined a combination lavatory and dressing area. This section had a shower room with a teak wood floor off one end and bathroom off the other. It had more room than some of the apartments I lived in during my college days.
After situating ourselves, we were served lunch with the other guests in the shade of an acacia tree. A little later we prepared for our first Mara game drive. We met our guide, and if you have wondered what happened to Andrew Jones of Atlanta Braves fame, he is a safari guide in the Mara of Kenya. He introduced himself as Charles, but Peggy and I remained suspicious. We didn't see another other vehicle until supper. It's just impossible to describe the numbers and variety of animals we saw, but it wasn't long before Andrew/Charles found a family of adult lionesses with a couple of adolescent males...5 total. Initially, they were scattered under some bushes, and it seemed we would get more sleeping lion shots, but they eventually gathered for a team photo just a few feet from our rover on a baseball mound patch of ground. All struck very majestic sphinx like poses. Click, click, click, click, click, click.......
Kicheche introduced us to a wonderful tradition called sun-downers. At the end of the day, Charles would find a spot with a spectacular view, and we would toast the end of the day's safari and the sunset with beverage of choice. Actually, Peggy and I have been practicing a similar tradition for years.
For the next two nights, Charles found prides of lions, one night on an outcropping of rocks and the next on a rocky slope. The first night's pride had a full complement of lionesses with an adult male and cubs ranging from 2-9 months. The second night he found a pride made up of two families, each with and adult male, a couple of adolescence males and passel of cubs.
While we sipped our wine, cubs were constantly stalking and pouncing on each other. They chewed any tail that was near, even their own, and generally played like a bunch of kittens. At times they looked like a knot of lions, several tied together each chewing on someone's foot, or tail, or ear or somebody part of their own. Before sundown, the moms joined in the fun and allowed the cubs to get the best of them one moment, and become part of the lion knot the next... They even played with sticks and flowers. Even the King allowed cubs to pounce on him and chew his tail for a while. When he became tired of them, or it seemed un-regal like, he would give a gruff snarl, which the cubs seemed to ignore, so he would simply stand up, resulting in a waterfall of cubs. He would walk a few feet away and hope the cubs wouldn't follow. Play continued until just after sundown, and on cue, one at a time, the pride would slowly disappear into the dark to practice being at the top of the food chain.
On both of these nights, while driving back to camp, my eyes filled with tears. I'm not certain why. Perhaps I was happy these lions chose not to eat us for supper, and God knows they could have. But I think it was because I felt so fortunate to have shared those sunsets on that particular patch of earth with Peggy and those incredible animals. I can assure you, they weren't sad tears...
That first evening we joined the birthday dinner, and after eating and gift giving, we all convened around a roaring fire. As a special treat for our birthday girl, the Maasai staff members did a ceremonial dance. Maasai don't celebrate birthdays, but they have a dance to celebrate birth. It was mesmerizing. Some men produced a deep throaty base sound while others blended in with similar but different sounds and pitches. In the glow of the fire, they danced. Individually, they would make a high pitched bark announcing their time to perform, and they would step out in front of the group and leap high in the air. Quite impressive, and reminded me of an Apache Indian war dance I saw once in an old John Wayne Movie.
We're still at over 5000 feet elevation and the night's air is cool. When we finally turned in, Peter had turned down our bed and left hot water bottles wrapped in a cuzzy. These stayed warm all night, and we slept very well. Our bucket shower worked like this. A small barrel of sorts was attached high on the outside of our tent. We would tell Peter when we wanted our shower, and he would collect about 5-gal of solar heated water, climb a ladder and dump it in the barrel. The shower head worked by pulling one chain to start flow and another to stop it. Actually it worked very well, was very warm and adequate for both of us.
We also found a Cheetah with two 9-month old cubs. Not far away, we saw a spotted hyena. Hyenas love to eat young cheetah cubs, but mom let her cubs play without much concern. Charles explained that she knew they were old enough to out-run the hyena. We spotted them the next day and again, the hyena was lurking nearby. We drove off and wished mom luck.
On each morning drive, Charles packed a picnic breakfast of coffee, pancakes, sausage, juice and granola. One morning he chose a shady spot in a river bend filled with hippo. We gave up trying to get the wide mouth yawn shot and sat down to a prepared table. We listened to the hippo blow and splash while we ate.
One afternoon, we visited a Maasai village, and on the way we saw our first crocodiles sunning on a river bank. Darren had warned us that a village visit was a commercial affair and sho' nuff, we had to negotiate with the chief's son on an entry price. We agreed on $20, but when I handed the money to what must have been the tribes treasurer, he said "$20 each." Ouch!. Once paid up, a group of 6-7 young men began their "welcome the cow's home" dance. To the untrained eye, it looked just like the "birth celebration dance". This time though, one of the men grabbed my arm dragging me into the dance. They looked sort of graceful strutting around, but I felt like a chicken clucking around the barn yard. These guys had NBA quality, vertical leaps, but I could barely get my fat can airborne. After my dance audition, we were lead into their village. Nineteen huts made of mud and cow dung were built in a ring around an open area. At night their cows were herded into this area for protection from predators. Besides mud, you can guess what else covered this ring of ground. He took us into a hut. To enter, I had to turn sideways. Most Americans would not have fit, no matter what. We could not stand up, and except for two small vent holes, there was no light. The size of the entire hut was about the dimensions of our den. It had three "bedrooms" that were more like berths on a small sail boat. The four of us, chief's son, Peggy, myself and a chicken barely fit in the great room which had a small smoldering cooking fire. Then we were guided to the center of the village where we met the chief. He asks about our family and told us he had 13 daughters and one son. Then the tribe's women dressed in their very colorful Sunday best grabbed Peggy for a dance in the muck. They didn't leap like WE warriors, but had more of what Whoopee Goldberg called that deep shoulder action in "Sister Act". During the dance, I cut a deal for Peggy, and if not for immigration, I would have 11 cows grazing in my backyard right now. Next we exited the village circle and were guided to a round, open air thatched building with a circular wooden shelf built inside. It was loaded with all sorts of carvings, jewelry, pottery and leather goods. All the women, who supposedly created these things, stood outside. We were invited to hand the son & treasurer person anything we were interested in. We picked out a handful of things and the negotiations began. The son picked up a small stick and wrote $450 on his arm. I nervously coughed. He handed Peggy the stick and she wrote $100. He reiterated that our entry donation and part of any sales went to their school. He showed the women a couple of items and a conversation in Swahili took place. He then wrote a counter offer on his arm. This scene repeated a time or two until we agreed on a price. I won't tell you what they fleeced us for, but remember, we had already dropped $40 bucks at the door. If the Maasai had been negotiating for New York City during our early colonial days, I feel sure they would have gotten the best end of the deal. As we were leaving, and chatting with the treasurer, he proudly told us he had just been admitted to law school. Immediately I began to think this village gig was just to earn beer money, and I envisioned the chief changing into his 3-piece suit while looking for his I Pad, and that the son was perhaps an aerospace engineer. It also occurred to me that we actually donated money to a school system, and I made a mental note to ask my accountant about a write off. Yes, it was expensive, but we do have a few neat souvenirs and memories from an interesting experience.
Driving in the Nairobi Reserve had been like riding a mechanical bull; driving in the Mara was essentially off road mudding. The rover spun, slipped, slid and fish-tailed most of the time, and every few minutes it seemed we were stuck until one of the four wheels would get enough traction to propel us forward. The constant motion worked on Peggy a little, but I thought it fun and worth the price of admission. After our hippo breakfast, Charles crossed a flowing river with a muddy 30 degree embankment that I wagered we weren't going to be able to climb. On the third try he made it. Ironically, a short distance from there, in what seemed like only a damp bog, we became hopelessly stuck. Charles would not let us help, but he worked for an hour collecting logs, stones and debris and using the rover's jack to try to free us. Here we learned that one of the disadvantages of having Africa all to yourself IS having Africa all to yourself. Peggy and I would have welcomed a human passerby, but only a troupe of baboons stopped to gawk. Charles did have a walkie talkie, but had to walk to the crest of a hill about a quarter of a mile away to be heard. Eventually, a Kicheche rescue squad came and hooked us up to a long steel cable and with both rovers redlined and with spinning, smoking tires and mud spewing everywhere, they pulled us about 2 car lengths before becoming stuck again. Guides from another camp also heard our radio, and came to help. With Peggy and I sitting pretty, like the King and Queen of England, these guys pushed and shoved and got covered in mud but were successful getting us unstuck and underway again. Two nights later while returning from our sun-downer, Charles returned the favor and rescued a supply truck stuck in a river after dark. For obvious reasons, the Mara applies maritime rules for helping each other.
We shared all our camp meals with either Emma, Darren or both, and we especially enjoyed conversing with our host. Besides good conversation, the food and wine was always excellent, presented artistically, and seemed too pretty to eat, but we ate it anyway.
The morning of our departure came too soon and Darren told me we would fly out of a new airfield. Said it was long enough for a 737, and I envisioned a real airport. We opted out of our early am game drive, and instead spent the time reorganizing and repacking. We decided to give an hour to for the 30-minute drive to our plane knowing we would take a 100 photos of something along the way. I'm a little OCD about being on time and would rather be early than ON time. Possibly missing a flight in a foreign land makes me especially twitchy. I was getting a bit annoyed with Charles and Peggy for stopping too frequently, and when Charles pointed out, what I already knew, that our flight should have left 10 minutes ago, I was certain we had not allowed enough time. Eventually, our rover crawled over a hill onto a vast savanna covered with grazing animals, including a lone wildebeest that apparently stayed behind from the great migration just for us to photograph. Charles announced we were there. No 737 waiting, and far in the distance, I could see a tiny aircraft, a wind sock and a single acacia tree. This was our airport, and I realized it was a private charter and was waiting only for us. The plane was a Cessna 172. I learned to fly a 172 over 40 years ago, and when it took 3 attempts to get this one cranked; I thought it could be the same aircraft. Finally, the engine sounded steady and strong and we began to taxi.
For some unknown reason, the animals stayed off the section of their grassy field designated by a few white rocks as the runway. I was amazed that we were able to get enough airspeed to get off the soft soggy field, and we waved at Andrew as we lifted off. Our pilot headed northeast into a cloudless sky toward Borana Ranch. We were sad to leave the Mara but anxious to see what came next.
45 minutes into our flight and with Nairobi well in our rear view mirror, we began to glide back to earth. We touched down at Maasai Mara International Airport on a runway that wasn't quite grass nor dirt, but a little of both. 4 or 5 land rovers waited next to the tike terminal, and several passengers deplaned. All drivers were wearing Maasai dress, which basically, is a red blanket slung over one shoulder. We were told that red scares off lions, which is good stuff to know. Of course, the first man I shook hands with in the true wilds of Africa was named Livingston.
Gear stowed, we headed down the road. Actually, to call it a road would be elevating what it truly was...more like a track that other vehicles had driven over a time or two. The ruts were little rivers and in some cases, traction was better off the track. Not long into the drive, Dr. Livingston turned off `the road" and stopped near some bushes where 3 lionesses were sleeping. We took a wad of photos before moving on. A quarter mile further, we spotted a herd of elephants that included several babies, so he "off roaded" again. For several minutes, we watched them graze, trunk-wrestle and drink from a river before continuing to our camp. We've been in the Mara 30 minutes at this point.
Along the way we see large herds of Ruminants including a new one for us called a topi. They are medium sized and fast enough to be lion proof, except when they sleep. When sleeping, they lie down and support their mouth and nose pointed directly into the ground. Not sure how they breath, but apparently they sleep soundly. Sometimes lions will catch them napping. "You snooze you lose".
Anyhow, we make it to camp and are met by our host, Emma (not the Emakoko Emma) and Darren and the other guests.
Darren explained camp rules, the first being, don't leave your tent after dark without an Ascari escort. We were introduced to these night watchmen, security guard types at Emakoko. You never see them in daylight, but wave a flashlight outside your tent at night and they show up to protect you from animals. Each morning, we found new tracks and droppings in camp, and although we didn't see lion tracks, we could here lions talk at night.
The camp consisted of a main tent, completely open to air and designed for gathering. It consisted of a dining room and sitting parlor. Six guest tents were scattered amongst the trees, ours being the most distant by request. All power was solar, and Peggy was distraught that she couldn't use her curling iron. Peter was assigned as our attendant. He brought us coffee each morning, prepared our room each evening, and poured our bucket shower at night (more on bucket showers later). Darren issued us mud boots to protect our shoes before walking us down the 100 yard path to our tent. The path contained standing water and mud puddles; thus the mud boots. The floor plan consisted of a comfortable size sitting room with an entire wall that unzipped and rolled up during the day for viewing Africa and the host of animals in our front yard. We had a nice size bedroom that contained a comfortable queen size bed. This room adjoined a combination lavatory and dressing area. This section had a shower room with a teak wood floor off one end and bathroom off the other. It had more room than some of the apartments I lived in during my college days.
After situating ourselves, we were served lunch with the other guests in the shade of an acacia tree. A little later we prepared for our first Mara game drive. We met our guide, and if you have wondered what happened to Andrew Jones of Atlanta Braves fame, he is a safari guide in the Mara of Kenya. He introduced himself as Charles, but Peggy and I remained suspicious. We didn't see another other vehicle until supper. It's just impossible to describe the numbers and variety of animals we saw, but it wasn't long before Andrew/Charles found a family of adult lionesses with a couple of adolescent males...5 total. Initially, they were scattered under some bushes, and it seemed we would get more sleeping lion shots, but they eventually gathered for a team photo just a few feet from our rover on a baseball mound patch of ground. All struck very majestic sphinx like poses. Click, click, click, click, click, click.......
Kicheche introduced us to a wonderful tradition called sun-downers. At the end of the day, Charles would find a spot with a spectacular view, and we would toast the end of the day's safari and the sunset with beverage of choice. Actually, Peggy and I have been practicing a similar tradition for years.
For the next two nights, Charles found prides of lions, one night on an outcropping of rocks and the next on a rocky slope. The first night's pride had a full complement of lionesses with an adult male and cubs ranging from 2-9 months. The second night he found a pride made up of two families, each with and adult male, a couple of adolescence males and passel of cubs.
While we sipped our wine, cubs were constantly stalking and pouncing on each other. They chewed any tail that was near, even their own, and generally played like a bunch of kittens. At times they looked like a knot of lions, several tied together each chewing on someone's foot, or tail, or ear or somebody part of their own. Before sundown, the moms joined in the fun and allowed the cubs to get the best of them one moment, and become part of the lion knot the next... They even played with sticks and flowers. Even the King allowed cubs to pounce on him and chew his tail for a while. When he became tired of them, or it seemed un-regal like, he would give a gruff snarl, which the cubs seemed to ignore, so he would simply stand up, resulting in a waterfall of cubs. He would walk a few feet away and hope the cubs wouldn't follow. Play continued until just after sundown, and on cue, one at a time, the pride would slowly disappear into the dark to practice being at the top of the food chain.
On both of these nights, while driving back to camp, my eyes filled with tears. I'm not certain why. Perhaps I was happy these lions chose not to eat us for supper, and God knows they could have. But I think it was because I felt so fortunate to have shared those sunsets on that particular patch of earth with Peggy and those incredible animals. I can assure you, they weren't sad tears...
That first evening we joined the birthday dinner, and after eating and gift giving, we all convened around a roaring fire. As a special treat for our birthday girl, the Maasai staff members did a ceremonial dance. Maasai don't celebrate birthdays, but they have a dance to celebrate birth. It was mesmerizing. Some men produced a deep throaty base sound while others blended in with similar but different sounds and pitches. In the glow of the fire, they danced. Individually, they would make a high pitched bark announcing their time to perform, and they would step out in front of the group and leap high in the air. Quite impressive, and reminded me of an Apache Indian war dance I saw once in an old John Wayne Movie.
We're still at over 5000 feet elevation and the night's air is cool. When we finally turned in, Peter had turned down our bed and left hot water bottles wrapped in a cuzzy. These stayed warm all night, and we slept very well. Our bucket shower worked like this. A small barrel of sorts was attached high on the outside of our tent. We would tell Peter when we wanted our shower, and he would collect about 5-gal of solar heated water, climb a ladder and dump it in the barrel. The shower head worked by pulling one chain to start flow and another to stop it. Actually it worked very well, was very warm and adequate for both of us.
We also found a Cheetah with two 9-month old cubs. Not far away, we saw a spotted hyena. Hyenas love to eat young cheetah cubs, but mom let her cubs play without much concern. Charles explained that she knew they were old enough to out-run the hyena. We spotted them the next day and again, the hyena was lurking nearby. We drove off and wished mom luck.
On each morning drive, Charles packed a picnic breakfast of coffee, pancakes, sausage, juice and granola. One morning he chose a shady spot in a river bend filled with hippo. We gave up trying to get the wide mouth yawn shot and sat down to a prepared table. We listened to the hippo blow and splash while we ate.
One afternoon, we visited a Maasai village, and on the way we saw our first crocodiles sunning on a river bank. Darren had warned us that a village visit was a commercial affair and sho' nuff, we had to negotiate with the chief's son on an entry price. We agreed on $20, but when I handed the money to what must have been the tribes treasurer, he said "$20 each." Ouch!. Once paid up, a group of 6-7 young men began their "welcome the cow's home" dance. To the untrained eye, it looked just like the "birth celebration dance". This time though, one of the men grabbed my arm dragging me into the dance. They looked sort of graceful strutting around, but I felt like a chicken clucking around the barn yard. These guys had NBA quality, vertical leaps, but I could barely get my fat can airborne. After my dance audition, we were lead into their village. Nineteen huts made of mud and cow dung were built in a ring around an open area. At night their cows were herded into this area for protection from predators. Besides mud, you can guess what else covered this ring of ground. He took us into a hut. To enter, I had to turn sideways. Most Americans would not have fit, no matter what. We could not stand up, and except for two small vent holes, there was no light. The size of the entire hut was about the dimensions of our den. It had three "bedrooms" that were more like berths on a small sail boat. The four of us, chief's son, Peggy, myself and a chicken barely fit in the great room which had a small smoldering cooking fire. Then we were guided to the center of the village where we met the chief. He asks about our family and told us he had 13 daughters and one son. Then the tribe's women dressed in their very colorful Sunday best grabbed Peggy for a dance in the muck. They didn't leap like WE warriors, but had more of what Whoopee Goldberg called that deep shoulder action in "Sister Act". During the dance, I cut a deal for Peggy, and if not for immigration, I would have 11 cows grazing in my backyard right now. Next we exited the village circle and were guided to a round, open air thatched building with a circular wooden shelf built inside. It was loaded with all sorts of carvings, jewelry, pottery and leather goods. All the women, who supposedly created these things, stood outside. We were invited to hand the son & treasurer person anything we were interested in. We picked out a handful of things and the negotiations began. The son picked up a small stick and wrote $450 on his arm. I nervously coughed. He handed Peggy the stick and she wrote $100. He reiterated that our entry donation and part of any sales went to their school. He showed the women a couple of items and a conversation in Swahili took place. He then wrote a counter offer on his arm. This scene repeated a time or two until we agreed on a price. I won't tell you what they fleeced us for, but remember, we had already dropped $40 bucks at the door. If the Maasai had been negotiating for New York City during our early colonial days, I feel sure they would have gotten the best end of the deal. As we were leaving, and chatting with the treasurer, he proudly told us he had just been admitted to law school. Immediately I began to think this village gig was just to earn beer money, and I envisioned the chief changing into his 3-piece suit while looking for his I Pad, and that the son was perhaps an aerospace engineer. It also occurred to me that we actually donated money to a school system, and I made a mental note to ask my accountant about a write off. Yes, it was expensive, but we do have a few neat souvenirs and memories from an interesting experience.
Driving in the Nairobi Reserve had been like riding a mechanical bull; driving in the Mara was essentially off road mudding. The rover spun, slipped, slid and fish-tailed most of the time, and every few minutes it seemed we were stuck until one of the four wheels would get enough traction to propel us forward. The constant motion worked on Peggy a little, but I thought it fun and worth the price of admission. After our hippo breakfast, Charles crossed a flowing river with a muddy 30 degree embankment that I wagered we weren't going to be able to climb. On the third try he made it. Ironically, a short distance from there, in what seemed like only a damp bog, we became hopelessly stuck. Charles would not let us help, but he worked for an hour collecting logs, stones and debris and using the rover's jack to try to free us. Here we learned that one of the disadvantages of having Africa all to yourself IS having Africa all to yourself. Peggy and I would have welcomed a human passerby, but only a troupe of baboons stopped to gawk. Charles did have a walkie talkie, but had to walk to the crest of a hill about a quarter of a mile away to be heard. Eventually, a Kicheche rescue squad came and hooked us up to a long steel cable and with both rovers redlined and with spinning, smoking tires and mud spewing everywhere, they pulled us about 2 car lengths before becoming stuck again. Guides from another camp also heard our radio, and came to help. With Peggy and I sitting pretty, like the King and Queen of England, these guys pushed and shoved and got covered in mud but were successful getting us unstuck and underway again. Two nights later while returning from our sun-downer, Charles returned the favor and rescued a supply truck stuck in a river after dark. For obvious reasons, the Mara applies maritime rules for helping each other.
We shared all our camp meals with either Emma, Darren or both, and we especially enjoyed conversing with our host. Besides good conversation, the food and wine was always excellent, presented artistically, and seemed too pretty to eat, but we ate it anyway.
The morning of our departure came too soon and Darren told me we would fly out of a new airfield. Said it was long enough for a 737, and I envisioned a real airport. We opted out of our early am game drive, and instead spent the time reorganizing and repacking. We decided to give an hour to for the 30-minute drive to our plane knowing we would take a 100 photos of something along the way. I'm a little OCD about being on time and would rather be early than ON time. Possibly missing a flight in a foreign land makes me especially twitchy. I was getting a bit annoyed with Charles and Peggy for stopping too frequently, and when Charles pointed out, what I already knew, that our flight should have left 10 minutes ago, I was certain we had not allowed enough time. Eventually, our rover crawled over a hill onto a vast savanna covered with grazing animals, including a lone wildebeest that apparently stayed behind from the great migration just for us to photograph. Charles announced we were there. No 737 waiting, and far in the distance, I could see a tiny aircraft, a wind sock and a single acacia tree. This was our airport, and I realized it was a private charter and was waiting only for us. The plane was a Cessna 172. I learned to fly a 172 over 40 years ago, and when it took 3 attempts to get this one cranked; I thought it could be the same aircraft. Finally, the engine sounded steady and strong and we began to taxi.
For some unknown reason, the animals stayed off the section of their grassy field designated by a few white rocks as the runway. I was amazed that we were able to get enough airspeed to get off the soft soggy field, and we waved at Andrew as we lifted off. Our pilot headed northeast into a cloudless sky toward Borana Ranch. We were sad to leave the Mara but anxious to see what came next.
Prologue:
Peggy and I talked about going to Kenya since we were married. After the Peteets planned to visit Michelle in Nairobi, it just seemed like the time had come. We typically plan and book our own travel, but traveling nearly half a world away seemed too daunting to do so on our own. After some research, we found Uncharted Outpost in New Mexico to help us. We had originally planned to go this time last year, but a few grenades were tossed in a bus station and the Kenyan army invaded Somalia, so we decided to wait until the violence calmed a bit. Erin, our Uncharted Outposts travel consultant, arranged our tour to begin in early January at Emakoko, a wildlife lodge bordering the Nairobi National Wildlife Reserve.
Emakoko:
With our papers in order, we coasted through immigration and found a large group of Kenyan men holding signs outside the arrival door. We breathed a sigh of relief to see a pleasant looking man holding a sign that read "Curran."
Elizaban introduced himself as our driver, and explained that the drive to Emakoko would take about 45 minutes, 15 minutes on a paved road, the remainder on a dirt road. He did not mention how rugged the drive would be or that we would not see a paved road for nearly a week. As promised, we turned onto dirt and began what Elizaban called, an African message. Actually, it was a bone-rattling, teeth-jarring drive that momentarily ended at a gate, which in the glow of the headlights, reminded me of the gate into Jurassic Park. We breathed another sigh of relief when the armed guard that unchained the gate didn't drag us off into the night to rob and shoot us. We came to Kenya with a lot of misconceptions.
We turned off the bad road onto a much worse road, and could see lights in the distance. Just before coming to a stop at Emakoko, we saw a high giraffe meandering in the dark not far off the road. It's hard to see Kenyans at night, but in the glow of kerosene lamps, I think the entire staff met us to collect our bags and offer refreshing wet hand towels. We were also greeted by our host, Anton. The staff took our things directly to our room, and Anton invited us to have a drink before dinner. Since it was after 10pm when we arrived and we were full from airplane food, we declined dinner, but eagerly accepted the drink. About 10 minutes after our arrival, a foursome of Brits arrived from the same flight. They weren't hungry either, and we enjoyed chatting with them until late. At last, we were guided up very steep, lantern-lit, stone steps (numbering 126 according to Peggy). At over 6000ft above sea level, it required at least two huff & puff stops. Our bungalow was extremely roomy and well appointed. Mosquito netting surrounded a huge comfortable bed, and even though we were dog tired, we were sent off with the remainder of wine; We sat on our deck for a final glass.
I had ordered coffee at 6:30am. While I was dead to the world, Peggy heard tapping on our door exactly at 6:30. Peggy DOES NOT do 6:30, so I poured myself a cup and went out on the balcony to survey our surroundings. As the sun rose, I was treated to a band of black-faced vervet monkeys, foraging in the tree tops below. I spotted our giraffe grazing amongst the trees and with my binoculars, found a lone water buffalo shortening the grass on a nearby hill. Apparently, these two old bachelors have retired to the Emakoko.
As the sun rose, I saw we were in a narrow river valley, about a quarter mile from crest to crest. Our bungalow, along with two others, was just below the eastern rim; if you yelled as loud as you could, you could possibly converse with your neighbor. I saw our Brit friends leave early to continue their journey to another bush camp. Peggy was up at this point and repeated the 40-50 photos I had taken of the giraffe, buffalo and monkeys.
I walked down to breakfast first. The main lodge was open and airy. It was constructed of log and heavy stone and included two large fireplaces and hard wood floors. I found a comfortable chair to wait for Peggy while the staff produced another cup of strong Kenyan coffee. Out of the corner of my eye, just beyond the porch, I saw a flickering tail. An orphaned baby impala also resided at Emakoko. At breakfast, he came into the dining area and came right up to our table for Peggy to pet. Thoughts of Norman from City Slickers came to mind. We enjoyed the first of many delicious, made to order, meals with Norman grazing in view. The staff were very skilled and attentive, with quick smiles that seemed genuine. In fact, every Kenyan we met was friendly and gracious. We also met Emma, Anton's wife. She chatted with us for a long while and gave shopping suggestions and insight into the next part of journey.
Our only planned activity at Emakoko was to rest up from our travels and go into Nairobi to do some shopping. We also planned to go to David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (the elephant orphanage). What we didn't know was that driving anywhere was a safari to see animals. We saw large numbers of ruminants...Brahma-sized elunds, graceful gazelle and impala, beautiful bush bucks and tiny beagle sized dik-diks. As we rocked and bounced toward Nairobi, Elizaban suddenly stopped. Two lionesses slowly walked in the middle of the road, directly toward our rover. It appeared that they were going to jump on top the rover and walk front to rear. Instead, they detoured just enough to miss us but so close that I had to lean over the side of the open roof to get a shot. One of the lions sort of glanced up at me and it seemed to say "cheese." Exiting and reentering the park in different places gave us the opportunity to photograph white rhino, black rhino and wart hogs (both with babies), and Peggy tried her best to make personal photographs of every giraffe and zebra in the reserve.
We were only in Nairobi for a short time, but I'm certain it would not be one of my favorite big-cities. Driving in Nairobi was more nerve racking than New York City, and I was glad when our shopping was done.
Our visit to the elephant orphanage was also special. We were there for their feeding time and there were two age groups, a group of belly button high elephants (only months old) and a group of older kids about chest high.
The tiny ones followed a handler to their individual quarters and were hand-fed bottles of milk formula. We were told that the older group would come up on their own. This group did not do so calmly. It was more or less like a stamped. I had positioned myself at a corner post for good camera shots. These Volkswagen-sized animals knew the shortest route to their dinner and I realized, almost too late, that I was standing en-route. At the last moment, I moved along the fence line and prayed they wouldn't step on my feet. I thought the last had gone by so I moved to get a shot of them grabbing their own bottles. I did not realize that a straggler was bearing down on me. He brushed by so closely that he hit my arm and spun me around. A few inches to the left, and my trip would have ended there. We adopted Bomani, born during my birth month of July in 2011, and orphaned shortly after. We will get regular reports on him until he hopefully is released to the wild in about 5-years.
We ended the day with a wonderful meal by candle light. With a bottle of wine in hand, we climbed the 126 steps to our room. Sitting on our balcony, we finished the wine, enjoying Africa in the dark.
After another great breakfast, we said goodbye to Emma and the staff before Anton drove us to a small airport in Nairobi. Along the way, we saw more animals. Upon arrival, we boarded a 12 passenger, single engine, plane and lifted off for our two hour flight to the Kicheche Bush Camp in the Maasai Mara. As we climbed over Nairobi, we could see the city well. A prominent portion was slum, that from the air, reminded me of parts of Haiti.
Two days in Kenya and we enjoyed wonderful accommodations, great hosts and staff, excellent food and wine, plus hundreds of animals up close and personal. How could it get better?
Peggy and I talked about going to Kenya since we were married. After the Peteets planned to visit Michelle in Nairobi, it just seemed like the time had come. We typically plan and book our own travel, but traveling nearly half a world away seemed too daunting to do so on our own. After some research, we found Uncharted Outpost in New Mexico to help us. We had originally planned to go this time last year, but a few grenades were tossed in a bus station and the Kenyan army invaded Somalia, so we decided to wait until the violence calmed a bit. Erin, our Uncharted Outposts travel consultant, arranged our tour to begin in early January at Emakoko, a wildlife lodge bordering the Nairobi National Wildlife Reserve.
Emakoko:
With our papers in order, we coasted through immigration and found a large group of Kenyan men holding signs outside the arrival door. We breathed a sigh of relief to see a pleasant looking man holding a sign that read "Curran."
Elizaban introduced himself as our driver, and explained that the drive to Emakoko would take about 45 minutes, 15 minutes on a paved road, the remainder on a dirt road. He did not mention how rugged the drive would be or that we would not see a paved road for nearly a week. As promised, we turned onto dirt and began what Elizaban called, an African message. Actually, it was a bone-rattling, teeth-jarring drive that momentarily ended at a gate, which in the glow of the headlights, reminded me of the gate into Jurassic Park. We breathed another sigh of relief when the armed guard that unchained the gate didn't drag us off into the night to rob and shoot us. We came to Kenya with a lot of misconceptions.
We turned off the bad road onto a much worse road, and could see lights in the distance. Just before coming to a stop at Emakoko, we saw a high giraffe meandering in the dark not far off the road. It's hard to see Kenyans at night, but in the glow of kerosene lamps, I think the entire staff met us to collect our bags and offer refreshing wet hand towels. We were also greeted by our host, Anton. The staff took our things directly to our room, and Anton invited us to have a drink before dinner. Since it was after 10pm when we arrived and we were full from airplane food, we declined dinner, but eagerly accepted the drink. About 10 minutes after our arrival, a foursome of Brits arrived from the same flight. They weren't hungry either, and we enjoyed chatting with them until late. At last, we were guided up very steep, lantern-lit, stone steps (numbering 126 according to Peggy). At over 6000ft above sea level, it required at least two huff & puff stops. Our bungalow was extremely roomy and well appointed. Mosquito netting surrounded a huge comfortable bed, and even though we were dog tired, we were sent off with the remainder of wine; We sat on our deck for a final glass.
I had ordered coffee at 6:30am. While I was dead to the world, Peggy heard tapping on our door exactly at 6:30. Peggy DOES NOT do 6:30, so I poured myself a cup and went out on the balcony to survey our surroundings. As the sun rose, I was treated to a band of black-faced vervet monkeys, foraging in the tree tops below. I spotted our giraffe grazing amongst the trees and with my binoculars, found a lone water buffalo shortening the grass on a nearby hill. Apparently, these two old bachelors have retired to the Emakoko.
As the sun rose, I saw we were in a narrow river valley, about a quarter mile from crest to crest. Our bungalow, along with two others, was just below the eastern rim; if you yelled as loud as you could, you could possibly converse with your neighbor. I saw our Brit friends leave early to continue their journey to another bush camp. Peggy was up at this point and repeated the 40-50 photos I had taken of the giraffe, buffalo and monkeys.
I walked down to breakfast first. The main lodge was open and airy. It was constructed of log and heavy stone and included two large fireplaces and hard wood floors. I found a comfortable chair to wait for Peggy while the staff produced another cup of strong Kenyan coffee. Out of the corner of my eye, just beyond the porch, I saw a flickering tail. An orphaned baby impala also resided at Emakoko. At breakfast, he came into the dining area and came right up to our table for Peggy to pet. Thoughts of Norman from City Slickers came to mind. We enjoyed the first of many delicious, made to order, meals with Norman grazing in view. The staff were very skilled and attentive, with quick smiles that seemed genuine. In fact, every Kenyan we met was friendly and gracious. We also met Emma, Anton's wife. She chatted with us for a long while and gave shopping suggestions and insight into the next part of journey.
Our only planned activity at Emakoko was to rest up from our travels and go into Nairobi to do some shopping. We also planned to go to David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (the elephant orphanage). What we didn't know was that driving anywhere was a safari to see animals. We saw large numbers of ruminants...Brahma-sized elunds, graceful gazelle and impala, beautiful bush bucks and tiny beagle sized dik-diks. As we rocked and bounced toward Nairobi, Elizaban suddenly stopped. Two lionesses slowly walked in the middle of the road, directly toward our rover. It appeared that they were going to jump on top the rover and walk front to rear. Instead, they detoured just enough to miss us but so close that I had to lean over the side of the open roof to get a shot. One of the lions sort of glanced up at me and it seemed to say "cheese." Exiting and reentering the park in different places gave us the opportunity to photograph white rhino, black rhino and wart hogs (both with babies), and Peggy tried her best to make personal photographs of every giraffe and zebra in the reserve.
We were only in Nairobi for a short time, but I'm certain it would not be one of my favorite big-cities. Driving in Nairobi was more nerve racking than New York City, and I was glad when our shopping was done.
Our visit to the elephant orphanage was also special. We were there for their feeding time and there were two age groups, a group of belly button high elephants (only months old) and a group of older kids about chest high.
The tiny ones followed a handler to their individual quarters and were hand-fed bottles of milk formula. We were told that the older group would come up on their own. This group did not do so calmly. It was more or less like a stamped. I had positioned myself at a corner post for good camera shots. These Volkswagen-sized animals knew the shortest route to their dinner and I realized, almost too late, that I was standing en-route. At the last moment, I moved along the fence line and prayed they wouldn't step on my feet. I thought the last had gone by so I moved to get a shot of them grabbing their own bottles. I did not realize that a straggler was bearing down on me. He brushed by so closely that he hit my arm and spun me around. A few inches to the left, and my trip would have ended there. We adopted Bomani, born during my birth month of July in 2011, and orphaned shortly after. We will get regular reports on him until he hopefully is released to the wild in about 5-years.
We ended the day with a wonderful meal by candle light. With a bottle of wine in hand, we climbed the 126 steps to our room. Sitting on our balcony, we finished the wine, enjoying Africa in the dark.
After another great breakfast, we said goodbye to Emma and the staff before Anton drove us to a small airport in Nairobi. Along the way, we saw more animals. Upon arrival, we boarded a 12 passenger, single engine, plane and lifted off for our two hour flight to the Kicheche Bush Camp in the Maasai Mara. As we climbed over Nairobi, we could see the city well. A prominent portion was slum, that from the air, reminded me of parts of Haiti.
Two days in Kenya and we enjoyed wonderful accommodations, great hosts and staff, excellent food and wine, plus hundreds of animals up close and personal. How could it get better?
Our trip to Kenya was a long time coming. From the day we left Africa ten years ago on our honeymoon, I have been wanting to go back. This trip wasn't just an anniversary celebration. It was also an educational awakening for us about the serious threats facing wildlife throughout Africa and the noble efforts to conserve what remains. We spent two nights each at four uniquely different places that were joined by one common thread - a commitment to preserving the incredible wildlife of Kenya. Each place was more wonderful than the next (a big thank you to Ken Coe from The Nature Conservancy who has intimate knowledge of literally every camp in Kenya and Uncharted Outposts who so meticulously designed our itinerary).
Read more about their trip here: http://www.inviatotravel.com/
Read more about their trip here: http://www.inviatotravel.com/
My dad found an amazing travel company called Uncharted Outposts. They planned our entire trip with lots of input from all of us of what we "wanted", organized all air in Africa and found us the perfect bush camps. From the get go, our agent was in tune with the ages of the kids, our "outdoorsy" factor and that this was going to be a once in a lifetime trip. We were very pleased with all aspects of the trip and I would highly recommend them.- no detail was left unattended to!...Our trip had been planned by Uncharted Outposts as a slow progression of wildlife viewing, with the climax being the last camp we stayed at in the Masai Mara. What I loved about our trip is that I honestly can't say that I had a favourite camp...all three were unique in their own way and we took away very different memories from each one.
Read more about Jen's trip here: http://www.goodoldchinwag.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-dreamed-of-africa.html
Read more about Jen's trip here: http://www.goodoldchinwag.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-dreamed-of-africa.html
"Overall, great trip, well done, the safari locations were top notch, The Livingstone Hotel was outstanding as well, imagine us running to the edge of the property to see this mist They also invited us to tea (I counted over 33 desserts, just saying) I refrained. We ran back to see sunrise over the falls the next morning. We had the honeymoon suite at Leopard Lodge and were awed when the lions woke us up one night roaring outside the room (Rich thought they were on the deck) Thank you for picking the perfect elements to match our desires and personalities, it will be hard to top such an experience."
"We loved the wilderness camp and how raw and authentic it was. And it somehow never felt like a non-luxury situation. Having the camp to ourselves, our own big fire, sleeping with the windows down and having the whole Serengeti night right outside was just amazing. The sunrises, the hyenas raiding the dining tent, the birds as wake up call, the pride of lions just a mile away, the giraffe and impala and zebra walking through the woodland 100 yards away, it was all perfect. The camp staff also was so professional and amiable and we were pleasantly surprised we got free Swahili lessons with dinner every night. Loliondo was also amazing (and a really nice upgrade with the yurt.... I thought we were fine in the WMC tent but when we got to the yurt it was like "ahhhh...."). Again, the staff there was so amazing, particularly our Masai guard/assistant, Peter. The breakfast in the bush after the walk was amazing. The sundowner on the kopje, watching the sun set and the Masai bring their cows back into the boma, and then the bonfire, was something I will never forget. That was a truly special night. We also had the pleasure of being hosted by the staff back in their kitchen and dining area that night. We asked permission to, and they allowed us to, skip dinner in the dining tent and go back and have dinner with them and watch a Tanzanian movie. They were all very good humored about it and at that point we had picked up enough Swahili to not totally embarrass ourselves. Perfect end to the trip. Last but not least, I cannot say enough about our guide David Mboya. He was such an excellent guide and a consummate professional. He was so respectful of the wildlife and other vehicles and managed always to be in the right place at the right time and at that perfect respectful distance. He clearly cares about his profession and his country. He entertained all our silly questions all week long, was so informative, and bent over backwards to make sure every need was attended to. He has the most amazing personality and we left having made a friend. I cannot recommend him highly enough and we will go on safari with him again. Thanks for planning such an amazing trip for us. Your handling of the whole experience was top notch and way above and beyond any experience I've had with other agents. So thank you for that."
"Absolutely fabulous--you always exceed our expectations!!! We saw and photographed the black and white rhino!!! New birds and animals that we had not seen previously. Capetown wonderful--Charlie Ratliffe a keeper!!! Camps fabulous--I must tell you about Jamala--absolutely opulent and this would be a great spot for your clients when one person "wants" to go on safari and the other is being "dragged" on safari!!! I really wanted them to adopt me. Leopard Hills another keeper!!! Wow! "
"I still find it hard to believe I traveled half way around the world and fell in love."
"Game viewing was very good overall. We saw some things that amazed us - newborn elephant (10 minutes old), cheetah chased away by a lioness but deliberately making the lion look foolish in the process, 4 lion cubs trying to catch a small antelope. We took over 1700 pictures and a dozen movies on our Canon."