Yesterday’s quick late afternoon safari was only a taste of
what was to come, so we woke up before dawn to the inky blackness of the night
sky, which was dotted with more stars than we ever thought possible. We gathered for an early breakfast, watched
the sunrise, then hit the road around 7:00 a.m.
We stopped at the Tsavo East front gate to pick up two armed Kenyan Park
Rangers guides and then passed through the elephant containment gates.
To describe the awesome beauty of the park in early morning is
difficult, but here it goes:
We drive down a dirt
road through a flat landscape punctuated by rocky bumps and dips. On this sandy substrate grow twisted shrubs
and trees, most bristling with thorns.
Most of them are bare, sun baked branches, and many have been shattered
by passing elephants. Those that show
signs of life reach their roots far, desperate for even a little taste of
water.
In the distance, blue
flat-topped mountains rise tantalizingly; we want to explore them to but they
never seem to get any closer. As
billowing rainclouds sweep across the plains, the mountains disappear in veils
of steely grey clouds and mist. Many
of us try to capture this scene with our cameras, but even the high-end D-SLR
cameras could not do it justice.
While the landscape was stunning, the reason behind a safari
is to see animals… and we saw lots. Many
of us would have gotten our first taste of Africa through magazines and
documentaries, listening to David Attenborough describe the love life of
antelope. As prepared as we might have
been with obscure facts about elephants, actually seeing these massive
creatures from 20 metres away is a different story. Many of our wildlife pictures look like they
belong in a National Geographic magazine because we were able to get so close.
We sat in awed silence as herds of Cape buffalo, zebra,
antelope, waterbuck and elephants grazed freely across the open savannah. Towering giraffes pranced to and fro, much to
the amusement of our resident giraffe lover Caitlind. Pairs of Diks-diks (small dog sized antelope)
and flocks of chicken-like ground birds darted amongst the undergrowth, and
occasionally a rare Kudu (the source of Lord Baden Powell’s famous horn) would
appear in our cameras’ viewfinders. As
amazing as these sights were, we weren’t truly satisfied until we saw the star
of our childhood Lion King dreams: a
pride of eleven lions stalking through the savannah grass. Even our two rangers were beside themselves
with excitement. A dozen or so lions moved
carefully in the foreground of a massive herd of buffalo, many of them young
adults. Our intrusion into their travel
route prompted one to cut away from the group and cross the road quite near us.
Meanwhile, the rest of the pride skulked
away undetected by their potential meals.
Later in the morning we stopped to stretch our legs at the
impressive Lugard Falls. Millions of
years in the making, this canyon of water-worn granite is filled with a cascading
river. Greenish water crashes through
crags and channels, cutting a path through the solid rock and leaving behind a
fantastic network of crevices, potholes, outcroppings and smoothed hills. A short drive downriver to Crocodile Point
showed us some reptiles basking in the sun at the water’s edge far below.
The endless landscape carried on for miles in every
direction and we travelled far into Tsavo East to arrive at Aruba Lodge for lunch. The resort-quality buffet was a surprise and including
such rarities as fresh salad, desserts, and for our die-hard coffee lovers… more
freshly brewed REAL Kenyan coffee.
Our drive back to camp was mostly uneventful and many were
nodding off when we were suddenly shaken out of our post-lunch daze by Krysta’s
shrieks. Excited by what she had seen, her
shrieks were incomprehensible, so the rest of us had to wait for the bus to
come to a shuddering halt to see what was so important. Perched on the side of the road about 10
metres away was a magnificent Cheetah.
As our camera shutters clicked, this graceful feline stared intently at
its surroundings, and groomed its spotted coat.
After shooting many photos we exited the park in high spirits.
After arriving back at camp, the majority of us headed for a
quick trip into the nearby town of Voi, while the rest of us relaxed and
reflected on the day. The town
adventurers caught a ride home in some puttering tuk-tuks (a three –wheeled
motorcycle with an enclosed cabin serving as a taxi). The remainder of the lazy afternoon was spent
resting, playing chess, and catching up on many of the blogs that we have
deferred (pole sana!).
As if our day wasn’t already excellent, dinner was an
amazing experience. It began around the
campfire, lit by its glow of lanterns placed on small tables. A pair of wildly dressed local musicians
arrived and began to serenade us with some traditional music played on drums,
marimba, harp, violin and a shaker.
Despite having to move back inside when it began raining, the delicious
food and good music continued and we all basked in the day’s memories. To end the evening we took turns playing
along with the musicians and learned some hip-popping dance moves. Jenn finally taught us her hilarious game,
Bag of Nouns, and our laughter continued long into the night.
After a long day of exploration and prize-winning photo
taking, we headed to bed with dreams of lions
and tigers and giraffes, oh my!!!
by Eric Post
Dear all thankyou again to have been at Tsavo Mashariki camp for two nights bringing us enthusiasm and fun we hope to see you soon.
ReplyDeleteMichela