Karibu Kenya #9: The
Safari
Day 1:
With
the excitement of our new adventure in the air, Aimee, Mim and I were up early.
By 6:30 we had made our way down to grandma’s kitchen to make coffee and peanut
butter sandwiches for the 6 hour drive to Samburu. Our driver and guide for the trip, Peter,
arrived 45 minutes earlier than anticipated. We stuffed our sandwiches in a
paper bag along with some oranges and mihogo and rushed out the door. The
safari had officially begun. Two hours into our drive we made our first
bathroom break at a curio shop that had several vendors selling artifacts and
handicrafts that most tourists would be interested in buying. Of course, we
were only interested in one thing-the WC! As we waited for Peter outside the
van we could hear the vendors complaining about how cheap we were. I guess they
didn’t think we could understand what they were saying. Ignoring the
complaints, I decided to take my first trip picture with a gorilla statue
outside the curio shop. He was quite big and chunky.
We
got ready to get in the van and I had forgotten I left my half-filled coffee
mug in the back pocket of the seat in front of me. This was also the seat that
we had to pull forward in order to get into the van. I’m sure you see where
this is going. The seat came slamming
down and seconds later the coffee lid popped off as the brown liquid soaked
almost every part of my body. Some people would call that an epic fail but I
just call it a typical day in the life of Elisa. Let’s just say Klutz would have
been a fitting substitute for my middle name. To quote my father when something
of similar circumstance happens, “Hey everybody, Elisa’s here!”.
Not
to worry, my clothes had completely dried by the time we made it to our second
stop at the equator in Nanyuki. We again
paid no attention to items being sold along the road and pissed off even more
people. It was fun taking pictures at the equator line though. That moment was
the beginning of several moments to follow on the trip where I found myself realizing
this would be something I’d never forget-a memory I’ll exaggeratedly tell my
grandchildren sitting in a rocking chair 50 years from now.
After
crossing the equator, the cold rains and cool temperatures of Nairobi were
exchanged for the hotter and more arid climate of northern Kenya. Needless to say, the terrain changed from red
clay dirt with green vegetation to rocky, dry and sandy soil with yellowing
grass. We didn’t hesitate to open our windows and take off our sweaters as the
warm wind hit our faces. Peter stopped
at the last gas station on the way to our destination. I have to say I was a
little freaked out as they filled up our tank with the car still running. Then
they started shaking the vehicle to get the air bubbles out of the tank. Apparently
everybody does it. No worries.
During
the last hour of our drive I noticed more mud and grass huts. It was obvious we
were now in Samburu territory. The Samburu tribe reminded me a great deal of
the Masai tribe as they are both pastoralists and similarly dressed. As I
continued to scan the flat plain I saw a large gathering of Samburu people. A
group of men were jumping. Everyone was brightly dressed and decorated with
beaded jewelry. To be honest, I wanted to stop and join the party when Peter
told us they were conducting a wedding ceremony. I absolutely love weddings-especially
when there’s dancing involved. Just throw me a spear and some beads- I’m sure
no one will notice the tall mzungu (white) girl bouncing around the huts.
After
a very long drive, we finally made it to the Samburu National Reserve entrance.
We paid our park fees and Peter popped the top of the van so we could stand up
on our 20 minute drive from the gate to our campsite. It was breathtaking to
see the open expanse of land as we made the bumpy drive down the dusty and sandy path.
Yes, I’m having another moment. The moment my heart connects on an even deeper
level with a country. A cheesy explanation but I tend to wear my heart on my
sleeve when it comes to countries.
In
case you’re interested, the Elephant Bedroom Camp actually lives up to its
name. We pulled into the parking area only to find the camp surrounded by
elephants. We made our way up to the main tent where we were greeted by a hot
eucalyptus scented towel as we wiped the dust off our faces and hands. After
checking in, we were escorted by one of the guards to our room. We quickly
learned that we would need an escort for each trip to our tent since Samburu
and Obama, two male elephants, chose to live inside the campground. The path to
our room was lined on each side with stones and lanterns. Vervit monkeys
overpopulated the campground as they sat relaxed underneath the raised canvas
tents. Some were sleeping on the railings while others were playing tag in the
trees. Even though they tried to play up their sweet, big, brown eyes, you just
knew looking into them that there was some sort of ulterior motive to rob you
blind. On an Inappropriate but hilarious note: Vervit males have bright baby
blue testicles. I don’t mean to be crass but they are just that obvious. It just goes to show that the Lord has an
extreme sense of humor.
Our
tent was situated directly on the river which presented a gorgeous view from the
wooden deck. The beds were accented in shells and beads. Everything was covered
in white with khaki and hunter green trim. The stone shower proved quite
refreshing as well with extremely hot water. It also had masai blanket robes
hanging for use-a nice touch. To keep from rambling, it was simple yet
exquisite.
After
settling in we headed to lunch. We were seated alongside the riverbank where we
ordered the best vegetable curry. The birds made no hesitation to join us: the
superb starling, the white browed sparrow weaver and several ring necked
pigeons. On the other side of the river, we saw different animals congregating
for their afternoon lunch as well: Olive baboons, Grant ’s gazelle and
Reticulated giraffe-an overwhelming sight for the eyes. As lunch came to a
close, we found ourselves sipping our coffee and making profound statements
that we would never leave this place.
Around
4pm we headed to the van to take our first game drive. We sat for almost an
hour watching the elephants interact. There were several babies in the herd as
well. It made us happy to see so many with their actual mothers. One of the
tiny babies even tried to charge us in attempt to protect his gigantic mother.
Sadly, Mim explained how one elephant is killed approximately every 15 minutes
by poachers. It is heartbreaking to see the existence of a species threatened
by the greed of humanity.
Our
three hour game drive took us through miles of the park where we were able to
identify a total of 25 animals. We arrived back at dark and were again greeted
with a warm towel. We walked over to the chalkboard menu and ordered a
different vegetarian dish. This time I had the Chana Dal with rice followed by
cheesecake and coffee for dessert. The table was ornately set with more
silverware than I ever dreamed of using. Beaded necklaces were used as
placemats and a lit candle cast a glowing light on each of our faces. A full
moon also helped light the sky as it situated itself high above the trees for
the night. You couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable evening.
Since
the camp is in such a remote area, generators were used for electricity from
6pm-11pm. Seeing as how we had about an hour before lights out, we decided to
head back to the tent. We entered to find it completely turned down. The white
curtains had been unrolled on either wall and were blowing in the wind. After each
taking a hot shower, we all jumped into our beds. Somehow I got nominated to
read aloud from Mim’s poetry book and 10 minutes later everyone was asleep
except for me. Thanks guys.
Day 2:
We
were greeted by a 6:00am wakeup call of coffee and tea biscuits on the deck. I
quickly threw on some clothes and went out to take in the morning air. I love
waking up with the morning. It’s so refreshing. Once we were all ready, we
headed out to our van for the morning game drive. En route, we were cut off by
one of the guards who said Samburu and Obama were blocking the path. Noticing
the enormous creatures in front of us, we chose to wait patiently until they
moved. After a 15 minute wait, we made it to the van to begin our drive. The
possibility of a lion sighting had been talked about over the vehicle’s radio
system so Peter quickly headed in that direction. The sunrise was indescribable
as we watched it peak through the palm trees making its way over the horizon
line. Two white egrets were perched near a pool of water as the moon could
still be seen reflecting off its surface. We finally made it to the lions.
There were two females and 5 babies sleeping on a large, flat patch of dirt. We
watched as they casually got up to play with each other, biting ears and
pouncing on their mom’s back. Annoyed by our presence, the lionesses soon led
their pack of cubs into the shrubbery and disappeared.
Back
at the camp, breakfast was ready when we arrived around 9am. A buffet style bar
of potatoes, mushrooms, cereal, toast and fruit was laid out before us. A chef
was waiting near a portable camping stove ready to fry hot omelets upon our
request. After breakfast we spent the rest of the morning sitting on the
outdoor couches that were placed on the sides of the riverbank. We watched as
all the animals interacted with each other. Several of the baby elephants were
swimming in the river. Some were so small you almost worried about them going
under. About an hour or so later I traded my couch view for bird watching in
the hammock. By mid day the sun was
beating down and we headed back to our tent to soak in the cold jacuzzi that
was attached to our deck. The freezing water brought refreshing relief to the
heat of the day. As we continued to watch nature unfold, we were greeted by
Samburu as he walked by, inches from our tent, to meet his elephant girlfriend.
He waded halfway through the river where he decided to escort her back to the
bank.
By
this time, lunch was ready to be served so we headed back to the main tent. We
all decided on the curried peas with rice. We continued to lounge around until
our afternoon game drive at 4. It came soon enough and we were off on another adventure.
About halfway through the drive, word came in over the radio that there was a leopard
sighting. All the guides were screaming over the radio system “Haraka, Haraka”
which means “Hurry, Hurry” in Swahili. I
didn’t know how fast we could go in that van until we got word of the leopard
sighting. Granted, we were only going about 40 miles an hour, but when you
factor in crater like potholes, it makes for an interesting time. After being
thrown around by the van, we finally made it to the other side of the park where
the leopard was spotted high up in a tree taking his afternoon siesta. We took
turns looking through the binoculars and could see his cute little face
squished up against the side of the tree branch. His giant paws dangled lifelessly
as he slept without interruption from the excitement going on below. Neither
Aimee nor I had ever seen a leopard in the wild and were enamored with his
every move. With the binoculars in hand, Aimee would continuously update us-- “his
eyes are closed”….:”he licked his paw”…..”he moved his tail”. These updates kept us oohing and ahhhing the
rest of the hour.
We
decided to leave the tree when we saw that the leopard wouldn’t be coming down
anytime soon. Not long after, our driver had us assuming there was another
animal sighting as he took off on another 40mph mission. By the time we made it
to the riverbank on the opposite side of the park, we saw six canvas chairs next
to a fire pit. All three of us looked at eachother and talked about how fancy it must
be to have a sundowner next to the river. To our surprise, it was actually a
sundowner set up just for us by our camp. We were completely shocked since it wasn’t
listed in our tour package. Apparently it’s an accommodation they enjoy
springing on their customers. Two other campers were also there, Kim and Eric, a
couple from Seattle. After introducing ourselves, we fell into easy
conversation and talked about everything from travel to wildlife conservation. With
elephants grazing less than 200 feet away, we watched as the sun slowly tucked
itself behind the hills. It was the most amazing moment. At this point, I’m
thinking…Can I stay forever?
Dinner
was again the bomb dot com. We even got to meet the head chef, David, who
shared with us his passion for cooking. Being a very personable man, he kindly
dismissed our offers to stay and work as kitchen hands washing dishes. We took time
to savor our last 3 course meal before we were escorted back to the tent by our
guard.
Day
3:
We
were greeted by our usual wakeup call of coffee and biscuits on the last
morning. Instead of taking it on the deck, we had to bring it inside the tent since
the mischievous monkeys were already out and about. Once we finished, we met
Peter for our final game drive before we leaving for Nairobi. Now Sunday, we
quickly realized that all the animals must have gone to church. Nothing was to
be seen and after a couple hours of searching we finally found some very
beautiful birds: the Little Bee Eater, the Secretary Bird, the African Hoopoe and
the Lilac Breasted Roller Bird. My
favorite of the four was by far the Roller bird who was covered in so many
colors he could have been mistaken for a flying rainbow.
At
breakfast we decided to count the total number of animals identified. We came
up with a total of 53 which I imagine is quite impressive for a 3 day stay. If
you’re wondering about the different animals we saw you can reference the list
below.
After
packing up, we piled into the van, this time heavy hearted. We talked about how we couldn’t wait to come back
and I’m hoping that in the near future we will. Our drive home seemed longer going
than coming but we were able to break up the monotony of the drive by stopping
at the Trout Tree restaurant, where you actually dine in a tree. The waitress
led us up to the very top of tree where we were seated and later ordered a dish
of their famous trout. You could look off the railing and see the trout tanks
where they raised their own population. After enjoying their curried trout dish,
we decided to take a small walk around the grounds. I noticed a group of
Colobus monkeys playing in the trees. One of them jumped down and ran toward a
man sitting on the ground who was dressed as the gardener. He seemed to have a
familiar relationship with the monkey as it munched on fruit while sitting atop
his knees.
The
last four hours of our trip allowed us to see a clearer view of Mt. Kenya when
passing by. On our way to Samburu the mountain top was so cloud covered that
you would have never known such a view even existed. Its jagged peak added a feeling
of grandeur to the surrounding area. Mim explained the different heights of
each peak and informed us that the highest peak was 19,000+ feet and could only
be climbed with a partner using ropes. I think I’ll just watch from the base of
the mountain. You guys go ahead.
Needless
to say, we made it back safely. It’s been three days since our trip and I’ve
already typed close to 3,000 words attempting to describe this unforgettable
experience. While there aren’t enough words to give you an accurate description
of every sight and sound encountered I have to close with a quote from Beryl
Markhem, a British born Kenyan aviatrix. She eloquently explains that, “There
are as many Africas as there are books about Africa—and as many books about it
as you could read in a leisurely lifetime. Whoever writes a new one can afford
a certain complacency in the knowledge that his is a new picture agreeing with
no one else’s, but likely to be haughtily disagreed with by all those who
believed in some other Africa…Being thus all things to all authors, it follows
I suppose, that Africa must be all things to all readers.
Africa
is mystic; it is wild; it is a sweltering inferno; it is a photographer’s
paradise…an escapist’s Utopia. It is what you will and withstands all interpretations.
It is the last vestige of a dead world or the cradle of a shiny new one. To a
lot of people as to myself, it is just home.”
Animal
Sighting List:
1.
Dwarf
mongoose
2.
African
elephants and babies
3.
Cheetah
and cubs
4.
Impala
5.
Grant’s
gazelle
6.
Thompson
gazelle
7.
Reticulated
giraffe
8.
Oryx
beisa
9.
Gerenuk
antelope
10.
Kirk’s
dik dik
11.
Warthogs
12.
Jackson
Hornbill
13.
Grevy’s
zebra
14.
Common
zebra
15.
Olive
baboons
16.
Vervet
monkeys
17.
Drongo
bird
18.
Superb
starling
19.
White
browed sparrow weaver
20.
Buffalo
weaver
21.
Yellow
necked spur fowl
22.
Cattle
egret
23.
Ox
pecker
24.
Ring
necked dove
25.
Grey
headed kingfisher
26.
Lioness
and cubs
27.
African
orange bellied parrot
28.
Go
away bird
29.
Waterbuck
30.
Agama
lizard
31.
African
cuckoo
32.
Golden
breasted starling
33.
Ground
squirrel
34.
Egyptian
geese
35.
Egyptian
vulture
36.
Vulturine
guinea fowl
37.
Lilac-breasted
roller bird
38.
Speckled
pigeon
39.
Hadada
Ibis
40. Golden palm weaver
41.
Secretary
bird
42.
Crested
crane
43.
Black
bellied buster
44. Grey heron
45.
Leopard
46. D’arnaud’s barbet
47.
Black
backed jackel
48. Samali ostrich
49. Common bulbul bird
50.
Raven
51.
Africa
Hoopoe
52.
Little
bee eater
53.
Chestnut
bellied sand grouse
