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