East Africa is a place for wildlife like no other on earth
and particularly Kenya where the great ungulate migrations take place. I was first in Kenya in 1993 and have
returned numerous times including other countries in sub-Saharan Africa such as Tanzania,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
While in Kenya and Tanzania in 2015 I said that was not returning to
Africa again…I lied. When I am asked why
such an enchantment with Africa my response is that if you “don’t go to Africa,
you never will understand the meaning of life.”
The gerenuk is the Audrey Hepburn’s animal version with its
long neck and majestic pose when standing on two feet, to reach the succulent
acacia leaves out of the reach of other antelopes. It is said that it is the closest relative of
the giraffes. Not to be confused with the impalas (3
rd and fourth
images below) that spent the early mornings running and jumping preparing for
another day avoiding becoming a meal of the big cats.
Most people go to Africa to see the big cats…lions, leopards
and cheetahs. No doubt the lions are the kings of the jungles but the canny
ability of the leopard to ambush its prey and climbing of trees is unique.
Pound per pound I say that they are the most powerful ones - see them dragging
a full grown male impala up a tree…a meal that may last several days. While the
leopards are loners the lions hunt in family groups. Lions can also climb trees
but not with the agility of the leopard.
The cheetahs are ground based and known as the fastest
running animal sometimes reaching speeds of 60 miles/hour but don’t have the
stamina to run long. The female raises
the cubs on its own and I had seen her catch a young tommy gazelle alive and
bring it to the young to play with it; but this is no play but training to make
the kill. The second image of 3 cheetahs
was taken at sunrise when they were ready to start searching for a meal…the hunt
is on.
The ostrich is the
largest flightless bird and its powerful legs are weapons that can seriously
injure a predator or other ostriches during battles for territory and
mates. The females are of brownish
colors while the males are adorned with white and black feathers and sometimes
with pink legs. I was lucky to witness a
fight between two males for the lady and the territory. The struggle lasted about 15 minutes of short
confrontations and long chases; the challenged male won the day and the family
stayed together.
Birds are abundant in
Samburu with such colorful ones as the red and yellow barbet, the vulturine
fowl, the lilac breasted lilac that some ornithologists claim as having 72
colors, the most of any bird.
Others not so colorful such as the white-headed buffalo
weaver; it knits nests of grass leaves that hangs from the trees. The tawny
eagle is common and a very successful hunter but the Isabelline shrike is not
left behind. The red-billed hornbill makes its nest in tree cavities and during
incubation the female is entombed by a mud plug with a hole thru which the male
feeds it and the chicks…all that goes in thru the holes comes out the same way.
Once the chicks are old enough to fly the mud plug is broken and the whole
family abandons the tree hole.
Due to the long droughts the villagers invade the park to
water their animals and the game wardens look the other way. Below a herd of
camels brought to the Samburu River to drink; cows and goats also breach the
boundaries of the park for survival. As you can see the river was a trickle of
water and an ocean of sand. Did I
mention elephants? No, but there are
plenty and I choose to leave the park with an image of a sleepy velvet monkey;
it was hot.
Sweetwaters.
In 1993
the roads were potholes and mud traps but now it is mostly asphalted. Back then Sweetwaters consisted of about 8
tents facing a waterhole, the major attraction, the Manor House where the meals
were served. It has grown to a second
row of elevated tents behind the original ones, then a pool and a new row of
rooms that look like a hotel. The house
grew to include a larger dining room the old one morphed into a bar with
seating area, and greater dining room with buffet area. When first there a British
family ran the place and welcomed you to the Manor House; there was a menu and
formal dining…gone with the wind
Probably the only rhino cemetery
in the world that died from poaching or of plain old age is here. Morani a blind rhino that I met in 2004 sleeps
here.
There is always lots of the activity at the waterhole, formerly
a rock quarry where impalas, giraffes and others go in the early morning for a
drink. The giraffe while drinking is at
great risk from predators since it takes a lot of effort in spreading the legs
to bend to reach the water Nearby in a bush was a white-bellied go-away-bird;
first time I got a decent image of this bird.
It is called that way because its calls seem to say “go-way”.
Hyenas are known to be vicious killers and robbers but are
family oriented. When around their dens
a repugnant odor is notice as well as putrid leftovers of previous meals. But
this reputation of being nasty animals is farfetched and can be seen
below. A mom takes its pups to the water
trough for a refreshing bath.
Lake Nakuru.
It has always a stopover on the way to the Masai Mara and
the lake has deteriorated since I was there first when there was plenty of
water, thousands of pink flamingos making the lake look pink as many other
birds, such as cormorants and fishing eagles.
Remember the Black Backed jackals chasing the flamingos and catching
them in the air by grabbing them by the long legs. For a while the lake became polluted by the
sewage from the nearby town of the same name but eventually a sewage treatment
plant was installed. The lake in my opinion has not recuperated and the water
level appeared still low while visiting now, lots of dust and dead trees. It’s also a Rhino preserve and these are
habituated to the tourists as well as are the Cape Buffaloes. Once during one
of my previous trips one of these suddenly charged the Land Rover and bent the
rear fender; it walked away as nothing affected him. The Cape buffalo is one of the major killers
of people along with the rhinos.
Giraffes are abundant here too.
Birds are abundant and the ever beautiful lilac-breasted
rollers, pelicans, tawny eagles, sacred ibises and my favorite the Verreaux
Eagle Owl with its pink eyelids, not to mention the large colored lizards.
Lake Naivasha.
Most photographs the African Fish Eagles are taken
here. The eagles allow their images to
be taken for a price; a friend calls “supplemental feeding”. They are conditioned to catch dead fish
thrown by lake fishermen that have found that photographic tourism is more
profitable than chasing the fish.
The strategy for the photographers is to be the first ones
in the lake early in the morning and motorboat around the shores of the
lake. When an eagle is spotted, the boat
stops, the fisherman starts whistling to get its attention and when eagle
notices, a fish is thrown in the water. When the eagle flies to retrieve the
lure the photographers break loose with their telephotos to catch the
action. This is repeated until the fish
is exhausted…not many…since these have to be purchased by bundles of
dollars. There are also opportunities to
take photos of swimming hippos, kingfishers and the ugliest birds, the Marabou
Storks.
Masai Mara.
Is the most famous park in Kenya because of the
migrations crossing the Masai Mara River? Since 1993 I have seen the decline in
wildlife, particularly lions where they were all over the place and by the
second day one got tired of seeing sleeping ones. Not the case anymore, you are lucky if you see
one and prides are rare; the victims of poisoning and killings by the invading
herders that come with their cows to feed in the grasslands and water and
extreme tourism. Urbanizations has moved basically to the gates of the park, in
the old days when approaching the park the areas were full of acacia trees and
wildlife roamed outside the limits of the parks
Since the road from Nairobi to the park has been mostly
paved (funded by China), tourist vans can come for the day overwhelming the
roads and I maintain disturbing the hunts of the big cats.
Tourism has overwhelmed most countries resources to cope
with it regardless of been in the First or Third world.
Thirty years ago it was
unusual finding lions climbing trees and I do remember that this practice was
mostly found in the West Serengeti in Tanzania.
Now it is common in the Mara by young lions mostly done to escape the
flies and the heat and perhaps to search for prey, I assume. Lions do not mind
getting wet even when the last image below shows one jumping a creek.
Currently there is a
group of five cheetahs that hunt together and this has been now for a couple of
years and very successful hunters. Was
lucky to see the group chasing a topi but unfortunately they were not able to
make a kill; did not realize that they could take down such a large animal.
Another solitary cheetah had a successful hunt and enjoyed a juicy tommy for
dinner.
The leopard in the olden days was the most elusive of the
big cats and hard to find. Two to 3 years used to elapse without being seen but
now they are frequently seen and I attribute this to their conditioning of seeing
people in vehicles…did not find any with prey this time. Notice the spot
patterns compared to those of the cheetah above.
After many years of going to East Africa finally was able to
photograph the elusive serval cat. It feeds mostly on insects and rodents and
for birds, it jumps in the air to catch them in the flight; although seen this
happening, was surprised and did not catch it.
Hyenas and baboons are both scavengers that occasionally
steal the prey from cheetahs and the occasional single leopard or lion. The
baboons are particularly mean and I had seen them eating young ones although
male lions do the same with lion cubs. Female baboons at times carry their dead
babies around. Once I witnessed a male
taking the dead one from the mother and chasing her away. In my opinion baboons are mean and will not
hesitate to attack and chase leopards from trees…they wonder around in large
troops and will not hesitate in getting into a safari vehicle and stealing food
or attacking tourists.
Even birds have become
hard to find in particular the raptors such as the Black-Chested Snake eagle
that back in the 1990’s and 2000’s were common. I did not see a single Bateleur
eagle in the Mara, and for that matter, in all the month I was in Kenya. Others are still common such as the
Black-bellied bustard, the hammercop, the crowned crane or the ever present
lilac-breasted roller and the white-browed coucal.
Time to move on but I will not repeat “I will never return
again” since Africa still presents the greatest animal show on earth. Promise not to poach a giraffe out of the
park again.
