Safari, Day 2 (Saturday, Nov 23)
Happy 5th Birthday, Kandula! (little elephant from the DC Zoo)
I woke up this morning at 5:50am with the following in my head: “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.” While trying to intake the marvels of the bush morning (fresh air, sounds of birds, light refreshing breeze), I realized that the noise that I heard right before going to sleep was of zebras grazing right by my tent (later confirmed by others). Not too bad for the lullaby in the wild.
Together with the other guests at the camp we set out for an early morning game drive. Since most of the animals graze at early morning, we were hopeful to see many of them out. Almost right out of the camp, we saw several elephants (the driver told us they were an older male and 2 younger ones). We managed to get to a pretty close distance to them and take great pictures. Even though I really enjoy elephants, I did get some chills when the older male elephant turned to face us---all I could see were his huge tusks.
We then proceeded to see herds of zebras, impalas, antelopes, giraffes, and buffalos all grazing together, often intermingling. Once we entered the park, we saw some jackals, which turned out to be medium-sized smallish and skittish dogs and then some vultures (even though I really don’t enjoy looking at flesh-eating birds). One of the highlights of the drive came next when we saw a beautiful silver cat (a small predator slightly larger than a regular cat). It was hiding in the grass and didn’t pay any attention to all our camera clicking. We then ran into my friends from the day before, the mama and baby black rhino. This time, the driver got us really close to them, at which point I nervously suggested that perhaps we were too close. The reason for my brief anguish was that when the mama rhino looked straight at our car, I realized that in a confrontation between our 4X4 8-passenger Land Cruiser and the rhino, the rhino always wins! However, the mama rhino calmly led her baby into the bush, walking within 5 meters from us.
To give the visitors maximum exposure to the animals, the drivers from different safari operators communicate by radio and let each other know if they have spotted a rarer animal or something unusual. So, when our driver got a radio signal, we rushed off to where other cars were going and saw a herd of giraffes that we could get very close to. There were big Gs and little baby Gs, and there was one very tall G eating leaves off a tree. We passed within 7 meters away from him…He looked at us briefly and then continued eating his breakfast.
The next radio signal brought us to a swampy area where we saw a mother spotted hyena and her 2 cubs. The mom looked very full so she was just lying on the ground watching her silly cubs play with each other. The whole gang looked so cute and peaceful that it was hard to remind myself that these are actually predators.
While driving around, we saw many new carcasses indicating that the king of the jungle and his gang had a good feast the night before. And, in the spirit of my wake-up song, we were rewarded with seeing the king resting after a busy night amidst the grassland with his harem stretching out at a short distance away. I think that seeing this incredibly gorgeous and priestly-looking animal glancing at you in a royal-like manner is a sight that I will carry in my mind for a long time.
After rushing off back to the camp for breakfast, I had to pack and say good-bye to the camp staff in order to catch my flight back to Nairobi. Driving to the airstrip, I asked the driver to stop to take some more pictures of my night visitors, i.e. the zebras, whom I had neglected a bit the day before. At the airstrip, as I was gazing over the Mara, I saw zebras, giraffes, and buffalos coming out of the bush, as if saying “good-bye” to me. At that moment it dawned on me that human beings (or at least me) long to be around something wild, mysterious, and untainted. I cannot wait till I return to the Mara one day!
At the airport in Nairobi, I was picked up by a driver and taken to a place called Limuru 20 km outside of Nairobi to a very quaint country club/hotel where the conference will take place. It seems to be a perfect place to be away from the busy streets of Nairobi in order to relax, have a conference, and digest my experiences of the last days. The rooms all look like separate cottages and have a fire place and a veranda facing a lush green garden. I have been told that the hotel is surrounded by tea plantations, which I will explore in the near future. For now, I took a long nap, had a delicious 3-course meal, and prepared my presentation for Monday morning. Yay, I have internet in the room (though the slowest dial-up ever imagined). FYI: I have not seen any TV for the past 3.5 days…wow!
I woke up this morning at 5:50am with the following in my head: “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.” While trying to intake the marvels of the bush morning (fresh air, sounds of birds, light refreshing breeze), I realized that the noise that I heard right before going to sleep was of zebras grazing right by my tent (later confirmed by others). Not too bad for the lullaby in the wild.
Together with the other guests at the camp we set out for an early morning game drive. Since most of the animals graze at early morning, we were hopeful to see many of them out. Almost right out of the camp, we saw several elephants (the driver told us they were an older male and 2 younger ones). We managed to get to a pretty close distance to them and take great pictures. Even though I really enjoy elephants, I did get some chills when the older male elephant turned to face us---all I could see were his huge tusks.
We then proceeded to see herds of zebras, impalas, antelopes, giraffes, and buffalos all grazing together, often intermingling. Once we entered the park, we saw some jackals, which turned out to be medium-sized smallish and skittish dogs and then some vultures (even though I really don’t enjoy looking at flesh-eating birds). One of the highlights of the drive came next when we saw a beautiful silver cat (a small predator slightly larger than a regular cat). It was hiding in the grass and didn’t pay any attention to all our camera clicking. We then ran into my friends from the day before, the mama and baby black rhino. This time, the driver got us really close to them, at which point I nervously suggested that perhaps we were too close. The reason for my brief anguish was that when the mama rhino looked straight at our car, I realized that in a confrontation between our 4X4 8-passenger Land Cruiser and the rhino, the rhino always wins! However, the mama rhino calmly led her baby into the bush, walking within 5 meters from us.
To give the visitors maximum exposure to the animals, the drivers from different safari operators communicate by radio and let each other know if they have spotted a rarer animal or something unusual. So, when our driver got a radio signal, we rushed off to where other cars were going and saw a herd of giraffes that we could get very close to. There were big Gs and little baby Gs, and there was one very tall G eating leaves off a tree. We passed within 7 meters away from him…He looked at us briefly and then continued eating his breakfast.
The next radio signal brought us to a swampy area where we saw a mother spotted hyena and her 2 cubs. The mom looked very full so she was just lying on the ground watching her silly cubs play with each other. The whole gang looked so cute and peaceful that it was hard to remind myself that these are actually predators.
While driving around, we saw many new carcasses indicating that the king of the jungle and his gang had a good feast the night before. And, in the spirit of my wake-up song, we were rewarded with seeing the king resting after a busy night amidst the grassland with his harem stretching out at a short distance away. I think that seeing this incredibly gorgeous and priestly-looking animal glancing at you in a royal-like manner is a sight that I will carry in my mind for a long time.
After rushing off back to the camp for breakfast, I had to pack and say good-bye to the camp staff in order to catch my flight back to Nairobi. Driving to the airstrip, I asked the driver to stop to take some more pictures of my night visitors, i.e. the zebras, whom I had neglected a bit the day before. At the airstrip, as I was gazing over the Mara, I saw zebras, giraffes, and buffalos coming out of the bush, as if saying “good-bye” to me. At that moment it dawned on me that human beings (or at least me) long to be around something wild, mysterious, and untainted. I cannot wait till I return to the Mara one day!
At the airport in Nairobi, I was picked up by a driver and taken to a place called Limuru 20 km outside of Nairobi to a very quaint country club/hotel where the conference will take place. It seems to be a perfect place to be away from the busy streets of Nairobi in order to relax, have a conference, and digest my experiences of the last days. The rooms all look like separate cottages and have a fire place and a veranda facing a lush green garden. I have been told that the hotel is surrounded by tea plantations, which I will explore in the near future. For now, I took a long nap, had a delicious 3-course meal, and prepared my presentation for Monday morning. Yay, I have internet in the room (though the slowest dial-up ever imagined). FYI: I have not seen any TV for the past 3.5 days…wow!
posted by HM | 10:55 AM
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