The morning after our return from Amboseli we greeted a nervous guest at the breakfast table. She was part of a young couple from Sidney, he originally from Brazil and she from Hungary. It was their first safari and she had had a difficult night.

A lion had been in the camp the night before and all of us heard his deep growl, actually more of a ruff than a growl, throughout much of the night. It kept our fellow guest up and shook her to the core. She could not talk about it without showing a shake in her hands.

At breakfast, she shared her experience. How the lion hand come close to her tent and how she worried it might somehow get in. She did not sleep much.

"I know no one has been eaten by a lion in these camps," she said. "But, what if I am the first!"

Breakfast calmed her and she was ready to go when the morning drive started. That drive treated us to giraffe, zebra, elephants and weaver birds.

Above, you can see a curious young calf looking straight at us. Below, you can see an adult giraffe watching herd over a "journey" of young giraffe.

As we learned from our guides, mother giraffes do not stay with their calves after they are born. Instead, one female takes over the task for all the young in a herd, or "tower" of giraffes.

Everywhere we drove this day we saw trees full of elaborate hanging bird nests, sometimes dozens in a single tree. Often, a tree would contain nests from multiple weaver bird species. Smaller nests from white-browed sparrow weavers and grey-capped social weavers and large nests, typically near the top of a tree, from buffalo weavers.

The darker headed white-browed sparrow weaver above is headed into to her nest. Its the one with the opening on the lower left corner of the upper group. The four birds below with their nest are the grey-capped social weavers.

This day also brought us in contact with the majestic elephant mixed in with giraffes and zebra (see our September 24 post Safari Countdown for that image) and the following surprise bush visit from grazing female. She quietly approached our vehicle while we were watching a nearby tower of giraffe.

It was a busy drive. We also spotted white bellied go-away birds, large blue grey birds with a tall tuft above their head that would make a cardinal envious.

On a termite hill long abandoned by its builders we also spied a family of dwarf mongoose. They had taken residence and filled the hill with their tunnels. And, they were as curious about us as we were about them.

Our morning drive was followed with an opportunity to walk near the camp. Our Maasai spotter and driver joined along with two armed Maasai guides. Our path followed a dirt road out from the camp through brush and an open field. We explored the plants and saw giraffe and gazelles as we walked.

The giraffe seems bigger when you are walking.

Daniel, the English name of our Maasai spotter, answered questions as we walked. A fallen weaver bird nest gave us an opportunity to examine its structure. And, an annoying fly gave us insight in the Maasai mind.

As we walked, I kept getting buzzed by a fly. He would dive into my ear and then around my head. My fruitless swatting caught Daniel's attention. He walked over and gently plucked the annoying fly out of my ear. Then he showed it to me and walked over to a bush to release it.

I probably would have done physical harm to the little beast but he just moved it and we carried on with our walk.

It was totally in character with what we learned about the Maasai during our trip. They have a deep relationship with their environment and the animals that inhabit it. They do not hunt, relying instead on cattle for their meat. They respect all life. Even the flies.

We end this posting with the beginning of our afternoon game drive which stopped shortly after it started to watch a giraffe get an aerial cleaning. Standing out in the open was a single Maasai giraffe being attended to by half a dozen red-billed oxpeckers. They flew around his neck and head and landed here and there to groom him. One even landed on his lower lip to pick items out of his mouth.

From here we headed out toward a Maasai village to get a chance to meet the camp's landlords. The conservancy is on Maasai land and leased from the Maasai tribe. The fact that the Maasaai do not hunt wildlife probably contributes to how unconcerned the animals appear to be with our vehicles which makes the viewing so much easier.

But more about that next week when we explore the village and the Maasai people.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We will get right to the point. Once you have been around the elephants for awhile you get an appreciation for how smart, compassionate and special they are. The Maasai who have lived with them for centuries hold them in high esteem. Everyone does.

When we watched them around the waterhole the first day at the Selenkay Conservancy we were impressed with how communicative they were with their body language and tummy rumbling. The young were playful and curious. The adults watched them and coached them through their activities.

There were compassionate moments between the young - trucks flung over sibling's backs, leaning and play - and between the adults. It was also apparent that there was order and structure. And, they were aware.

While they did not seem bothered by our presence you could not watch them without knowing that your were being observed as well. One young one directed a short mock charge at our viewing stand and more than one adult stopped to observe what we were doing.

So what happens when the elephant is confronted by another special creature of the African wild, the lion? The healthy adult elephant has no reason to fear the lion but it's young, sick and elderly can fall prey to an active pride of lions.

We had a chance to answer that question, at least in part, on the afternoon of our third night in the Selenkay Conservancy. Toward the end of our afternoon game drive we turned a corner and happened on four young male lions heading together toward the waterhole where we had viewed the elephants earlier.

It was nearing sunset, a time when the elephant might be vacating the waterhole, and the lions were meandering in the general direction of the pool. We scrapped plans for the  normal sundowner and stayed with the vehicle, keeping close as the lions slowly made their way.

The four boys were in no hurry, likely timing their arrival to coincide with sunset. They would stop and roll around in the road, then wander off a bit and then head back to the road and stroll in the direction of the waterhole.

They would stop to play in the dirt. And then move a bit. All the while, they payed little or no attention to our vehicle. This let us get close enough for photo ops like the one below.

Once they reached the clearing where the pond was things got even more deliberate. The elephants took notice immediately. As the lions got closer and the sun dropped lower, the elephants began to leave.

By the time the lions got to the edge of the pool it was almost dark and all but one elephant, a mature female, had departed. The photos tell the rest of the story.

I guess this is how you express your displeasure when you do not have a middle finger. The body language and facial expression of the front lion shows says it all. Shortly after this the elephant left. Message delivered and received.

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

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It took us awhile to realize what we were seeing when we came upon this family. We were driving our from our lunch spot deeper into the Amboseli park when our driver stopped the vehicle a few feet from this family.

Like other families, this one had been heading from the horizon toward the marsh. But unlike the others, this family was not moving. They were stock still. In fact, they looked downright catatonic. Nothing seemed to distract them. They would be perfectly still for a few minutes and then move, only a few feet, strike a pose and become perfectly still again.

After letting us speculate, our guide finally explained. The family was sleeping in mid-day in the middle of their march. They had likely traveled a long distance and needed time to rest. We realized then that everyone's eyes were closed.

At one point, the little one sat down to rest and the others huddled protectively around her. We took our cue and moved on.

We were now driving on a dirt road that separated the marsh from the horizon where the elephants were coming from. This meant plenty of opportunities to see elephants, including largest bulls, up close as they crossed in front and beside our vehicle.

More elephants and zebra and wildebeest filled the marsh as we drove beside it to an open pool of water. In some of the wetter areas we would see elephants submerged in the marsh to levels that seemed to defy logic. What a good time this immovable pachyderm seemed to be having.

Once we reached the pool we found it teeming with another kind of life. Birds everywhere and none more abundant than the flamingo.

Nothing seemed to care much about our vehicle that had to cross a road flooded with water. No one bothered to move when we approached, not the spoon bill, the flamingo, the pelican or even these too blacksmith lapwing chicks.

After a full day at Amboselli, our drivers headed us back toward camp in the Selenkay Conservatory. This ride was quicker with fewer detours as you might expect although we still saw animals along the road like the secretary bird below.

Once back in camp, we cleaned up and enjoyed a late dinner. No night drive tonight. We were all ready to turn in and prepare for the next day's drive.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

As our 8:00 p.m. dinner is winding down on our first day at the Amboseli camp the staff announces that lion have been spotted approaching the nearby watering hole. An impromptu night drive is arranged and we gather cameras and hop into our vehicles to observe four lions (two pictured above) as they make their way to a nearby waterhole. A few elephants are already there and none are too eager to relinquish their spot.

Our vehicles are equipped with large red lights which are shined into the grass to reveal the lions. And while it is fun to be out in the night air, the cats seem bothered by the lights and so I am ready to head back after a short drive. 

The next morning we are up early for breakfast and a full day game drive. The ultimate destination is Amboseli National Park, a 90 minute drive on dirt roads through the Selenkay Conservancy. Along the way we stop and head off road to follow lion tracks seen on the road. Remarkably, our driver sees these prints while driving 30 miles an hour.

The lions elude us but we do catch a glimpse of the odd fellow above. He is a called a gerenuke. The long neck enables him to feed on trees and bushes at levels above where his gazelle cousins graze and below the tops that are so popular with giraffes.

As we drive on toward Amboseli the terrain changes from bushy and tree filled, too more open but with frequent brush and trees and then, at parks edge, to a wide open grass plain with occasional acacia trees in the distance. The grasses are high, maybe 3 feet or more, and they are everywhere. There has been lots of rain this year.

We have been driving for quite awhile, so our driver pulls us into a parking lot for a small airstrip within the park. We are the only ones there. A table is set out with refreshments and as we talk our eyes are drawn to a female ostrich. A male ostrich in the distance is heading her way. After they meet, short dance follows that seems not to impress the female.

The disappointed male heads off until he spots another male heading his way. We watch with anticipation.

When the two males meet they quickly begin interacting. A fight ensues that seems as much dance as fight but with plenty of contact. After about five minutes, the challenger prevails and heads off to try his luck with the reluctant female. We pack up to head further into the park.

We proceed from the airstrip in our vehicle over more grassland to an area of marshes. The wildlife gets more and more abundant as we get close. Zebra, wildebeest, impala, elephant, secretary birds and more fill the marsh and its edges.

Along the far horizon, are families of elephants marching toward the marsh in single file. Between the horizon and the marsh are many more families making their way to the marsh.

The marsh itself is filled with life. Zebra, wildebeest, gazelles, warthogs, birds, elephants and rhinos are all either in the marsh or at its edges.

Elephants are everywhere. On the hill heading to the marsh, at the edges of the marsh, in the marsh and even partially submerged in the marsh. This must be what heaven looks like to an elephant.

I do not think I am doing the experience justice. Hopefully the pictures help.

The temperatures are mild, the skies are open, and there are only a few safari vehicles on the road. In front of us is the marsh full of animals co-mingled by species and busy grazing or walking. We sit and just watch as family after family of elephants make their way down to and into the marsh and as zebra, hippo, wildebeest and gazelles graze. There are hippo too, in the marsh and grazing on its grasses.

Eventually tummies begin to rumble, ours not theirs, and we make our way up to a picnic site on top of a nearby hill. From there we can see miles of grassland and the large marsh that fuels  the parade of life we are witnessing.

We are not alone. School buses unload groups of uniformed school children on holiday and other tourists fill the hilltop with us. It has been a full morning.

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

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We were heartened to see this magnificent male on our second day at Nairobi National Park. We were tickled to watch from less than 30 yards away while the old fellow reached up with his hind leg to scratch behind his ear. It reminded us our our pet cat at home. As our trip progressed and we saw more and more lions lounging, playing and interacting, we would have this familiarity-reaction over and over.

We also enjoyed the people we met as we traveled. Their varied backgrounds and experiences made for interesting conversation. I am sure we seemed quirky to some as some did to us. Like characters from a book.

One Aussie couple fit that bill. He, at 84, was a retired barrister and businessman with an engaging conversational style that was peppered with pointed questions and good humor. He wore a baseball cap with an Australian flag on the back and was an ardent fan of Aussie football. There was an intensity to his conversation that reminded me of an eager law student who is full of new taught analytical skills.

He and his wife were a comfortable pair but not overly organized, as we learned on our joint flight to the Porini Camp in the Selenkay Conservancy. They were late for our 5:45 a.m. ride to the airport and not too certain about where they were going. And he disappeared outside the entrance to the Wilson Airport before our flight causing some minor concern within the group. It turns out, he confessed to me on his return, that he had to find a private place to retrieve his passports from his underpants.

As with all travel with Gamewatchers, we were escorted by their representatives from the camp until we were on our plane, a twin prop with twelve passenger seats. The flight to the Amboselli Camp was uneventful and low enough to take in the scenery below. We landed less than 90 minutes after we took off on a grass landing field near our camp. Our game drive spotter and driver were waiting for us with an open air Land Rover with six seats in two rows.

After getting off the plane and learning our Aussie friends were headed, unbeknown to them, in a separate vehicle for a different camp, we unloaded our cameras and hopped into our vehicle for a game drive on the way to camp. 

We did not have to go far. Before we could drive 50 yards, we were surrounded by a tower of Maasai giraffe, more than a dozen spread out among the trees and brush before us. It was breathtaking. So many of these giants so close and busy feeding in the upper reaches of the trees around us. Below you can see an adult "nanny" giraffe with five younger giraffes and below that some of the younger ones making their way across a meadow to fresh trees.

Our guides took us off road into the bush to get closer and we learned a critical difference between a conservancy and a national park. In the parks you stay on the roads but in conservancies you can go wherever your vehicle will take you.

We arrived at the Porini Amboselli camp before noon and were shown to our tents. This camp was more open air and spread out. After lunch we had our first hot afternoon while we rested in our tent. It was not Georgia summer hot but something in the 80s.

By 4:00 when we head out for our game drive it was already beginning to cool down. Our driver Julius and spotter Daniel, both Maasai, led us out into the conservancy in our open vehicle. Our companions were an English school teacher who worked in a private school in Nairobi and young married couple from Sydney. She was originally from Hungary and he from Brazil.

This afternoon's drive culminated with a visit to a waterhole that was full of elephants. Next to the waterhole was a platform for viewing. We would spend the better part of an hour there watching the elephants and participating in our first sun downer, a tradition of safaris where you stop in the wild to watch the sun set and partake in refreshments.

It was hard not to be fascinated with the elephants. There were at least 15 or 20 although it was hard to count because they came and went in small groups. They drank and splashed and rolled in the mud. The mothers interacted tenderly with the young and, of course, the young played.

They were also quite jealous of their domain paying close attention to approaching groups of zebra and warthogs and running them off when they got close. And, while they did not seem to mind our being there, we were careful when exiting our vehicle to enter the platform and occasionally an adult female or male would give us a hard look.

After our sun downer, we returned to camp for dinner and a surprise. More about that in next week's posting where we will also explore Amboselli National Park.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Okay, it is only fair that you get to see the outside of a tent after last week's image from inside. Here our guide is showing us to our tent at Nairobi  National Park. It is your basic non-heated tent but with interior lights powered by the camp's solar batteries and the other amenities we mentioned last week.

All of the tents we stay in at the four conservancies we visit will be like this one. You zip yourself in when you are there and zip yourself out when you are not. At night, you leave only with a Maasai warrior for an escort. Somehow, one always seems to be nearby when you need one. Remember, none of the camps are enclosed in any way. So animals wander through freely, especially at night.

Over the nearly two weeks we "camp" out, the grounds near our tent and the tents of our neighbors will be visited by cape buffalo, hippos, elephants, and lions making enough noise to wake some of us. This first night in Nairobi National Park, the night is full of sound. The loudest and most constant is from a pair of screaming hyenas who are close enough to camp for a ranger, dressed in her military uniform and toting a rifle, to patrol the area as we head off to our tents for the evening.

The next morning Frances was eager to speak with our host about the sounds the night before and about the armed guard. Was she here to protect us from bandits or was it a precaution because of the hyenas? The thought of marauding bandits had unsettled her.

Our host laughed when he heard the question. "No" he said. "No one worries about bandits in the night. You'd have to be crazy to wander around here at night. With the hyenas, lions and hippos around, something would surely get you." The guard had been called in because of the proximity of the hyenas.

Somehow, this was reassuring. After all, we were zipped into our tents at night and we were escorted when we went out after dark.

Our concerns addressed, we headed to the mess tent for breakfast and got ready for the morning game drive. We would be driving with a couple from Hong Kong and another from Toronto. All of us are first time safari goers so the mood is upbeat and expectant. They were with us for the afternoon drive the day before when we had good sightings of zebra and white rhino so we have reason to be optimistic.

It was early, as it always would be before morning drives. Up at 5:45 when coffee and biscuits are delivered to the tent, a hot breakfast in the mess tent, and then off in our safari vehicle by 6:30. Before we were 200 yards out of the camp we spot a lion in the grass, one of the contributors to last night's serenade. Later we get up close with a pair of white rhinos, mother and child. It is surprising how close the vehicles come to the rhino and how totally unconcerned they appear to be with our presence.

This sighting is followed by sightings of hartebeast, warthogs, gazelles, ostrich and a pair of jackals who run off when our vehicle approaches and, at least when they flee, look much like American foxes. It is a short drive this morning which gets us back by 10:00 before we head out to see the nearby David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage.

It is a short drive to the orphanage where we gather with a crowd of hundreds of locals and tourists around a roped off area of open dirt. Several handlers dressed in green lab coats and white hats wait patiently while a host of six to eight baby elephants approach in a line toward the open area. They move quickly, knowing they will receive bottles of milk from their handlers.  We watch the feeding and play that follows until they are led off and another, slightly older, group of young elephants comes to feed.

Our driver and Maasia guide were excited to visit the elephant refuge. The animals are revered for their imposing size, intellect and gentle family ways. "Elees" we call them, is what John or guide told us as we walked into the refuge.

We return to camp for a 1:00 lunch and then a 4:00 afternoon ride. As we make our first turn out of the camp we are forced to stop. Dozens upon dozens of baboons are walking down the road toward us. The leaders in the front of the group move off into the woods to our right before they reach our vehicle but, again, their is no show of concern from any member of the troop.

As we sit an watch, wave upon wave of baboons make their way down the dirt road, stopping here and their to inspect the ground, the bush or each other. They are in no hurry. As they get close to our vehicle, they follow the leaders into the brush. Eventually they are gone, invisible to us in the brush, and we make our way up the road.

The rest of the drive yields viewings of cape buffalo coming out of the woods into the grasslands and later, in a herd, blocking the dirt roadway. We also spot a serval cat in the roadway who disappears quickly into the tall grass as our vehicle approaches. And, we see our first kill remains. Bleached bones beside the road.

We return to camp before sunset, which occurs near 7:00 every day. After cleaning up, we gather around a fire in lawn chairs to share stories from our day and to get to know one another.

Before dinner, a new couple joins our group from Sydney. They are expatriates from South Africa, leaving there for Melbourne "to give our kids opportunities for a better life" after the chaos that followed the end of apartheid. They were active in the progressive movement, he says, and sorely disappointed wen the ruling white minority did not affirmatively plan for the change to majority rule.

More next week as we get to know our travel mates better, explore more of Nairobi National Park and head by small plane to the Maasai Selenkay Conservancy near Amboselli National Park.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

So the journey begins. After all the preparations (see our Prepping for Kenya post from August 30), we settle in for 24 hours of flying and waiting. We leave Atlanta on a Saturday at 1:30 p.m., fly to Philadelphia and then overnight to London before heading on a British Airways flight to Nairobi. This last leg gives us views of vast deserts and our first African sunset.

We arrive at 9:00 p.m. local time the next day. A bus picks us up at the plane and takes us to a large hanger where we wait in line to go through customs. Once through, we gather our bags and walk outside to meet our Gamewatchers representative who takes us to our car.

It's cool and dark with just the hint of a breeze. We are not tired so much as excited to be in Kenya. Traffic is relatively light as we leave the airport. It is Sunday night after all. Life size metal statues of wildebeest and zebra grace the medians along the roads around the airport. As we drive down a freeway, I notice people walking near the road. It is dark except for the street lights and headlights until we reach our hotel.

A large metal gate opens to admit our car to an area in front of the hotel. A guard stops us and walks around the car before we can proceed. When we enter the hotel door, another guard takes our luggage and puts it through an airport-style screening machine. We are escorted to the front desk for check in.

The next morning the process reverses itself. We check out and are escorted to the Gamewatchers car that is waiting for us out front. Then we are off to our first park, a two night stay at a tented camp in Nairobi National Park. It takes less than 10 minutes to get there. We are later told that Nairobi National Park is the world's only wildlife park that is adjacent to a national capital. We are in a wild place.

After switching guides and loading our stuff into an open top safari vehicle, we drive through the National Park gate. Men in military uniforms man the gate. Once through the gate, we are on a paved one lane road with trees lining both sides of the road. We think we are driving straight to the camp but soon discover that we are going take a meandering game drive through the park on our way to the camp.

As this news is sinking in, we turn around a bend and stop. A giraffe, 16 to 20 feet tall, is standing in the middle of the road eating the leaves off the tops of a nearby tree. We are both shocked and delighted. The beast is magnificent. Large and colorful and in command of its environment. We are not in Kansas anymore.

I am also unprepared as I grab my small travel camera and stand up to take a photo out of the top of the car. The giraffe, of course moves on quickly, as I fumble to take a shot. The adrenaline and surprise yield a shaky image as I wish I had not packed away the good camera for this short leg of our trip.

Things just get better from there. As we pull out of the woods onto a dirt road that leads into grasslands we are greeted by a herd of giraffes and Thompsons gazelles. Above in the treetops, go away birds are making a racket. A few minutes later, a small herd of zebra join the party. I am beginning to wonder if we are going to see everything on this first drive.

Before our drive is complete and we reach the camp we also see Grants gazelles, wart hogs, impala, ostrich, white rhino, hartebeast and cape buffalo. Not bad for a first morning out.

The camp is as advertised. A tented greeting area with sofas and tables, a separate tented dining hall and large tents for accommodations that feature a king size bed, small writing table and bathroom with sink with running water, flush toilet and a bucket shower. There is a small porch outside the tent with a couple of chairs and a table.

We unpack a bit and get ready for lunch. The dining tent is open and inviting and the food fresh and better than expected. We meet and talk with the other guests as they arrive. Most, like us, are just getting started so the talk is about what is to come.

There are no fences around the camp so animals can come and go freely. A small antelope has already greeted us outside our tent. At lunch, a small warthog wanders in and then saunters off.

We are off to a good beginning.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Just this once, we will ignore the beginning and start near the end with exactly what you would expect from a safari – a hunt. Only this is a photo safari so the hunters will have to be animals. In this case, a pride of 28 lions with a few safari vehicles tagging along.

We are 11 days into a 12-day safari spanning four camps in two national parks and three Maasai conservancies. We know the routine. Up at 5:45 for a 6:15 start with a breakfast packed for a 9:00 to 9:30 break on the plain.

This morning we are in the Porini Lion camp within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy which borders the Maasai Mara game reserve. We hop into our open Land Cruiser at 6:15 a.m. and head out. It is crisp outside with clearing skies. We bundle up. The open air design of the Land Cruiser provides a cold breeze as we drive.

There are four of us today filling six available seats. Our driver and spotter are in front. Both are Maasai and dressed in the bright traditional style of the bush only this morning they wear heavy coats over their bright tunics because of the cold.

There is a certain excitement about starting out each morning (and each afternoon for the second drive). You never know what you will see or where you will see it.

This morning the drive out of camp into the conservancy finds us on wet roads after evening rains. We cross a small stream swollen and muddy from the rain and head into an open grassland. The vehicle slides sideways in the deep mud as we drive down the embankment.

Ahead of us is a gently sloping field with a small herd of  topi, all of whom are standing upright and looking in one direction. Across the field is a small stream and then another open field on a gently sloping hill.

Immediately our driver veers off of the road onto the field with the topi and heads for the stream. As we look across the field, we see lions, lots of lions, dotting the hill on the other side of the stream. They are heading our way. No wonder the topi were attentive.

By the number of brown bodies, our guide knows this is the area's largest pride. Soon we are at the stream just as the first of the 28 lions reach the other bank.

There is hesitation. They do not like water. Then the first lion jumps over the stream to the other side. Then another and another.

A second line of lions forms a bit upstream and begins their aerial crossing as well. One large female misses her landing and slides back into the stream. She is none too happy as she scrambles up the muddy embankment.

Once the stream is forded, the group heads up the hill on our side. About eight or nine march single file near a dirt path. The rest are spread out into the grass as they proceed in the same general direction. No one is making a sound.

Soon, four or five jackals appear toward the back of the pack, yipping and barking loudly. Occasionally they charge toward the lions only to hurry back when a lion turns its head. They stay close as the pride advances, yipping constantly.

Are the jackals warning the potential prey? Why would they do that when they stand a chance to feed on the leftovers?

Our vehicle moves with the pride. Sometimes we are slightly behind most of the lions. Other times we move ahead so the procession walks toward and around us. A second vehicle joins us off to the side. The lions are acclimated to vehicles and take little notice.

Some pass right up to our vehicle as they walk by. They are so close you could almost tickle their feet. These are big and powerful creatures who are in control of their environment. When they get close we feel our adrenaline flow.

Soon we crest a hill and the lions continue down toward a large open plain. There are trees but they are few and far apart. On the plain is a small herd of zebra.

The lions, all 28 of them, proceed at a leisurely pace down the hill, some move ahead, some spread to the sides and others stop to watch or explore. One youngster carries a bundle of sticks in his mouth as he trots behind the others. Another stops to climb a termite hill.

The organization may be unclear but the activity is certainly practiced. Some are clearly father along on the learning curve than others.

As the lions make their way down the hill, the zebras get stiff, then confused. Their ears stand up and heads turn toward the lions. They stop to assess the threat.

The zebra have now frozen in position.

Soon the lions move closer to the zebra. In front, one darts into the center of the herd. The zebras bolt away into two and then four groups. Each is followed closely by a small group of lions. The action stops as the lions take stock of the situation.

We get ready to move on. Our goal was to watch the method, not see the result. As we drive off, I am fixed on a row of seven or eight zebra who are separate from the larger groups and standing bolt upright among a short row of trees. Will they all survive?

Later, after we return to camp, we learn that the zebra were spared that morning. Apparently, an unobservant warthog stumbled into the pack and immediately became breakfast. While the lions were distracted by the kill, the zebras escaped.

It all seems incredible. We not only witnessed this but that we were in the middle of an enormous pride as it happened.

In a few days, I will be at home in Atlanta going through the trip photographs. But just now I am in the middle of the oldest of wildernesses, tamed just enough through familiarity and the lack of human hunting to enable us to experience this extraordinary event.
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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

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Months ahead of our departure date it was time to prepare for the health side of our trip to the Massai regions of Kenya. The packaging from the four-day oral dose of typhoid vaccine shouted "Bring back souvenirs, not typhoid fever" in bold type. It was a clever reminder that we are traveling to a different part of the world.

Six shots preceded our typhoid vaccine and a regimen of anti-malarial drugs will follow beginning a few days before take off and carrying on for weeks after our return. Our pincushion arms have healed and we are now recently vaccinated (including updates) against typhoid fever, yellow fever, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitus A and B, Meningitis, and polio. Bring on Africa.

We have had our medical histories compiled and reviewed and received advice on what to eat and what to avoid. Lots of bottled water is in our future. No disposable plastic bags. They are illegal in Kenya. We have medicine for intestinal discomfort and deet to repel mosquitoes. Lots of deet.

We also have packing lists and limits on weight and types of bags we can use. Can I pack lightly enough to make room for all the camera equipment I want? The outfitter says I can photograph the night sky with a Maasai warrior as an escort. I will need a tripod for that and they are heavy.
 
The preparations are involved and the flights are long. But this is an adventure unlike any we have taken before.

We will be two weeks in the wild of Africa living in tents and seeing some of the most incredible mega fauna in the world. Our destination starts with a stay at a tented camp in Nairobi National Park. Over two nights we will take game drives and visit a renowned elephant orphanage run by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. They do incredible work, having rescued hundreds of elephants and rhinos over the years. Check out their site if you are so inclined.

From there, we head by small plane to the Selenkay Conservancy and Amboseli National Park. We will stay in a tented camp in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. From there we will access the open lands of the conservancy, which occupies land leased from the Maasai tribe. The area supports a large herd of elephants. Also indigenous are Thomson and Grant’s gazelles, lions, cheetahs, leopards, zebra, gazelles, kudus, mongooses, porcupines, giraffes and yellow baboons. The game drives include one at night with the chance of seeing nocturnal aardvarks, serval cats, caracals, and bat eared foxes. Day hikes with Maasai guides include one to their village. I am going to have to look up some of the less familiar animals before we leave.

Around six days in we head to the Porini Rhino Camp located in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy where we will find ourselves in the foothills of Mt Kenya. Two days and nights here with game drives and walks. The camp is in a secluded valley on the banks of a seasonal river and under the shade of acacia trees. The area is a sanctuary for black rhino and chimpanzees.

From there it is on to the Porini Mara Camp with night game drives and a chance to spot an elusive leopard. The Mara and the Ol Kinyei Conservancy is home to the wildebeest, zebra, elephants, cheetahs, lions and leopards.  Hyena, jackal, buffalo, eland, topi, impala, gazelle, and warthog are also around.
 
As if that was not enough, from Porini Mara we head to the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and it's Porini Lion Camp. More walks and game drives and a chance to watch the great wildebeest migration, dependent on weather and the timing of the wildebeest.

This latter event is a full day in the Masai Mara Reserve that annually plays host to this natural wonder of the world. Timing can be uncertain but if we are lucky we may get to watch as up to half a million wildebeest congregate to cross through the area seeking the grasses raised by earlier rains. Thousands upon thousands of hooves pounding the earth, rivers full of crocodiles waiting for a meal and the wildebeests' need to cross should make this unforgettable.

And then, two weeks after we start it will be time to head back, spend a day in Nairobi and catch flights home. Oh, and 24 more days of malaria medicine.

Ancient money's silent witness to history and how it influences our lives today is the subject of today's post.

The image displayed above is from a coin was issued by a Roman Senator in 71 BC. In that year, Rome’s legions finally and violently quashed a massive slave rebellion on the Italian peninsula. The coin, as you can see, portrays a legionnaire holding a prostrate and defeated slave. The coin was a comfort to Rome’s citizens and a warning to its many slaves.  

You may have heard about the rebellion. Bestselling author Howard Fast wrote about it in the 1950s and actor Kirk Douglas turned Fast’s book into a blockbuster movie in 1960. As the story goes, a Thracian mercenary named Spartacus is enslaved and sent to the gladiatorial school of Lentulus Batiatus in Capua in the year 73 BC. Plans were to include him in gladiatorial bouts hosted throughout Rome’s empire after his training.

Instead, he masterminds an escape and defeats all challenges thrown at him, dispatching Roman legion after Roman legion and accumulating over a two year period nearly 100,000 followers. His slave nation made camp on Mount Vesuvius near modern day Naples and earned international notoriety for its resilience.

Knowing Rome must crush them to survive, Spartacus and his army of former slaves made arrangements to escape from the peninsula. But they failed. While trying to depart, the legions of Marcus Crassus and Magnus Pompey converge on them and defeat Spartacus and his armies in a crushing battle.

After the defeat, Crassus crucifies 6,000 captives from the battle, all former slaves, while marching the rest of them 350 miles from the battle site to Rome. The number equates to about 17 crucifixions per mile, spreading them apart far enough so that the screams of each crucified slave could not be heard by the other slaves as they marched under the watchful eyes of Crassius’ legions.

What you probably don’t know is that Howard Fast had to self-publish his book about Spartacus because his name appeared on Senator McCarthy’s black list of communist sympathizers. The Committee thought Fast and the story were too sympathetic to communist ideals.

Even with the impediment of self-publishing, however, Spartacus quickly became a number one bestseller on the New York Times Bestseller List. And then the story of Spartacus’ struggle took on new meaning and managed to impact modern America in a surprising way.

Kirk Douglas, annoyed at losing the lead role in Ben Hur to Charleston Heston, bought the film rights to Fast’s book and hired the incomparable Dalton Trumbo to write the screen play for his movie. Trumbo had been imprisoned for refusing to testify to the McCarthy’s Un-American Affairs Committee and was blacklisted by the motion picture industry. When it came time to release the film, Douglas made another bold move and put Trumbo’s name in the movie credits.

Hedda Hopper and other influential media people panned Douglas and the move as un-American. Protesters appeared at the opening. But the movie nonetheless became an instant popular success marking a defeat for McCarthyism. When President Kennedy attended a showing and commented positively on the film, an important victory for American freedom was sealed.

Spartacus lost his own battle for freedom in 71 BC but centuries later his story helped free Dalton Trumbo and Americans everywhere from a tyranny of their own. The past matters. Ancient coins like the one above can remind us of important past events that can and do still impact our modern world.
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Next week we start our Kenyan Safari series. What is it like to spend two weeks in the African wild? What do you experience and see when you are there? Check out our Safari 1: The Hunt next Thursday.

The coins pictured are from the Ancient Selfie collection and featured in Ancient Selfies - History Revealed Through the World's First Social Media. All coin photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. See more coin images at TrekPick.com on the Coins page.

If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. For more pictures of the cormorant or the great blue herons whose territory he is invading, see the Jurassic Cove Gallery at TrekPic.com under the heading New.

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