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Our first night at the Rhino Camp in Ol Pejeta was like our nights at the other camps. The tent was similar and located a short walk from the dining tent. And, we were escorted to our tent and zipped in after dinner by one of our Maasai hosts. What distinguished it, however, were the chewing sounds and grunts that woke me up in the middle of the night. They were coming from directly behind the bed. Outside the tent, mind you, but close enough to be able to tell that horns of some sort pushed against the tent wall. Surprisingly, I did not feel any concern. We were zipped in after all. But in the morning we discovered just how big our visitor was when we found a steaming buffalo paddy next to the walk way between our tent and the dining tent. A waterhole across a small stream from our tent also reinforced how close we were to the wildlife. During our short stay we saw elephants, gazelles, baboons, rhino and monkeys there. The steep banks of the stream provided a natural barrier providing us with an idyllic setting to watch the African parade of life. Our ride out each morning took us through a tree filled area up a hill where we reached an open plain. The first morning out we spotted a mature male lion in the acacia trees by the side of the road. Our driver tried to follow but could not get through the thick and spike-filled trees. The second morning out we spotted this fellow, a black rhino, peering through the trees. Like the lion, he was just a few hundred yards from the camp entrance. You would expect the rhino to be plentiful near a Rhino Camp and they were. This white rhino on the plain near camp is a good example. The bird on his back is an oxpecker. They groom rhino, giraffes and other animals. The ones in the grass with the iridescent coloring are local starlings. As we shared in an earlier post, the lions are at Ol Pejeta as well. Everyone gets excited by the lions - the drivers, the spotters, and the camp staff. They are not just the focus of the camp but like the other big cats - Leopards and Cheetah - they are all given names, a distinction reserved to the big cats the majestic elephant. But other species we saw were just as interesting in their own way. Take the eland, Africa's largest antelope. The adult male stands about five feet at its shoulder. Despite their size, they are agile enough to clear a four foot fence from a standstill. Or the ostrich, the seven to nine foot tall flightless bird that can sprint up to 43 miles per hour and run at 31 miles per hour for extended distances. Ostrich kicks can kill a lion or a man with its kick. The waterbuck, whose furry neck makes it a less favored choice among lions and other predators is abundant here as well. As their name suggests, they are rarely far from water. Our other neighbors at Ol Pejeta included the zebra, abundant and pregnant, gazelles, warthogs, hyena and jackals. _____
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. Merry Christmas to all - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and other believers and non-believers. Happy holidays to all who wish for a world big enough, healthy enough and compassionate enough to sustain our wildest and most vulnerable creatures. May we find peace and hope in a world that makes room for wild creatures great and small. May we find time for play and joy. And stand tall for the young who need our compassion and care. May we cherish diversity and support a world able to sustain our planet's young and vulnerable. May we stand confidently before the challenges life brings us. And care for one another. May we dance and keep safe those who dance in far away places. May we see the tenderness in all creatures. And protect the most vulnerable. Including those smaller than a feather. May our young be nourished. And, live full and wild even in the shadow of great cities. May our families flourish along the paths they follow. And in their homes, safe and secure. May we run with joy and exuberance. And enjoy the quiet and softening light of day's end. May we sleep the sleep of young lions. And, always keep some wiggle in our walk. Happy holidays from the Venture Moola photo blog. _____
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. If you are old enough you may remember a TV program called Hogan's Heroes. It was a comedy set in a fictional German prison camp during World War II. Hogan was an Allied prisoner and head of a Special Operations unit within the prison that kept foiling the best efforts of Camp Commandant Wilhelm Klink and his incompetent Sergeant Hans Schultz. I could not help thinking about that old comedy when we took a side trip one afternoon to the Chimpanzee Rescue Center Conservancy located in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It did not help that it had a fence worthy of a prison camp or that the earnest young Kenyan who served as our guide had a stutter that kept interrupting his otherwise fast-talking presentation. He was gracious and gave us a thorough tour as we walked together around the fence but there were only a few chimpanzees to see. It turns out they do not come out of the shade when it is hot. Since the facility does not open until 11 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m., my guess is visitors rarely see many of dozens of chimpanzees who have been rescued and sent here for rehabilitation. None of this, however, diminishes the good work they do at the conservancy. And the chance to see this facility was worth the hour or so it took from the day. Still, the experience paled compared to the native animals we saw wild as we drove to get there. Our visit to the chimpanzee conservancy came toward the end of a morning drive that treated us to our first viewing of reticulated giraffe. Their distinctive markings give them a very different look from the Maasai giraffe we had already seen. Above, you can see them as we did cresting a hill. We had actually first caught sight of them earlier while we were watching this mother and young black rhino in some tall grass just off our dirt road. In fact, we followed the activities of these two rhino for quite awhile before we realized giraffe were near. You can guess they are the smaller black rhino, instead of white rhino, by their location. Black rhino eat bush more than graze on grass. Their upper lip is pointed and designed to pick leaves off a bush. The close up below of the younger rhino shows the distinctive upper lip. Here you can see in the background what we were missing as we watched the young hippo romp around in the grass. If you look closely you can see six giraffe watching us and the two rhino from a safe distance. When we finally, looked up and behind the rhino this is what we saw. Several reticulated giraffe grazing in the distance but keeping their eyes on us. The closer view below, taken after we left the rhino and headed out, will give you a better idea of just how distinctive the reticulated giraffe's coat pattern is. The third one from the right is busy munching as it goes from one tree to another. Wart hogs, jackals, hartebeest, elephants, storks, gazelles and impala also filled our elongated morning drive that day. After lunch and a break we headed out for a full evening drive that included the sundowner surprise we discussed in last week's blog - a pride of 12 lions on the hill near our picnic spot. That same drive brought us into close contact with the spotted hyena. First, we caught an adult crashing in and out of the brush beside our moving vehicle that left me thinking how big, fast and menacing he looked. Then later, we got a closer look at a hyena nest that was full of pups. An adult stood guard near the nest as we pulled our vehicle close. She, or he, was tense and vigilant. The pups, however, appeared more curious than nervous. Perhaps the most interesting moment from this afternoon drive happened when we headed back to camp. We were late and it was getting dark when we spotted four giraffe on the left side of our vehicle not far from camp. All of them were staring off into the distance toward the camp. "Leopard," our guide said. "She must be up ahead." The spotter turned on a bright red lamp near the windshield and quickly located a leopard in the bush, who darted in front of the vehicle and then belly-crawled through the bush out of sight. I missed it entirely as I was in the back of the vehicle but those in front caught a glimpse. Our companions were happy to provide full descriptions over dinner that night. Would I see the leopard on the trip? We still had six days and four of them were in lion country. There was still time to see this most elusive of cats. - - - - -
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. Because we are on the equator, the days and nights both last 12 hours and the sunrises and sunsets seem to happen relatively quickly. There is great light for photographs just after sunrise and before sunset. Beautiful hues of reds and blues filled the skies on this overcast night as the sun began to set. This particular evening, however, will be remembered more for what happened just before sunset. We were finishing a great afternoon drive with wine and snacks served on a picnic table outside our vehicle. The typical African safari Sundowner. We had driven off the dirt road we were parked on an area of grassland punctuated here and there by small trees, not unlike the terrain in the picture above. Everyone was chatting and reliving the day when the driver and spotter began quickly gathering up the food and chairs and directed us to get back in the vehicle. "Lions," our driver said "I have spotted lions nearby." We moved quickly into the vehicle, feeling at risk only momentarily. It is one thing to see lions from inside the safety of a vehicle. It is quite another thing be told they are nearby when you are standing on the grass. Once we were all back in the vehicle, the spotter explained that he had seen a pride of lions gather on a nearby hill maybe 250 yards away. He started the vehicle and began driving right toward the pride. We counted 12 lions, mostly female, lounging in the grass on a hill and drove to within a few feet of them. They were alert but mostly sitting around watching the horizon. It was early for them to actually be hunting. Seeing so many lions in one place gave us an opportunity to see how distinctive some of them appeared. It was easy to tell one from another, not just because their ages varied, but because their coloration was varied as were the shapes of their heads and even their color and patterns of their coats. The one in the pair below seen staring intently to the left got up to join two others who were between her and the activity that caught her attention. No only does she have a distinctive facial appearance but, as you can see in the next picture, her legs are spotted almost giraffes. After watching the pride for awhile a second safari vehicle pulled up and we pulled up to make room so everyone could see. The lions, for their part, ignored us and went about their business. After a good long look but before the lions moved off the hill to pursue a kill, we headed toward camp. When we got back, we cleaned up and gathered around a fire pit set in front of the mess tent. Folks from the other vehicle arrived and we exchanged stories. As we talked we could hear something across the small stream that separated us from the waterhole. It was too dark to see anything but the sounds we heard suggested something large. And, dinner was called before we could get a big enough light to see what we were hearing. Our imaginations would have to fill in the blank. Whatever it was, something big appeared behind our tent while we were sleeping. I woke up to hear snorting and grazing just behind my headboard. Outside our tent something big was eating and rubbing against the ten wall when it moved. I cannot say with certainty what was dining nearby but the next morning a steaming Cape Buffalo paddy was sitting just yards outside our tent. _ _ _ _ _
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. Our game drives at Ol Pejeta, where the Porini Rhino Camp is located, were very productive. The rhino, white and black, were abundant along with their young. But so too were the cape buffalo, zebra, impala, gazelles, birds, jackels and hyenas. On this drive we found ourselves in the middle of a herd of cape buffalo, powerful beasts that look you straight in the eye. They were mostly interested in grazing but there were plenty of young to look after and watching them run about was fun. Then, as I was looking to the left I noticed a very busy bull trying to hook up with a female. She was not much interested and moved just as he did. You can see the result in these two pictures. Above, he is making his approach. His target is facing left. His landing pad is facing right. Below you can see the result. If that is a crash of one kind on the African grassland what follows is a true crash of another kind. A family, or crash, of white rhino we found after we left the buffalo herd proved equally entertaining. To be specific, we came upon a male and female grazing together next to the dirt road that cut through the grassland. With them was a calf the guides estimated was no more than a few months old. While she may have been small she showed no fear. As we watched, she faced us down and threatened to charge. Then she took off running around her mom and then over to her dad, running in circles around him. She stopped there briefly to graze with dad. Then it was back to mom as she headed away from the dirt road onto the open grassland. She followed her mom. briefly. Then she was off again. This time she was after a bird, then a zebra and then a wart hog. Each chase was enthusiastic and bounding. After three short chases, it was back after the zebra for one more try. All her targets easily avoided her charges but she was undeterred. It was like watching a puppy run in a park. She was surprisingly fast and agile. Running with abandon across the grass. She never actually caught up with anything, of course. But the racing was a joy to watch. It was another great day on the African plain.
_ _ _ _ _ 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 are five days into our trip and it is time to pack up and head to our next camp. Before we do, I stop in the small Maasai shop on the camp property to make a purchase. The handiwork of the Maasai is displayed in a plain wooden shack with no lighting. I chose and item and negotiate an acceptable price but it takes some doing. There are no fixed prices here and I am not surprised when the asking price starts at four times what we see the same item for in a fixed price shop in Nairobi. The back and forth is in good spirits making the experience part of the fun. We do not leave as early this time, giving us time for one last short game drive at the Amboseli camp. We are pleased to get a last look at the Amboseli giraffe who are grazing near the spot where we will meet our bush plane. The photo below show an adult female and the five young she is caring for. Our travel plans take us back to Wilson Airport in Nairobi and then by separate plane to Ol Pejeta and the Porini Rhino Camp. Two other guests from north of Mumbai join us on the flight. They are headed to a different camp but will rejoin us at the end of our journey. As the engine starts up, we begin talking about the interesting history of our spotter in Amboseli (above with the green sweater). As a boy, I learn, he and others were out watching their livestock graze when a dog they had with them began barking wildly at some nearby elephants. One of the elephants took offense and charged the dog causing the dog and the boys to run for their lives. Unfortunately for Daniel, the dog followed him as he ran and the elephant caught both stomping on Daniel in the process. The result was a badly broken leg. The gentle Maasai who would not hurt a fly on our walk had been the unwitting victim of an elephant's rage. A reminder of just how wild and unpredictable the wildlife can be. Our flight to Nairobi and then to Ol Pejeta was uneventful, except for the late arrival of our friends from Melbourne and their challenges with making a connecting in Nairobi. If you remember, he is the one who stores his passports in his underpants. They were the interesting couple who had left South Africa for Australia decades ago to raise their kids. Any while he was quick witted, He was also forgetful and travel-connection challenged. Thankfully, the good people at Gamewatchers made sure that travel and connections in Kenya were always chaperoned. As we did in the Selenkay, our flight to Ol Pejeta landed on a grass landing strip. This time with a herd of zebra and wildebeest next to the strip. After loading into our land cruiser, our driver and spotter drove us into the herd and after several passes managed to move the animals off the landing strip long enough for our plane to take off. It was a short drive to camp through open plain and then high grass. Once there we were greeted by our hosts and shown to our tents. The dining tent opens up to a waterhole across a stream with a fire pit nearby for evening sundowners. Our tent was nearby with a view of the same waterhole. That afternoon we took our first game drive in the Ol Pejeta conservancy. Before we left, however, a small family of elephants visited the waterhole. The young one above was intent on making some improvements. Our drive immediately yielded sightings. In short order, we saw gazelles, impala, zebra, jackal, white rhino and cape buffalo. In each case we also saw newborn among them. The rains had been good earlier this year, breaking a drought cycle, and the animals were taking advantage of the tall grasses and plentiful water. True to the camp's name, the rhino were plentiful. This white rhino and her attending oxpecker was one of many we saw that first day. We also came upon a male and female white rhino with an exuberant calf. A group of rhinos is called a crash but more about this crash in next week's entry. _ _ _ _ _
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. Our gracious hosts through most of our adventure were members of the Maasai tribe, a semi-nomadic people that reside near the game parks we visited. The picture above shows the people from a small village near the Porini Amboseli camp in the Selenkay Conservancy. The Porini camps where we stayed were all located on land leased from the Maasai. Because the Maasai do not hunt wildlife, relying instead on the cattle they raise, the conservancies established by these leases make great places for safari camps. The safari camps are each very eco-friendly, relying on solar power and endeavoring to leave as small an impact as reasonably possible on the land. Our visit to a small Maasai village started with these seven Maasai warriors. They met us during a game drive and, after a short introduction, walked us to their village. Their dress was bright, predominantly red, with lots of beaded jewelry. Their shoes were sandals made from old car and truck tires by a nearby merchant. The walk was less than a mile on a dirt path. The village was surrounded by a chain link fence which we were told was purchased with a money from a gift and used to keep predators from raiding cattle from the village pen during the night. The livestock pen was constructed of sticks with makeshift scarecrows near its entrance. The village also had dogs to help ward off predators. The village itself consisted of the fence and several mud-constructed homes like the ones below. When we entered the village through the fence gate we were greeted by dozens of children and their mothers. Introductions were made and then demonstrations of day-to-day skills. The women were as elaborately dressed as the men. Often with multiple and brightly colored bead necklaces, earrings and bracelets. The children were active and curious, exchanging phrases in Swahili and English with the guests. The men showed how they made fire by spinning sticks on a small wooden pallet and then began a dance. The women, men and children chanted a tune while each of the men took a turn jumping straight up in the air and landing with great gusto. The children watched and practiced their jumps as the music continued. After our visit, the entire village walked us outside the fence and we stopped for the photo at the beginning of this blog. We then headed back to our Porini camp. While we would see and interact with Maasai men every day - they ran all the camps and included all the game drivers and spotters - we would not see Maasai in their traditional life style again until late in our visit. On market day in the Maasai Mara, we would see Maasai warriors taking their livestock across the open plains to sell and trade. These are the same plains where we watched lion and cheetah hunt. The Maasai warriors escorted their livestock on foot, carrying long stick poles as they walked. The Maasai are under pressure to adapt to modern ways and many, including all those involved in running the safari camps, are actively adapting to the modern world that has invaded their lives. We will talk more about them and how they are adapting in future entries. For now, we leave you with this image of the Maasai herding their cattle and goats across the African plain. - - - - -
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. 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. _ _ _ _ _ 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. _ _ _ _ _
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. 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. _____ 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. |
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