- Nairobi, Kenya
- Amboseli National Park, Kenya
- Meru National Park, Kenya
- Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya
- Masai Mara National Park, Kenya
- Zanzibar, Tanzania!
- Arusha, Tanzania
Most of our trips between camps is done by bush flights. To go between Meru and the Lewa Conservancy, however, we ended up driving. This was a definite good news, bad news story. The good news is that we got see many climate zones and all the flora and fauna therein. We also got to see a lot of villages and the everyday life that occurs here. In many ways it reminded me of some of our drives through rural Mexico — lots of small houses and shops, with lots of street markets, selling various wares and crops. One crop that is a bit different, however, is miraa (also known as khat) — a flowering cash crop grown by many in the area. Chewing miraa apparently gives you a pretty long lasting high. While much of its use is associated with Muslim ceremonies up in Somalia, it is pretty prevalent here. As we slowed down going through the villages, lots of guys would run up to the vehicle trying to sell us some. The bad news is that roads along the roof were absolutely atrocious — a spiderweb of deep potholes that rarely allowed us to get out of second gear and pretty consistently rattled our teeth. What should have been a 3.5 hour trip took way over 5 hours. Having said that, we arrived at Lewa and were blown away by its beauty — wide rolling hills of grass as far as the eye can see. While there are a wide variety of animal species here, this place is all about protecting elephants and black rhinos.
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is really where the idea of conservation had its birth in Africa. So much innovation has gone on here. To them, the magic is tying wildlife protection to community engagement — one builds off the other. In fact, the Conservancy offers support to communities who are willing to support and/or set land aside for wildlife conservation. This actually extends beyond conserving wildlife to protecting the people and livestock — a true benefit to the nomadic communities in the area. Today the Conservancy employs many people from the surrounding villages as well as getting new schools and infrastructure. Many private conservancies have borrowed this model to great success. In addition, Lewa reinvests all the profits generated from tourism into its core programs. In 2013, Lewa was incorporated into the Mount Kenya UNESCO World Heritage Site because an innovative elephant “highway” that allows safe passage for the elephants between the various landscapes in the region. We actually went to see the Lewa Operations Center where they track tagged elephants and rhinos using video displays displaying Google Earth Maps as well as tracking data from the animals and the many anti-poaching teams that are directed from the operations center. They have been given police authority which allows them to carry semi-automatic weapons and “shoot to kill” in the event they see poachers at work. They even have an Air Force of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. The bad news is that the poachers themselves are poor people from the area that get paid very little for the risk they take. The big money is made by the people in Nairobi who hire them and make millions of dollars selling rhino horn and ivory to the Middle East and Asia. These fat cats also seem to be immune to prosecution. Anyway, by American standards, their technology may seem rather modest, but by African standards it is the most sophisticated thing going. Not surprisingly, they are very proud of their efforts!
As I said, this place is about Black Rhinos and elephants and we saw lots of both. The Black Rhinos can be a bit feisty and we had a few challenge us. One of my videos posted to Facebook shows a baby (a very big baby!) charging towards our Land Cruiser while squealing for his mother. At the last minute, he cut to the right and went to her. We later came across the pair and the mother snuffed threateningly at us. As far as the elephants are concerned, the big issue is that they keep pushing over trees to get at the tender leaves. The landscape is littered with dead trees and the Conservancy’s efforts in using electrified fences high enough to keep elephants and giraffes out (while letting smaller animals in) has only been a partial success. The elephants have found a way to use their tusks, which apparently don’t conduct electricity, to snap the wires.
The other amazing animal we saw lots of was the Grevey’s zebra. The Conservancy has the largest population of them in the world. Larger than common zebras, they have much narrower stripes that are somewhat hypnotic as they move. They also have bigger ears. While they do have herds, you see a lot more solo Grevey’s that claim and protect territory. Another first for us, was seeing a pair of cheetah brothers named Wallace and Grommit (named by a donor to the Conservancy). The first time we saw them, we only saw Grommit who was resting on a termite mound. After driving around searching for his brother, we returned only to find that Wallace had been laying down in the tall grass next to his brother — not 10 feet away — and we missed him. But that is one of the cheetah’s great advantages — they blend into the shorter grasses and stealthily sneak up on their prey. There other advantage is their raw speed — they can go 0-60 mph in 3 seconds! Their problem is that they can only sustain that speed for a couple of hundred yards and if they didn’t get their prey by then, it will take them a couple of hours to recharge. They are also disadvantaged against the larger and stronger lions and leopards who can steal their kills or actually kill them. Consequently, they hint during the day, while the lions and leopards hunt at night. We were pleased we got to see the brothers and were doubly surprised when we saw them later in the day, apparently just having finished “lunch!”
We even got to see the moral equivalent of the “bar scene” on the savannah. It was mating time for the ostriches. There was a female on the crest of a hill. A male caught a glimpse of her and started doing his very best Bogart. In male ostrich terms, that means spreading his wings in front of him (like a skirt), juking his neck back and forth, and strutting his stuff. As I was watching him, I was hearing Barry White playing in my head. Silky! “This guys is smooth” I thought. Apparently, if the female looks receptive, he goes down on his knees and starts shaking — sort of like James Brown without the cape. If the female, in fact, is receptive, she starts dancing with some moves that are equal part voodoo dance and the Funky Chicken. Then good things happen. Well, unfortunately, the female had already crested the hill, and when our hero got to the other side, he found that she was already with another male. Neck goes stiff, wings go down, a sluggish about face is executed, and our hero slinks back from whence he came. Life (and love) is hard on the savannah…
We stayed at the Lewa Safari Camp which has an amazing location within the Conservancy that provides outstanding game viewing from camp, views of the mountains and the rolling hills. This was another “rustic chic” place with 13 tents, each having a thatched roof, verandah and full bathroom. The central areas have gardens with a verandah and swimming pool to enjoy during the day, and cozy log fires in the lounge and dining room during the chilly evenings.
We had a really enjoyable time here, but we were all anxious to get on to our next camp — Masai Mara and the Great Migration!
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
