When instructed to find a
way to Kenya from Singapore, my travel agent came up with a
business class flight to Bangkok on Singapore
Airlines followed by the longer, equatorial-hugging trip to Nairobi with Kenya Airlines. Business class
was great; addressed by name; discovering that your feet actually do come with
you on airline flights and having the choice of where the champagne is from. A
gloating text message to my daughter quickly brought the retort that I would soon
be in cattle class on Kenya Airlines. I only just managed to survive the
illogical intricacies of the new SuvarnabhumiInternationalAirport in Bangkok
before I was given an exit seat on the pride of the Kenya Airways. I was
rejoicing in the fact also that nobody was sitting next to me when a very large
woman wearing a full-length gaudy dress appeared from nowhere and plonked down
next to me after smiling disarmingly. It wasn’t too bad as it was like sitting
next to a soft mattress and gave me another surface to rest my head. The flight
was without incident or highlight; the staff was relaxed and the food was
edible. I was introduced to my first taste of Tusker beer. This is Kenya’s beer
and a good drop too. The company was founded by two brothers, but one
unfortunately met his end when gored by a tusker. It was therefore a somewhat ‘black’
brand name, but just as well he wasn’t zipped open by a warthog.
The Parmley’s house on the
outskirts of Nairobi
On arrival in the wee small
hours at Jomo Kenyatta airport I was worried by how long it may take to get an
entry visa. The answer was about 48 seconds…..as I was first in the line. My
hosts for the first few days, Jane and Nigel Parmley, had arranged for a taxi
to pick me up and I soon located a ‘Jimmy’s
Cabs’ vehicle and we were on our way to the Parmley residence, engaged in a
friendly and animated conversation. I think I paid handsomely for the
conversation but after about 20 minutes was in the residence of Jane and Nigel,
a spacious home on the outskirts of Nairobi.
I was shown great hospitality in the next two
days; lunch at the Club, a function at the Golf Club, walking the dogs and best
of all…..a good dose of live rugby via satellite TV from South Africa. Kenya has two
rainy seasons the ‘Big rains’ in April-May and the ‘Little rains’ in October
–November.
General shooting mode from
the top of the Land Rover
Nairobi is not much further off the equator than Singapore, but
the 1600 metres elevation resulted in a beautiful temperate climate.
Unfortunately it was an El Nino year and the ‘Little Rains’ were more like big
brother. It rained most days and I told myself it would rain itself out, but it
didn’t. This had its upside and downside on our safari…..we avoided the pesky
dust that wheedles its way into every orifice of photographic equipment and human
body alike. Also, the heat on a cloudless day soon results in the animals,
especially the big cats, finding shelter whereas they stay out for much longer
on a cloudy day. On the downside, a lot of action, especially with the lion
cubs, occurs in the evenings and slower shutter speeds necessary in cloudy
conditions make action-capturing difficult.
Jane
dropped me off at the Serena Hotel and after checking into the very
comfortable room I went to meet my tour mates and catch up with Joe and
Mary Ann McDonald. There were 13 of us in the tour group, the two
McDonalds and 5 very skillful and well-informed drivers; Felix, Andrew,
David, Patrick and Albanus. Joe ran down the basic etiquette for
shooting on the trip and how regard for others in the vehicle was to be
taken into account. We were all to become Tai Chi experts in our slow
harmonious movements that caused no motion blur on the images of others
in the vehicle. Mary Ann was in charge of allocating who was in each
vehicle and did so twice a day for the rest of the trip.
The
vehicles were especially outfitted Land Rover Defenders that belonged
to Origins Safaris, a company that seemed to get everything right.
There were three rows of seats behind the driver and a removable hatch
above each shooter that, when taken off, enabled each of the three
shooters to photograph out of their own space on the roof of the
vehicle.
atrick
was our first driver and with Caroline, a veteran of over 30 trips to
Africa and Ken, a retired Ophthalmologist and ace senior golfer, we
made our way out of Nairobi before stopping several times for comfort
purposes and to have lunch at a Treetops Restaurant and Trout farm. We
were to get a glimpse of some wildlife when we saw the Giant Kingfisher
that was perched above a pond of young trout and a flashing glimpse of
a colourful Turaco.
The initial stages of the trip to Samburu took
us through central Kenya with its fertile, rolling countryside that
supported crops of pineapples, coffee and beans. Small crops of
potatoes were planted on roadside plots by squatters eking out an
existence from their meager crop. We passed by the shadows of Mount
Kenya, a peak that was obviously once much grander before volcanic
activity blew it largely away. Further along we descended into the Rift
Valley, the cradle of civilization. Later the roads deteriorated and
then become bone-jarringly bad. A lesser vehicle would soon become
battered to unrecognizable sheet metal. Some roads looked more like
moonscapes and you expected to see the Lunar Rover teetering along in
the opposite direction. One feature of the small villages we passed
through was the children in a variety of brightly coloured school
uniforms and the preponderance of various Christian sects that spread
the Gospel from shabby shacks or rusty sheds. The roads everywhere in
Kenya have many pedestrians walking along the roadside. There are none
of the buzzing mopeds that infest South Asian countries. Country folk
can walk 10-20 Km to the shops and back to their villages.
As
we moved into northern Kenya the roadside vegetation became sparser.
Northern Kenya is a country of sand-rivers known as luggas, of isolated
mountains rising sheer from the plains, of long droughts and sudden
torrential rainstorms. As we approached Samburu, which is a semi-desert
park, camels grazed on the spiky bushes and more of the locals wore
Muslim garb. We turned onto a dirt track past a security outpost and
headed towards our first safari camp. Our progress was abruptly halted
some 10 km short of our destination by an overly swollen river that
swirled over the normal ford with menace. There were hasty riverside
conferences and chin scratching and drivers rolled up trouser-legs and
broke of saplings before walking gingerly into the middle of the
crossing to assess the stability and depth. A larger vehicle with
backpackers sitting on top of luggage arrived on the scene. They had a
greater problem as this oversized vehicle was inexplicably without
four-wheel drive. Albanus was first to bite the bullet, he cleared his
vehicle of passengers and ploughed through the swirling waters. The
other four Land Rovers, with full loads, followed the same course. The
backpackers gathered together and waded across the waters and their
vehicle successfully followed, accompanied by sighs of relief and a
brief round of applause.
Crossing the swollen river
As
we approached our 'camp' we got a taste of the wildlife in the area:
Impala, a Martial Eagle, Waterbuck, Gerenuks, Red-billed Hornbills,
Elephants, Reticulated Giraffes and some Eastern Chanting Goshawks were
sighted. The usual dry, semi-arid conditions in the Reserve had been
transformed by the heavier-than-usual rains and verdant green
vegetation was all about us. The rain had caused some problems in the
camp a few weeks earlier when flood waters flowed through the lowest
lying tents.
The
Samburu Intrepids camp was situated alongside the Uaso Nyiro River, a
small but capricious river that threatened the camp several times while
we were there and either flowed quietly or with a turbid brown
angriness. The interior of the tents had two single four-poster beds
with full wrap-around mosquito nets. Inside the entrance, a small desk
hosted a desk lamp and an adjacent power point for battery-charging or
power for a lap-top computer. Behind the beds was another table and a
wardrobe. A 'solid' bathroom was accessed by a wooden door and
contained a double sink, a shower and a flush toilet, with a stone
floor and walls surrounding the shower cubicle. The set-up was for two
persons, who would have required some internal submarine-ethics of
engagement but, as I was solo, it was perfect. The electricity supplied
by portable generators was reliable and everything worked well.
The semi-desert Samburu Game Park had gone green.
The
food was also excellent. Dining was in a common open-sided area with an
adjacent kitchen. Dinner started with soup and then the choice from a
buffet followed by a choice of three desserts, which also included
tropical fruits for the weight conscious. At mealtimes each member of
the group would have to reveal his/her highlight of the day and we
would be assigned to vehicles for the following morning or afternoon
game drive. A Samburu warrior stood by in full colorful regalia and
body paint and was armed with a catapult and a pile of small stones to
keep the monkeys away from the guests. On several nights a genet
ghosted into the dining area and scavenged food from the guests. The
genet looks rather cat-like; its pale yellow fur blotched with brown
spots. It is in fact related to the mongoose. The restaurant staff was
excellent and friendly. Most evenings, there seemed to be some
celebration with a birthday or anniversary celebrated with great gusto;
first the main light would be extinguished and the 20-strong kitchen
staff and waiters would dance with inherent rhythm, conga-style behind
a celebratory cake. Kitchen utensils were recruited as percussion
instruments and the cardboard cylindrical cores of foil wrap or kitchen
towels were fashioned into wind instruments. The happy group would then
surround the 'victim', present the cake and sing 'Happy Birthday' and
then somewhat disappointingly normal service would resume.
I was
one of two 'African virgins' in the group and Joe Austin and I were
assigned to the care of Mary Ann for the first morning shoot. She had
endured a fairly sleepless night as the river was rising again and she
and Joe were in the lowest-lying tent. The light was good and we
weren't out long before we got the call that a leopard had been sighted
resting in a tree. Sure enough my 'first' leopard lay astride a wide
branch while his dead prey, an impala, was wedged in a fork lower in
the tree. There were several other vehicles on the scene and they had
got the prized, close positions with the light at their backs and close
to the leopard. We managed some good back-lit shots and were able to
get several nice angles before we got closer to the cat. The female
leopard was salivating over the thought of a meal of Impala meat when
it was disturbed by a group of Olive Baboons passing through the area.
It descended the tree just behind our vehicle and disappeared into the
undergrowth. We also photographed Baboons, Superb Starlings, Red-billed
Hornbills, Lilac-breasted Rollers and a Grey-headed Kingfisher.
A female leopard rests in a tree after killing an impala
Our
daily routine was fairly intense. We would have to be in the vehicles
and ready to roll at 6.15 am. Before this occurred you would have to
locate and secure your bean bags in your assigned vehicle and have your
equipment in place and primed for shooting. One of the hotel staff
could be booked to arrive at your tent at an assigned time with a cup
of tea or coffee to ensure you were at least awake. I usually set an
alarm for 5 am and had the coffee arrive at 5.30 am to ensure I was
awake and alert. Breakfast was packed by the hotel staff for
consumption in the field. Shooting was generally until 11.00 to 11.30
am with a pause for breakfast. The packed breakfast each person
received could have fed all the persons in the vehicle and contended a
small herd of elephants and a den of hyenas. A nice buffet lunch was
served at 12.30 back at the camp where we were assigned to vehicles
again for the afternoon shoot. This shoot would move out at 3 pm, with
the normal preparation, and we would return at around 6.30 pm when the
sun had set. Back at the tent equipment would be cleaned, cards
downloaded, a shower and back to the restaurant for dinner at 7.45 pm.
Some speed in performing these tasks enabled a 30 minute chat-session
with fellow shooters while nursing a cold Tusker before the dinner
started. By the time you were back in your tent it was usually around
9.30 pm and after a few preparations for the morning you were sound
asleep, often lulled into dreamland by rain drumming on the canvas
tent. With 20 consecutive days of this routine, you had to have a
certain degree of fitness and be adept at drawing your large lens from
its 'holster' in the blink of an eye, in the mode of a Western
gunslinger.
In
the next two and a half days at Samburu we photographed elephants,
giraffes, Oryx, Waterbucks, Dikdiks, Gerenuk, Red and Yellow barbets,
Lilac-breasted Rollers, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Red- and Yellow-billed
Hornbills, Von der Decken's Hornbills, Leopards, Cheetahs, Grevy's
Zebra, Spotted Thick Knees, banded and dwarf mongoose, Unstriped
Squirrels, African Hare, Vulturine guinea fowl and Sandgrouse and
observed the varied displays of Yellow-necked Spurfowl, White-bellied
and Buff-crowned Bustards. The latter bustard has the most amazing
display; it has a neck-stretching call which can be followed by an
imitation of a short-range sky rocket. The bird fires itself into the
air to a height of around 30-40 metres, it tumbles over and fall
earthwards like it has been shot and only at the last moment does it
flair its wings and land with some dignity. The Black-backed bustard
had an acoustically humorous hiccup and burp display. One of the most
interesting birds we observed was the pygmy falcon, a tiny shrike-like
falcon that is cuteness personified. Elsewhere, monitor lizards lounged
around termite mounds while turquoise and orange Agama lizards basked
on warm rocks.
Dikdik male marking (u). Buff-crested Bustard (l).
On
the 4th day, we traveled south from Samburu to the Lake Nakuru Game
Reserve. It was raining as we left and moments after we passed out of
the Samburu Game Reserve we saw 3 cheetahs sitting together virtually
waving us off……and the camera gear, other than 'point and shoot'
cameras was packed. The rough roads took their toll on the shock
absorbers of one of the vehicles. It was mobile but needed a
replacement at the next large town. In a wise move, six additional
shock absorbers were purchased. As we got higher it also got colder and
the more cold blooded in the party were forced to purchase Masai
blankets to survive.
Lake Nakuru is famous for the flamingoes that
congregate in great numbers at a particular time of the year. The water
supplies that fed the lake had come under certain pressure with the
result that there was a lot less water in the lake and the flamingoes
had started to fly off. The flamingoes that remained mainly congregated
far out into the lake so were not good subjects for photography. The
park surrounds the lake and it seemed strange on first site as you
looked down the barrel of your big lens and saw houses located within a
nearby town in the background. We had only two nights at this park. The
rooms were comfortable, motel style and the large communal dining room
was like school days again. We had breakfast in the hotel as the sun
needed to climb above a hill to provide enough light for photography
and this delayed things by an hour. On the first full day we saw two
leopards, White and Black Rhinos, Common zebra, Giraffes, Secretary
birds, Olive Baboons, Buffalo, White Fronted Bee-eaters, a Long-crested
eagle, Lilac-breasted Rollers and African Hoopoes.
White Rhino (u). African Buffalo with Oxpecker (l)
The
next day we did a game drive in the morning before leaving the park and
heading southwards to the Masai Mara. During this time Joe McD spotted
a lone African Wild dog. These dogs with radar-dish ears were almost
eliminated several years ago by an outbreak of distemper that swept
through Africa. It was good to know that there were some still around.
We visited a souvenir shop deemed to be one of the best in the country
before continuing to the Mara. The roads were abysmal, not just bad,
but really terrible. Vehicles just drove further and further to the
side of the road to avoid the massive bomb craters that riddled the
'road'. Sometimes a driver coming the other way figured our side was
better than his side and you would have the potential for head-on
collisions. The drastic state of the roads is directly related to
political corruption. The small but expanding sections of good road are
being funded by the European Community which only works because the
money goes directly to the contractor who is supervised directly by
European engineers and surveyors. Another sad sight was the state of
some of the villages; not only were the roads really awful within the
town boundaries but trash was everywhere. While antipathy was the
likely prime culprit, the abundance of non-degradable plastic bags was
also noteworthy.
As we approached the Masai Mara the Masai
settlements were getting more and more evident. The land at times
looked barren and the vegetation was stunted. Much of this was caused
by overgrazing by the Masai domestic animals. Masai wealth is measured
by the number of goats and cattle and there is simply too many. We were
escorted through the entrance by an extremely colourful rainbow against
a very black sky ………and the cameras were still packed!!!!!! We were
scheduled to stay at 3 locations in the Mara, the first was Keekorok
Lodge.
Keekorok Lodge was a recently refurbished hotel-like establishment.
Dining rooms, administration and bars were in a central building and
rooms were in several lines of attached units within the 'front
garden'. The front garden was not fenced and grazing animals and
predators alike were free to wander about. At night you were offered a
Masai Warrior armed with a spear to escort you to your room. The first
night I returned to my room unescorted but a quick sweep of the
flashlight picked up many pairs of green eyes at the periphery of the
lawn. Lions, buffalo and hyenas were heard in the night and one of our
party reported a lion moving around noisily outside their bathroom
window. One guest reported seeing a Cheetah pursuing a Thomson's
gazelle through the grounds before downing it meters from a guest's
room. Some interesting bird species could be observed in the trees
around the lodge during our midday break. The sunbirds and a
Violet-backed starling showed flashes of brilliant, iridescent plumage
as they moved through shafts of sunlight. There is also a boardwalk at
the back of the hotel dining room that leads to a hippo pool where
guests can look down at the wildlife while sipping a cool Tusker.
Our first taste of shooting on the Masai Mara was very good. Activity
seemed to be slow at first light but increased around 7-8 am. We
sighted several more leopards, many lions, usually lustily consuming
the early morning kill, Topi, Eland, Zebra and some remnants of the
Wildebeest migration. We came across a female cheetah who instructed
her 5 cubs to hunker down in a thicket while she went hunting. She
patiently stalked some Thomson's gazelles but was never close enough to
unleash her explosive burst of speed. A female cheetah with cubs lives
her life on the edge. She is a solo Mother with no social security and
many problems. She has to protect her offspring and she has to sustain
herself and keep 100% fit and injury-free to run down her prey. She
hunts by stealth and guile, she has a limited choice of small animals
that she can outrun and she must get close enough to release her
high-speed dash. But like an alcohol-powered dragster, it can only be
sustained for short distances and the prey can run nearly as fast. If
successful she must sequester her kill from lions and hyenas and even
consume it before they come on the scene. Any muscular or bone damage
to her high performance limbs is likely to be fatal to her and her cubs.
A female cheetah searches for prey
The
hunting strategy of lions is entirely different. The pride, based on
related females, can virtually kill anything they choose. Well
conceived team strategy, guile and brute force can provide food in
abundance when the grazers are in the vicinity. The problem is that the
grazers are not always around in high numbers. They will bring down
giraffe, ostriches, any of the grazers…. including Masai cattle…. and
even kill pesky hyenas if they push their luck too far around a kill.
One of the most delightful sights that we observed around lion prides
was playtime with the older cubs. Like mischievous children, they play
tricks on each other, practice stalking and choking and have games of
hide and seek with gymnastic romps around the bushes. One of the most
endearing events in this playtime was when the mothers joined in with
the same gusto as the youngsters while demonstrating tolerance and love.
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