Kenya Safari 2006

Safari End, back Nairobi

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 15:53:12 +0000

Left Masai Mara at 7.30 for the six hour drive back on bumpy roads. Got back at 1.30pm..

Day in the Park

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:52:43 +0100

Today left later at 9.30am for an all day drive with picnic, heading towards Tanzania. Drove around one area a couple of times looking for wildlife and managed to miss a pride of 3 lionesses a sleep under some small trees. Not much happening here they were really chilled

Moved off to hunt the rest of the river bed. There was activity a bit further up with some safari vehicles tracking the river bed. This turned our to be another Leopard, the first sights we had was the smell of rotten flesh, followed by an dead antelope stuck up a tree. We caught up with the Leopard that wasn’t happy about the attention, he was very very big, the largest I had seen and made the other seen so far look very small. He was constantly on the move ducking and diving as he went. At one point we stopped and he was resting on a grass bank. I had already tried to get a few shot already with out much success, seems that the back of the Leopard was the best I was going to get. I was setting up and about to take a picture when the Leopard went berserk and turn and went for the van in-front of our vehicle. I had take my shot and didn’t realize what had got in terms of a picture. Once I looked at the picture I had managed to capture him turning and going for the Van.

We moved on and saw more vultures, zebras, eagles and wildebeest. We stopped at the Mara river and saw the hippos including a dead one floating upside down. There were also crocodiles.

Click here for Photos from October 28th

Big Cat Diary

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:51:34 +0100

Up at 5.40am, got ready grabbed a coffee or two and then headed out on a game drive. After only a sort while we came across our first Cheetah, what a wonderful beast, just like a big greyhound. This one looked heavily pregnant. Next we came across a pair of juvenile Male Lions at a water hole.

We caught up with a leopard in the dry river bed which was intent on not being photographed. It was very large and the guide suspected to be a male around 55-60Kg maybe even larger. There were plenty of Wildebeest (Gnu) roaming around plus Plains Zebras, Hartebeest, Topi, Thompson Gazelle, Giraffe and Impala.

We encountered vultures on the drive, two types the African White Backed and Lappet Faced. There was a jackal helping itself to the leftover kill that the vultures were congregating at. We next came across our third mating pair of lions and a pair of Lilac Breasted Rollers when watching the Lions.

We watched a young Leopard eating breakfast under a tree, god they are hard to spot. Then we were off to see a cheetah that we had briefly seen earlier in the distance. When we caught up with the cheetah it was mid breakfast devouring an antelope of some sort. Its amazing how difficult it is to spot the species when a cat has been at it.

Back to the Lodge for Breakfast and a rest before our afternoon drive. Had lunch and then relaxed before setting off at 4pm to see more wildlife.

We gave our driver Maina the task of finding us elephants so off we went in search of them. It didn’t take long before we had a small herd in sight, a hundred pictures later and we were off again. Not long after we came across a second group of Elephants, more pics.

Next we found a single lioness hunting near a herd of giraffe that didn’t look best pleased about this Lion. A bit later a group of Mongooses chased off a Jackal, obviously protecting their roost. More Elephants on the way back to the lodge plus a very nice sunset.

Click here for Photos from October 27th

Long Road to Masai

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 15:51:05 +0100

Walked down to the lake to have a look around. There were loads of birds about including a Fish Eagle, an Egret, a pair of Pied Kingfishers, Cormorants, Sacred Ibis and a Hippo.

Sat on the lawn to take in the scenery and the animals. At about 11am a herd of Waterbuck wandered on to the grounds and grazed. The staff herded them off and five minutes they were back.

Had lunch at 12 and headed for the Masai Mara at 1pm, approximately 5-6hours drive(ouch). Roads were very rough and bumpy in places. Arrived at our lodge Keekorok at 7pm, which was built in 1965 and one of the first on the Masai Mara. The lodge is completely open to the wildlife so on the first night we had a herd of Zebra on the grounds. Also later that night there was a baby hippo grazing.

Click here for Photos from 26th October

The Lakes

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:50:40 +0100

Up at 6.30, washed, dressed and had coffee. Sat on the terrace taking in the atmosphere. There were some interesting moths on the roof, one the size of my hand so I was glad it wasn’t flying around. All piled down to the buses to go back to Outspan for Breakie we were unable to get on any buses so were put in the 4x4, which turned out to be the staff car :-) so there were us two plus eight of the staff. It was very bumpy back to Outspan, we came across a suicidal Spotted Hyaena that ran in front of the 4x4, but it was lucky. Breakfast was chaos people everywhere, but finally filled up and then left just after 8am heading for Lake Nakuru. After about two hours we stopped for break at the Thompson Falls. Then back on the road for a couple more hours before stopping for petrol and a rest then headed into the park.

Stopped at the Lake edge and boy did it whiff might be to do with the alkaline properties of the lake. There were hundreds of Flamingos on the lake, but it was the wrong time of year for the really big populations to be about. There were two types of Flamingos the Lesser Flamingo and the Greater Flamingo, with the Lesser one has the brighter colour.

There were buffalo and plains Zebra (different from the Grevy, also called the common Zebra) and then we hit the jackpot of a White Rhino, sitting under a tree and it eventually got up. There were plenty of Olive Baboons about in the park. We moved on and saw a couple of Rothschild’s Giraffes, Buffalo, Waterbuck, Impala and Thompson Gazelle. In one of the trees was a Tawny Eagle and sitting on a rock was a Hyrax. A while later we came a across our second White Rhino, looking larger than the previous one, it was just lying there. We had lunch at Lake Nakuru Lodge and spotted Ostrich and Warthog.

We headed out of the park and stopped to see more Flamingos, an African Fish Eagle, Yellow Billed Stork and a Marabou Stork. Hit the road for Lake Naivasha.

Arrived at the Lake Naivasha Country Club Hotel after a bumpy ride. Had dinner and then relaxed.

Click here for Photos from October 25th

Off to Treetops

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:50:08 +0100

Left Samburu at 8am on our way to Outspan and Treetops near Mount Kenya. On the way out of Samburu there were Elephants our first of the trip. We drove to Outspan and had lunch before being transported to the Treetops lodge. Treetops (the original one) was were the Queen stayed in 1952 when she found out her father had past away. The accommodation is very basic, but made an interesting diversion.

There were several viewing areas with two water holes to attract wildlife. The lodge has a facility in each room where you can turn a switch on and if the staff spot various animals you will get a buzz in your room as per this list...
1 buzz = hyaena
2 buzzes = Leopard
3 buzzes = Rhino
4 buzzes = Elephant
5 buzzes = Person being consumed by one the local animals

We sat on the roof drinking coffee and eating cake for an hour or so watching the world go by. The watering holes attracted Buffalo, Warthog, Waterbuck, Bush Buck, Olive Baboons, Samano Monkeys and lots of birds. The birds included Egyptian Geese, Blacksmith Plover, Black Hornbill, Black Crake, Pied Crow, Little Swift and Tropical Boubou.

After dinner we sat on the roof wrapped in fleeces and blankets waiting to see what turned up. In the distance we could see lightening and it started to rain. A lone buffalo was at the watering hole plus a waterbuck. A bit later a spotted hyaena ventured out, but it was difficult to see in the dark. There were three crested cranes on the water and they just stayed there all night.

We went to bed in anticipation of the buzzer going off multiple times. At about 12.15am we were woken by 1 single buzz, I could swear it was three, wishful thinking. It was for a spotted hyaena, but by the time we got to the right side of the building it had watered and disappeared. At this point I spotted a white tailed Mongoose, which is the largest of the Mongooses. Went back to sleep and wasn’t woken again until our early morning call at 6.30am.

Click here for Photos from October 24th

Samburu

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:49:19 +0100

Up at 5.50am and got ready for our first real game drive in Samburu National Park. Had a quick coffee and headed out at 6.30am :-( It was quiet at first with not much animal activity, but there were loads of birds in the park including Starlings, Buff Created Bustards, Warbles and the odd Eagle. We encountered Oryx, Giraffe Gazelle, Dik Dik, Grants Gazelle and Impala. A Leopard was spotted on a rocky outcrop, but by the time we arrived it had disappeared.

We moved on and stumbled across a pair of Lions (Male & Female) as it was mating season in the park. Basically we were told that the pair will spend all there time smooching and do not eat much during this time. The male had a radio collar used to track movements. We moved off to leave the happy couple in peace, but came across a second courting pair of Lions. This time both the female and male were much larger. The male was actually huge, I mean it was the largest cat I had ever seen. He was sporting a large scar across his snout see the photos. This was very cool to experience, and again after a while we experienced Barry White in action, boy do Lions roar loud ;-) Back to the lodge for breakfast at 9am and then a rest until 4pm.

During the break we had a walk around the lodge grounds to see what animals apart from the crocodiles live locally. The river had risen about 3 metres (10 feet) during the night/morning and what was the crocodile bar was completely under water. The river was very fast flowing and logs, branches and trees were being wrenched up and tossed down river. Some of the lodge rooms at the river bank at one end were engulfed in river water.

By 4pm the river had receded (like my hair) by about 2 metres and the flow had slowed. Off on our second game drive of the day to see what delights the park had for us. After not too long we were hunting a Leopard that had been sighted in the brush. We were told to keep an eye out for a white tail moving. Basically the Leopards walk with their tails in the air and the tip is distinctive with a large part being white. After about 10 minutes there she was, a young female Leopard about 2 years old and around 30Kg in size. She was happily wandering through the bush and gave us the chance to get some pictures. It was amazing, my first wild Leopard :-) At one point a Dik Dik caught her eye, but it was gone in a flash. We moved on and encountered more Grevy Zebra wandering around plus Reticulated Giraffes (normally only found in this park). More Oryx, Waterbuck, Grants Gazelle, baboons, and Vervet Monkeys. We also caught a pair of Giant Eagle Owls, Yellow necked Spur Fowl, Red & Yellow Hornbills, Superb Starlings and White-headed Buffalo Weavers.

Click here for photos from October 23rd

Hit the Road

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 15:48:47 +0100

The fun starts now met at 8.30 am.. Assigned our driver Maina (pronounced Miner) and had four others in our vehicle. There was Pam and Dave from Derby who were both retired and Claire and Kiri the “Essex Girls” (sorry girls). Everything looks good and Maina was a bit of a comic. We hit the road and headed North for the Equator driving for 2 hours before stopping at a Curio Shop for refreshments. Another 1 hour and 30 mins until we hit the equator. Stopped for demo of the Coriolis effect where the water rotates clockwise when it drains in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Continued North for another 90 minutes and we stopped for lunch down a very muddy bumpy track at the Kentrout Grill in the Mount Kenya region. Very nice lunch (had trout and a tusker beer) and then we got to see the Eastern Black & White Colobus (Monkey) see picture above.

We headed off back to the main road and made our way towards Samburu our final destination. After about 15 minutes I was regretting the tusker, on the bumpy roads we saw goats, sheep, cows and camels. Entered the national park at around 5 pm and up went the roof ready to see our first animals. Within minutes there were Giraffes and Zebras (Grevy Species). We also saw in the next hour Red & Yellow Hornbills, Grants Gazelles, Giraffe Gazelles, a Lioness plus 4 cubs of different ages with a Zebra kill, Oryx, Dik Dik, Eagle and Olive Baboons. Arrived at the Serena Samburu Lodge at 6pm and checked in. At 6.30 we experienced the feeding of the two resident crocodiles.

Weather today was showers and sunny spells, some of the roads were very wet.

Click here for photos from October 22nd

Off to Nairobi

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 18:44:11 +0100

Me and CJ picked up at 6.30 am by the cab and off to Heathrow T4 for our 10.20 am flight to Nairobi on Kenya Airways. Flight good but was a tiring, landed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport 8 pm in the evening queued in immigration for abou about half an hour, then a long wait while the bags were drip fed on to the baggage belts . Transferred to the Holiday Inn Nairobi arriving at 10.30 pm, checked in and had a very quick beer in the bar before heading to bed.