Kenya 6

Kenya 6

17/9/13

Out early again at 6.15 with the intention of catching up on the lions from last night. We were coasting down the road and within minutes Norman heard on the radio that cheetahs were out. They were the last of the 3 big cats – lions, leopards and cheetahs for us to see. This is considered a good park to see them but it’s by no means certain.

We sped a couple of kilometres and there they were – two male cheetahs about 50 meters away from us. They were sitting around and moving slowly and seemed to be wandering. We watched them for several minutes then one stopped at a large tuft of grass and suddenly pounced into it and came out with a hare in it’s mouth. It was like lightning. It took the hare and ate it over a few minutes. The other male tried to get the first one to share but was knocked back. They didn’t fight but the one with the prey just moved away. The second one was reduced to licking the ground where the prey had been before and presumably where there was some blood.  

                                               The one on the right just got the hare.

A few tussles but no sharing possible.

After the first cheetah had finished the prey they wandered further away from us and looked as if they were preying on an impala. We sped around to a road on the other side hoping to get a better view. They wandered around, sat and rested and eventually wandered towards us and crossed the road in front. There was a herd of wildebeest that approached them then because they were on their territory. Clive said that this was the most interesting part for him. The wildebeest had a baby who could have been vulnerable although the cheetah will not go for a fully grown healthy wildebeest apparently. The wildebeest stampeded towards the cheetahs. One of the cheetahs looked like it was going to face them briefly and the wildebeests stopped so it was a real game of bluff. The cheetah then decided to retreat and they both wandered off in the distance and the buffalos went back to eating grass.

                                               

                                         
                                                       Back view of the stampede.

The cheetah briefly thought about taking them on but decided against it and moved away and the buffalos returned to grazing.

Bob took this amazing picture of the cheetah below and has blown up the front part for another great view above. We were very fortunate that it came close enough to allow this view. I wonder how it got the scar on it's front upper leg.

We came back for breakfast and then left to go to the Masai Mara village. On the way we stopped to see 3 hyenas who were very muddy and had clearly been in the marshes. They walked right past the car. 

Then we had a giant heron on one side of the car, an elephant in the mud on the other and Kilimanjaro coming out of the clouds all at once. Didn’t know which way to look.

 In the afternoon we set off for another game drive and were set to look at elephants when a call came through and we did the now familiar U turn and started belting along the rough tracks at a great rate. We found a mother cheetah with 4 cubs – about 3 months old – and watched them for about 1 ½ hours. The cubs were playing and jumping over each other and their mother. The mother stalked an impala but missed. She has quite a task caring for 4 cubs as well as catching food for them. They walked right across the road in front of us. It was very special to see them.

The cheetah mother missed this impala - good luck for the impala but not so good for the cheetah cubs.

On the way back we again had elephants crossing the road in front of us and the classic shot of an elephant standing in front of Mt Kilimanjaro.

Clive says that we have been extraordinarily lucky to see what we have here – especially the lions and cheetahs in such abundance. We've seen more than on many of his trips apparently.

18/9/13

We left Amboseli early to travel to the Tanzanian border. It was about an hour of gravel road. It was sad to say goodbye to our Kenyan drivers – Norman and Dominic – especially Norman whom we’d driven with most. They are both lovely men and had done everything they possibly could to give us a good time.

While driving to the Tanzanian border on a very rough and dusty road we saw many Masai people going about their business. We also saw two animals that we were lucky to see and are special to this area. Firstly a gerenuk and then a male and female Kudu – both antelopes.

Thoughts on Kenya

Kenya has really got to me. I felt really uncomfortable about the black /white relationship at first. The reality is that most blacks that we have met have been in service roles to mainly white people. As we’ve got to know them I’m more accepting of this, as they are. They have not had the opportunities that we have had. This is confronting for me. So many of them have told us that they dream of moving to Australia. I’m sure many of them are very bright even though they’ve had very little education. Some seem to be so keen to get ahead they seem vulnerable to exploitation. 
There are many religious groups here helping the locals in many ways. My hope is that they’re reaching out to all people rather than competing with each other for converts.

Kenya, like so many places that we have seen is a mixture of tribes and culture and not an homogenous group. Their customs can be quite different. Each tribe has it’s own language but the common language is Swahili. We have learnt a few words which they seem to appreciate us using.

Kenyans seem to be a very proud people. They almost all walk in a very upright manner and carry themselves beautifully. With their bright clothes at times it is great to see.  
Driving through Nairobi and seeing lots of people dressed in business clothes was also lovely. Most of them have charming open smiles which appear regularly.

We drove through some areas of Nairobi with very large houses and security to get into the area and then more security around individual houses. Many houses had security guards as well as barbed wire and electric fences around them. We’re told that most of these area are for white, Indian or rich black people. Some had very large blocks and lovely gardens from the glimpses that we could get.

We saw slums very close to these areas which was a sharp contrast.

We didn’t spend any time in Nairobi out of our hotel on our own. We could and would have but the opportunity didn’t arise. It’s not a good idea to go out on your own at night, especially in certain areas we’re told.

I’ve felt more comfortable each day here. I no longer feel as bad about saying no to people asking you to buy their trinkets and souvenirs. If I say no and they hang around I try to relate to them and this often works.

It is a very vibrant high energy country and although challenging at times I love it. It will be interesting to see the differences in Tanzania.

An Update

Since writing this there has been the terrible terrorist incident in the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi. I’m sure you’ve all heard about it.

We first heard about it on TV at one of the lodges in Tanzania. We had 4 days of no internet coverage so were only able to follow it sporadically. It just got worse and worse with the number of people killed increasing.

We had been in Nairobi on the Sunday before and driven past the Westgate Shopping Centre so it all felt and still feels very close.

My heart bleeds for the people here. We have spoken to several of the staff at the Lodges. None of them mention it unless you bring it up. They are all such gentle people and seem as unable to comprehend it as we are. I think they’re also very aware of the implications it will potentially have on them. Tourism is likely to decrease and most of the people we have met depend on tourism for their livelihood. Their jobs may be in jeopardy. This applies in all of East Africa and maybe wider Africa as well.

We were coming to Africa to see the animals and they are amazing. I didn’t realise the impact the people would have on me as well though and this has certainly been accentuated by the events in Nairobi.