I'm
sure you're familiar with a certain feeling you get when you step out of a
plane into another country; it feels like a curtain, and on the other
side, warmth, different smells and colours. On this trip, I got something more than this. Along with the sun and
the heat came something lively, untamed and proud, something I can't
really describe as anything other than Africa. It truly is a whole different ball game.
The whole landscape like a David Attenborough film, a David Shepherd painting,
it holds so much life; within a few hundred yards of the small
airstrip, we
witnessed the birth of a baby impala! Just the start of a kaleidoscope of
moment by moment experiences.
We arrived at the camp (but not
before sighting Thompson's Gazelles, Kudu, Dick-Dick, and more), which was composed of seven or eight “tents,” but I am writing
that in quotes, because I find it quite hard to believe that's what they
really were; you'd have thought they were small hotels, with
indoor toilets and showers. So comfortable! We looked out over the riverbed, which was
drought dry at
the time, we could see warthogs trotting
about on the other side and holes where elephants had been
looking for water.
We left for our first game drive
that afternoon, not a second wasted. Going up the river to where there was
still water, we were treated to the sight of hippos wallowing. While we
had our cameras trained on them, some of them didn't seem to be getting on
very well! Hippo wrestling is quite a fearsome sight – they look like gentle giants,
but they are fast and feisty when they want to be. A pair of male
giraffes a few yards further on, duelling by swinging their colossal
necks together was watched by the rest of the group. We also saw Ibis
wandering by the water, and after an unbelievable afternoon, we returned to
camp, of course spying another cast of wildlife on the way back, including
some adorable lion cubs, and a rare striped hyena.
Arriving back at the camp, we had
showers followed by gin and tonic by the camp fire under the stars. This
wasn't rations and wilderness survival fare, oh no – homemade samosas
served with a smile, followed by a
delightful three course dinner, all the while chattering enthusiastically
about our day. We fell into bed, even the sounds of the bush failed to
keep us awake, and we were ready for another adventure in the morning.
We spent three days in this first
camp in Samburu, where we got close to the fabulous wildlife of
this country, I have to skip on or this will become a book!
We made our way to the Nakuru, a
journey which gave so much away about Africa outside the reserves, a
giant lake holds the resident population of flamingos. Pelicans came
swooping down to join them in their hundreds, a pied
kingfisher hovering not 30 feet away from us! An exciting
place, with it's fair share of eccentricities, such as the rock hyrax,
which is comparable to a guinea pig with elephant's feet, and a leopard in
a tree, limp like a rag doll, in the classic pose (yes, they really do
sleep like that!). Baboons trying to steal picnics and Colobus monkeys
high in the trees, we were close to the white
rhinos, although we were not lucky enough to spy an elusive black rhino
(maybe we will next time?).
The third camp we stayed at was
in the Masai-Mara, land of the Masai tribe. These wonderful tribesmen
looked after us at out camp, and in their village, entertained us. They dance
dressed in scarlet, jumping high
into the air stamping the ground to the rhythm, with sandals made of old
car tyres. The lady with many necklaces is very rich indeed; the more
beads they wear, the more wealthy and of higher status they are. Our camp was by a bend in the river,
looking down on a pool where the river was home to a mass of at least
twenty hippos, close to the home of a leopard and two tiny cubs.
