Norm, Dustin, Nick and I just returned from an awesome holiday in Kenya. Landing in Nairobi, a short flight to Lewa Downs. The most amazing place. A conservation established by a wealthy, preservation-minded English woman ... more than we ever imagined. The brief stay was packed with sights, an attentive guide, and extraordinary scenery, not to mention the plush digs. We then caught several cessna flights (less than 2 hours total time) to Kichwa Tembo, located on the Maasai Mara Reserve (SW Kenya, on the border of Tanzania). My gosh. Two wonderful safaris.
We saw so many animals (in both locations): elephants, zebras (Grevey's and ordinary or mtn), mongoose, hippos, giraffes (reticulated and Maasai), Thompson Gazelle, impala, topis, elands, water buffalo, hyena, lions (lioness, lion & cubs), leopard, cranes, bustards, a slew of beautiful birds, white and black rhinos, HUGE crocs, wort hogs, a serval cat, bush baby, aardvark, jackals, ostriches (the underrated lovely female and the male), olive baboons, blue monkeys, vervat monkeys ~ I think that's it. Amazing. We saw babies, encounters with elephants and lions, baboons and hyeenas. We saw beautiful creatures early in the morning, mid-day, dusk and in the evening. In the water and on land. Eating, stalking, sleeping and sunning.
Day 1 at Kichwa Tembo - Our guide, Moses, responded to a call of a sighting ~ lions feeding on the carcass of an elephant who had been killed 5 days earlier during a fight with another bull. We arrive to find two big lions resting under a scrubby bush: one bloated was asleep on his back, feet turned toward the sky. The other was also resting, but alert. Shortly after our arrival, he got up and headed back to the elephant for more - hard to imagine. The sight of the lion tugging at the rotten flesh of the elephant was dreadful. The sight of the elephant, who had his tusks removed by the ranger, was dreadful. We watched this for a short while. Off in the distance, we saw a herd of elephants, however, a sole elephant was headed straight towards the lions, and the body of their fallen family member. The lone elephant reached the body. It semi-circled right, then left, looking for the lion. Sensing the lion, it retreated, seemingly to wait for the herd to arrive. When the herd closed in, the elephant aggressively charges and chases off the feeding lion. The intense chase, you see in the clip, puts the lion on a direct and close path to our open rig. At the last minute, the lion makes a sharp left, and runs the length of our 3 safari rigs, meeting up with his buddy in the tall grass. As the lion was running towards our vehicle, I imagined him leaping through the rig to escape the elephant.
With the lions at a safe distance, the elephants begin to grieve. This unforgettable scene draws in the entire herd - 21 elephants in total.
See this link for our pictures: Kenya Safari - January 2009.
Credit for the below video clips belongs to Nick and Dustin.
The chase:
I hope you noted that the car doesn't turn over the first time its started ...
Paying homage:
