Elephants, Monkeys and Lyons, Oh My!

Jambo once more from charming Kenya.

After a frustrating couple of days at Tsavo,  we have finally arrived at Amboselli NP,  about a 3 hour drive west of where we were at Kiliguni. The frustration came from the futility of our game drives, and had nothing to do with the beautiful lodge where we stayed, which was my favorite so far. The open air dining room, bar, and patio overlooking the water hole, great service by the staff, and a room with a water hole view all added up to a great place to stay.

We just returned from our Wednesday morning game drive, followed by a late breakfast in the lovely dining room here. We departed the lodge at 6:30 hoping to find our first Kenyan lions out on the marsh. We were finally successful this

morning, spotting a pride of six lions. They were all sleeping when we first got there, but soon they awoke and started to move. They came right past all the assembled Jeeps, quite a morning parade. They had been in the open,  but were now heading back into the cooler marsh to relax during the day.

As I write this morning, I am sitting on the beautiful open air patio here at the Serena Amboselli,  another location to which I would be more than willing to return.
As I write, the resident vervet monkeys keep coming by to check me out and see if I have any food they can steal. After I  saw how quickly one stole a piece of bread from another guest this morning, I even put my phone in my pocket, rather than on the table,  just to make sure that a monkey wouldn't mistake it for food, and steal it.

Our drive over here yesterday from Tsavo was interesting because we had a convoy. Or at least we were supposed to have one. Apparently there are bandits who prey on safari vehicles going from one park to the other. There have been enough occurances over the last few years that the government provides an armed escort, but the vehicles have to travel in a convoy. For some reason, our paramilitary guards failed to appear, so we headed down the road without them. Needless to say, we were all a little nervous about this, but our guides seemed relaxed. And, of course, the entire drive went without incident. Hakuna Matata. :-)

This NP is known for its abundance of elephants and beautiful views of Mount Kilimanjaro. So far, Kilimanjaro has mostly stayed hidden by the clouds, but we have seen lots and lots of elephants. And they are really interesting to watch. Every day, they spend the daylight hours in the green grass areas, each one putting away hundreds of pounds of food. At night, because it gets so cold in the marsh, they move miles away to where there are trees that can help shelter them from the cold. So each morning long lines of elephants are seen heading toward the green areas, while in the evening, their paths are reversed. Our driver,  Koikai, says they are just like people, going to work in the morning and returning home at night.  It is quite a spectacle. Imagine a circus parade with hundreds of elephants of all sizes, from the oldest,  biggest bulls to tiny nursing infants,  all heading to one place,  and you might come close to what we have been seeing.

There are lots of other animals here in Amboselli, too. We have seen gazelles, and giraffes, hyena, impalas, zebra, jackals, monkeys, cape buffalo, a male cheetah, a long-necked (giraffe) gazelle,

Cape Buffalo

crested cranes,  an eagle owl,  warthogs, hippos, an African fish eagle,  numerous other beautiful African birds,  agnd the ever-present wildebeest,  but that's nothing gnu.

We now are down to one last dinner,  one last game drive,  one last night sleeping with the sounds of the savannah. In the morning, we start our safari  home, via Nairobi, Rome, and Washington D. C. after more than two weeks on African soil. We have learned to care about this land and its people, in addition to the wonderful animals and birds that have entertained and enthralled us. In talking to other members of the group, I think many of us have felt some personal changes , whether major or minor,  and cannot help but feel influenced by the African/Swahili culture and its friendly citizens.

This may be an ending,  but for many it has also been a beginning,  if not for a significant impact in how lives are led,  then at least in levels of awareness of places and people that are more "next-door" to us than they ever used to be.

I hope to be in touch soon with a final round-up of experiences, thoughts, and feelings. As always, Asante Sana, for letting me share this experience with you.

Kwa heri for now.

Regards,

Jay

I've added a video below of our resident entertainer here at Serena Amboselli singing  Jambo Bwana,  the song that became our theme song for our group while we were in both Tanzania and Kenya. I hope it plays on your viewer.