Day 1 in Samburu’s Kalama Conservancy

August 18, 2016

Day 1 in Samburu’s Kalama Conservancy

Patricia Awori

Journey began with a Safarilink flight from Wilson to Samburu Oryx airstrip , a scenic journey lasting about 50 mins. Chris and Emmanuel were a welcome sight ready to scoop up luggage and do a short game drive enroute to Saruni Camp which they said was approximately an hour away!! Well just over an hour later in the most extraordinary and rocky landscape the landcover began to bounce up rocks until finally the sight of welcoming warriors and hot towels heralded arrival at Saruni!!My goodness Ricardo had managed to find a location among the rocks to set up a beautiful camp. My knees were wobbling as i contemplated the many walks to rooms and the looooooong journey down a steep path to the pool….pity will have to give that a miss. Accommodation comprised of interesting stone structures with canvas windows and ornate iron bed frames in which in my case were actually two separate beds that proved to be a nightmare in trying to sleep!!! Breathtaking scenery lay before me and surely it was humbling to be in front of this ruggedly beautiful scenery!! Went in the late afternoon to see what was happening at the waterhole and found soo many guinea fowl waiting and watching and drinking and digging!! All in all an amazing day…glad to be out of the city and enjoying fresh air!!

Safari

July 30, 2016

GFC Expedition in Sweetwaters in Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Patricia Awori

On a very sunny morning we said goodbye to Shaba Samburu Ecosystem and made our way up the mountain to Nanyuki .With this wonderful paved road it took us only 3 hours to get here and another 40 minutes to get to Sweetwaters and then the good weather changed and got cooler and the heavens opened and it poured with rain, accompanied by lots of thunder!!!! We listened to a wonderful briefing from Sam the Ol Pejeta Conservancy Manager who was truly impressive to listen to and then we went out to search for Black Rhino!! We were certainly successful! I had seen two in the distance from my tent in the rain and while we were out we encountered a huge rhino covered in mud and later two who were busy scratching themselves on trees. White rhinos were in the intensive protection zone and we were able to see a mother and her calf and a big male!! All in all another great day and now as I reflect on the past few days what a joy it has been to be in the company of these esteemed board members from Ghana who truly were interested, interesting and oh so humorous ! Collaborating and sharing with wildlife authorities across this great continent should be the way to go in order to help one another improve and value our natural capital. In the morning it will be time to pack up and head back to the big city.

Safari

July 29, 2016

day 4 of our Expedition in Samburu Shaba National Reserve – Friday 29th July, 2016

Patricia Awori

Friday 29th July, 2016
Morning dawned brightly but not too hot with some cloud cover which for this ecosystem is positively cool . Our plan today was to do a game drive in the neighbouring Samburu National Reserve. After breakfast and a grand selfie we headed off marvelling at the glorious landscape, the brazen samburu bathing in the Ewaso Nyiro river, school children boarding a bus to visit the park and in no time at all we were in Samburu NR. Jackals were feeding on what remained of a predators kill and then lo and behold a lovely group of elephants. It transpires that this group is called The Royals one of who had a radio collar and her name is Annabelle and a heavily expectant Anastasia. The unique animals of this echo system came out to greet us this morning The Beisa Oryx, The Grevy Zebra , The Reticulated Giraffe , a Female Somali Ostrich, Kirks DikDik but what was most surprising was the number of Lions we encountered..one powerfully built hunting unsuccessfully some impala, a honeymooning couple with another male a short distance away hoping to usurp the current male, and three females by the river hoping to ambush prey coming to drink water but by far the elephants made my day a group of them who came down to the river to drink water and others who showed us their young .Finally it was necessary to make a pitstop at Samburu Lodge where i met an old friend Jacob who has been naturalist there for years!!! The morning literally flew by with all the excitement of these wonderful sightings and the amazing landscape and it was 2pm by the time were got back to the Lodge in Sarova Shaba! This evening the Chief Warden of the entire ecosystem came to talk to us about managing National Reserve and his hope for private management that will help them truly implement their management plan and curb the many threats that challenge the survival of these ecosystems.
These eminent Ghanaian Gentlemen are truly wonderful Ambassadors for their country , always courteous ..remember everyones name and overtime we leave a place all the staff are sad after the joy they have left behind.
Next stop Sweetwaters in Ol Pejeta
Bye for now

Safari

July 28, 2016

Day 3 GFC Expedition

Patricia Awori

After an assisted good nights sleep i woke up to see elephants arriving…talk about being thrilled…if i could i would have done summersaults…after watching them for a while it was time to get myself together and prepare to leave the beautiful Mt Kenya and Mountain Lodge that brought back such memories of childhood visits. Amazed and impressed by development of infrastructure on our journey today and how devolution has indeed caused towns to grow with everything suddenly available. As we descended the mountain through mist and cloud the beauty of the countryside was striking. At the Equator we made a mandatory stop to see the water demonstration of water flowing clockwise and anti clockwise in the two different hemisphere’s and straight down at the Equator always a hit. The road rose up through the wheat fields increasingly being replaced by green houses until after Timau where we began our descent into Isiolo..my goodness could this really be Isiolo it has really urbanised ..no more barrier just beautifully paved road until our turn off to Shaba!! In no time at all we had arrived at Sarova Shaba where cold eucalyptus filled towels awaited us to help us cool down and a sumptuous buffet lunch!!An evening game drive in this extraordinarily beautiful park showed work has been done much to my delight ..there are more roads to do game viewing on and we were able to see the majestic grevy zebra, reticulated giraffe and a myriad of waterbuck with lots of babies. Tracks on the road were evidence of a mother lion and her cubs although sadly we didn’t get to see them. Finally we found a very thin baby gravy zebra with a vehicle of rangers alongside her , they told us that her mother died and they were prepare to catch the foal and take her to where she would be revived and taken care of !!! A lovely evening in NFD

Safari

July 27, 2016

Ghanaian Board Expedition Day 2

Patricia Awori

The day dawned brightly and it was a beautifully sunny morning that saw us start our journey northward bound through the crowded streets of westlands and parklands until we got to the Thika Highway which was a joy to be on as I reminisced on days gone by when the road was not soo big and quite congested. The Central Highlands looked good and green evidencing plenty of rainfall…Finally it was time to make a pit stop .The discussion in the car had been lively and entertaining but it was good to stop and stretch our legs and have a cup of tea!! Refreshed and renewed we made the final thrust onward into the Mt Kenya Forest Reserve/National Park which was met with excitement and arrival at Mountain Lodge for me not having been here for years felt like come home!!! Serena certainly have made it more habitable and have improved on the product and have added some amazing things. After finding our cabins we reconvened for lunch and after that we were joined by Senior Warden Simon Gitau and Assistant Director Aggrey Mumo. Their presentations were met with many questions and animated discussions as the Board Members endeavoured to consider application in their own situation….certainly it was an amazing opportunity for all of us and we concluded with inspirational final remarks. Meanwhile the bush buck, Buffalo and Birds so far are he only visitors at the waterhole!!

Safari

July 26, 2016

Day 1 Ghana GFC Expedition

Patricia Awori

After a couple of hours sleep it was off to JKIA to collect the GFC Board dawn was breaking as we left JKIA for Galleria for a spot of breakfast!!! Feeling rejuvenated it was off to KWS for a briefing by DG Mbathi and his team. A pilgrimage to the Heroes monument to those who paid the ultimate price in the conservation of wild species. Armed with a ranger we headed into Nairobi National Park where we had a wonderful gamedrive that included sighting a mother rhino and her calf. Carnivore Lunch and a Dawa with Waziri were up next after which feeling replete we made our way to the hotel feeling tired, sleepy and content.

Safari

July 23, 2016

the last day of the Axelrod Expedition

Patricia Awori

Back in the Green City in the Sun which was busy with Friday traffic and UNCTAD…..on to the lovely Nairobi Serena . What could have been a very sad day was made memorable and special by a very special guest for lunch ! Later a very delayed guest turned up and Ann was able to see her “husband” and then sadly it was time to say Kwaheri ya kuonana

Safari

July 21, 2016

The penultimate day of the Axelrod Expedition Thursday 21st July, 2016

Patricia Awori

I woke up this morning to the sound of palm leaves being torn down and so i went to open my curtains and lo and behold a small herd of elephants were just outside my room! In the distance the lions were roaring, it must have been a successful night for them. This morning we had breakfast on the shores of the Mara River with the hippos and crocodiles and amazing birdlife including vultures who had arrived to see about eating the dead gnu’s that were floating in the River. Banded mongoose came over to see what was happening and provided a lot of entertainment.

After a hearty breakfast we headed out to see what we could find and came upon a hunting party of lions who tried unsuccessfully to grab a wildebeest who was trying to get some water to drink…after that scare the wildebeest and zebras took off leaving hungry lions who decided the sun was too hot and lay under bushes to sleep. Down the road walking towards us came a “honeymooning” couple of lions behind them wildebeest watched anxiously . Finally they headed off to the shade and we went to lunch!!

This evening we went down to the river to see what was happening and were very fortunate to see a couple of attempted and full crossings which was soon exciting ….sadly crocs grabbed one of the young ones making Emily very sad. A first in a long time was seeing Topi crossing the river..who would have known they were such excellent jumpers. With the main body of the groups having crossed and the sun having set we headed back to the Lodge well satisfied with our wildlife experience today and feeling exhausted as though we too had been running these thousands of miles of migration

Safari

July 20, 2016

Axelrod Expedition Wednesday 20th July Maasai Mara

Patricia Awori

This morning we leapt out of bed very early, had an early breakfast and then headed out into the Mara Triangle to see what we could see. My goodness what a morning we had. First young hyaena drinking water and then a pride of lions sunning themselves sleeping peacefully . Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and gnu’s were widespread over the plains giraffe were browsing , elephants were grazing and lo and behold a leopard in a tree. It was quite a sight to see the leopard when the elephants approached and one of them began scratching herself on the tree apparently oblivious to the leopard on top of the tree…finally the elephants ambled away and the leopard settled down to some sleep on her comfortable branch.As we drove away we encountered a famed elephant bull Kagle who was sporting a radio collar that STE had put on helping the Mara Elephant Project to monitor him. By now it was really hot and the elephants were happily into or heading into the swamp for some cooling off and feeding.
Onward we went in search of the elusive black rhino and lo and behold we were blessed to see not one but two black rhino. Looking at them was humbling to realise the opportunity and determination to do whatever possible to ensure that they don’t become extinct!!
After lunch and a siesta we headed out in the late afternoon and were fortunate to see more lions….2 cheetah who had killed and were eating a wildebeest until they were dispossessed by hyaena ..as vultures waited their turn!!! On our way home we encountered a dying wildebeest and young Emily insisted on stopping and she spoke reassuring words to this poor wildebeest ..an extraordinary thing to see from one so young!
What an extraordinary full day it was and am soo thankful to have experienced it!!

Safari

July 19, 2016

19th July in Maasai Mara on Axelrod Expedition

Patricia Awori

Waking up in one Park and going to bed in another Park is remarkable. Discovered where the sun has been hiding!!!The magnificent majesty that is the Maasai Mara can properly be appreciated from the vantage point of Mara Serena that sits atop a hill offering extraordinary vistas and is within proximity

Our day involved two flights aboard Caravans that ensured speedy passage from Amboseli via Nairobi to Maasai Mara. Bright sunshine , the Great Migration and Elephants welcomed us to the Mara and after lunch and a siesta we headed to the river where we found crodiles feasting on a zebra and others looking too full to move!! What an auspicious beginning

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