The Kill

Linda Lou Burton posting from Amboseli National Park, Kenya–“That’s another one dying of thirst,” Amos said. “They get so weak they can barely move.” Amos was our new driver; we’d assembled in our vehicle the same way as we did before – Rick and me third row back, behind Otis and Venita. Abdi was in the other 4×4 with the rest of the gang. Amos was straightforward in his approach, giving us facts about Amboseli in a quietly scientific way. Maybe that’s what it took, seeing what he saw every day. Stay unemotional, stay sane. Record the facts. Report on what’s happening. And what’s happening is — animals are dying of thirst. We’d fallen into a state of shock since leaving the airport twenty minutes ago. All we were seeing was dust. Flat plains, and dust. None of us expected this; only hours before we’d been on the lush plains of the Maasai Mara, where everything was green and animals grazed peacefully side by side. The zebra before us now didn’t fit the pattern in our minds; something was off. It was about to get worse. Amos drove on. “There’s one that died,” he said, just as I spotted a zebra carcass on the ground. “You can tell it wasn’t a kill because of how it lays. Every day is like Christmas for the lions these days. They don’t even have to hunt.”

There were bushes by the roadside; Amos suspected a lion sheltering there, and he was right. We watched as the lion stretched, sat up, and stared; bored, it seemed. Thinking of something to do next? He stretched again, then stood, and ambled out, heading for the open field.

Amos backed the 4×4, turned to track the lion. Around another curve lay zebra bones picked clean, a death from other days. Another zebra carcass then, more freshly fallen. Past the bushes to an open space; the 4×4 was in position now. We watched the lion.

A zebra standing in the dust. The lion approached, a slow-stroll walk across the field. The zebra did not move. “He can’t,” said Amos. “He is exhausted.” Venita softly crying then, the rest of us sat mesmerized. The lion struck. The zebra fell. The lion turned, and walked away. The zebra kicked two times, and died.

Note: As you can see, I did not get a photo of the kill itself. I was, in truth, paralyzed, and could not think of my camera at that moment. This was the beginning of our three-hour game drive in Amboseli National Park on the afternoon of September 17. The next two posts are as sharply disturbing as this one; it was an afternoon that shook us all.

The story of the elephants is next.

Amboseli National Park https://amboseli.com/

Pass The Windex

Linda Lou Burton posting from Amboseli Airport, Amboseli National Park, Kenya–– It was 11:45 by the time was were looking at the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Did our luggage get on? Sometimes you just have to trust the gods. On safari planes, only one bag of soft-sided luggage weighing no more than 33 pounds allowed, absolute! So everything else we crammed into our one allowable backpack, or wrapped around our neck, or slung over our arm, nothing neat about it. Rick had his water bottle hanging from a finger, his can of Pringles in hand (his Pringles a running joke like my bottle of Coke). See his money belt making a bulge under his shirt? Advertisement for a mugging, my opinion, mine tucked safely underneath the waistband of my pants. My water bottle was tucked in the side pocket of my backpack; my jacket ON. But then, I had CANE in my hand, which didn’t help a bit climbing the fold-down steps to get inside the plane with no Daniel assisting, (pole, pole). Despite the inconveniences, lift-off happened, yea, now to see the Great Rift Valley from above, free and easy as a bird! Wishful thinking, Linda Lou. Shucks, I didn’t count on dirty windows.

According to the MAP, we flew over the Olorgesailie Prehistoric Site on the floor of the Great Rift Valley; it’s between two extinct volcanoes, Mt Olorgesailie and Oldonyo Esakut. In a lake basin that existed during the latter part of the middle Pleistocene period between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 1940s! Those Leakeys were all over the place, remember the Lake Nakuru area? We made it to the Wilson Airport in Nairobi in an hour; they had a wheelchair for me, a shiny waiting room, clean washrooms, the works. Those who managed to bring their Bush Breakfast pastry boxes enjoyed a snack; I bought Safari Cookies. “Don’t tell Rick,” I whispered to Lois, “but there is an entire SHELF of Pringles around the corner, in all flavors!” She giggled, and promised to keep mum. We boarded Plane #2 at 2 PM. Oh luggage, please follow. Oh windows, please be cleaner.

The windows were cleaner! But it didn’t make much difference because, I realized, I didn’t know what I was looking at; oh shucks, again. I spotted a small lake (maybe?); a herd of animals (white dots?); trees, roads, water, dry flats. The flight was smooth, less than an hour to Amboseli Airport. Where I spotted two 4x4s, in Globus colors, just waiting for us.

It was 2:50 PM when we landed; another flurry of excitement; other planes; other people. Dust. I spotted my fancy-schmancy brown-palm-tree suitcase being toted to the pile; tag-sorted to a Globus 4×4; two drivers wearing the familiar Globus orange and green. That suitcase went to Antarctica with me; Gibraltar, Spain; all 50 states. And here I am today, still working on getting a clearer view of things.

Note: Amboseli Airport is in Amboseli National Park in south-central Kenya, close to the international border with Tanzania. Approximately 95 miles south of Jomo Kenyatta International and Wilson Airports in Nairobi, its latitude is 2° 38′ 42.00″S and its altitude 3,757 feet. The single asphalt runway is 3,870 feet. It serves Amboseli National Park.

Amboseli National Park https://amboseli.com/

Airports Are For Looking

Linda Lou Burton posting from Keekorok Airstrip, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya–– Which would you choose? Nine hours in a 4×4 across the rugged Rift Valley roads? Or two hours in a plane offering a whole new perspective of Kenya’s magnificent landscape? Globus knew the answer to that; small planes were waiting at Keekorok Airstrip to whisk us nearly 300 miles from the Maasai Mara in western Kenya to Amboseli National Park in the east, within staring distance of Mt Kilimanjaro. Our itinerary allowed for game drives in two parks today, beginning with the Bush Breakfast Extravaganza that already had us pumped. But we were also very sad. It was time to say goodbye to our drivers Daniel and Frank, two of the sweetest guys ever! Abdi would be flying with us, continuing to guide the Kenyan portion of our safari. Daniel and Frank would be driving our vehicles back to Nairobi, readying for a new tour, and new faces, beginning tomorrow.

Rick and I had become attached to Daniel in these last seven days; he was so much more than a good driver, he had become our friend – funny, knowledgeable, and always kind. I never asked a question he wasn’t able to answer — animals, birds, people, places, he just knew! He greeted me every morning with a smile, the ladder-step ready for my ascent into the 4×4; patient as I descended (always last one out) allowing me time to decide which knee would be strongest before I put a foot on the ground. “Knee is thinking,” I’d say, to which he’d reply, “pole, pole, slowly, slowly,” and offer a supporting arm. The Coke he bought for me that first day on the drive from Nairobi north (while everyone else was shopping) had long gone flat (kind of a running joke), but it was still in the 4×4 this morning as Daniel pulled into the melee of confusion surrounding Keekorok Airstrip. “You stay seated in here till the plane arrives,” Daniel said, as everyone else jumped out in a frenzy of activity. “Just look around and enjoy the day.” And so I did.

Note: I have been unable to determine the number of lodges and camps in the Maasai Mara and its surrounding conservancies – one source listed the “top 55” so the answer is at least a number higher than that and includes everything from exclusive luxury lodges to the most basic tent camping . There are about ten airstrips serving the lodges and villages in the area. Nairobi is an hour away by plane, a favorite option for tourists, school children, and locals rather than a 6-hour road journey.

Keekorok Airstrip has one unpaved runway measuring 4,200 feet in length and is situated 5,801 feet above sea level at latitude 1° 35′ 9.00″S. The airstrip mainly serves Keekorok Lodge, Sarova Mara Game Lodge, Sekenani Camp, Mara Sopa Lodge, Mara Topi Safari Lodge, Ashnil Camp and Cottars Camp. Our group stopped at Keekorok Lodge and at Ashnil Camp for rest stops during game drives, both were lovely.

Keep this in mind when you visit the Maasai Mara!

Keekorok Airstrip https://www.masaimara.travel/keekorok-airstrip.php

Sarova Mara Game Camp https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/

Keekorok Lodge https://keekorok-lodge.com/

Ashnil Mara Camp https://www.ashnilhotels.com/mara/

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya–– Audrey Hepburn eat your heart out. Diamonds may be dazzling but no place in the breakfast-eating world offers a better start to the day than Observation Hill in the Maasai Mara. I mean! Abdi laid out the plan the evening before. “No breakfast in the dining room tomorrow. We’re having Breakfast in the Bush. Then a short game drive afterwards on the way to the airport.” Our plane was to depart at 11 (or so); Amboseli National Park our next destination. I don’t need words to describe our morning; my pictures should do the trick.

It was a Sarova do, set up early and ready as our 4x4s came over the hill. They thought of everything – chafers of hot foods, grills to cook more, pastries and muffins and boxes for take-away, chilled drinks and hot, white-clothed tables, blue-bowed chairs, a tented potty and proper hand-washing station. Scenery clear to yonder and a blue-perfect sky. Who was there? I was, plus Rick, Otis, and Venita from Daniel’s 4×4; Mike, Lois, Ed, Maureen, and Judy from Frank’s 4×4. Guide Abdi, and all the Sarova staff who cooked and served and greeted and guarded. Yes, two guards with guns watching over us, precaution for our “out of vehicle” status. Isaac, left, is a Sarova employee-in-training who looked after me this morning; we talked about his work and family and life in Kenya, and my life in the USA; what a nice young man! The picture of us together turned out blurred, but the one of my “primary care-givers” on this safari is splendid – Abdi and Daniel and Frank with Rick and me, smiling, happy as kids at a birthday party. What a way to start a day!

We spotted two more Bush Breakfasts on our way to the plane. First time ever I was close enough to an elephant to observe exactly how one eats; I watched as she pulled grass from the ground and rolled it into her mouth, slow and easy, taking her time.

We stayed until the elephant families moved on. And then we passed a baboon family, breakfasting in their own front yard, right there in the beautiful Maasai Mara.

Sarova Mara Game Camp https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/

Stay A Little Longer

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya–– I have only one complaint about my stay at Sarova Mara. It was too short. One full day is not enough time to spend in a unique place like Sarova Mara; I don’t recommend it. Stay long enough to soak it in, smell the roses, twiddle toes in the pool, talk to somebody new, sit on your porch and watch the monkeys watching you. I’m a tad grumpy this morning, not mentally ready to leave. Our luggage was out for pickup before daylight; even before the monkeys were up. We were sitting on the porch sharing a cup of tea till time to climb back in the 4×4 and head out when it hit me – I had no pictures of our tent. I jumped up and quickly snapped some photos, but the beds were unmade, the mosquito nets down; it looks messy but here it is, for memory’s sake.

Forgive me for including photos from the net as well as my own so you can see what it’s like at Sarova. Starting with the tents – Sarova has 75, all with a balcony and view. We had a creek and monkey-vine view which we loved; some look out over the plains. The tents range in size from 330 square feet to a 1,400 square-foot family tent. No kidding! Ours was midway, 600 square feet; a king-size bed + a single bed, a 3-compartment bathroom with doors between each section — easy to share space for getting ready in the mornings. Glass panel doors up front with key card entrance, plenty of electrical connections, wifi, all the stuff we’ve come to expect in our everyday lives. Chair with reading lamp, desk, pretty wood floors with colorful rugs. Staff came every morning to unzip all the tent windows and put up the mosquito nets; every night to reverse the action, PLUS, to deliver a flannel-encased hot water bottle — tucked under the covers just where feet go; the water stayed nice and warm for a full eight hours! We had that service at Sweetwaters too — tents are not heated, and the nights can get chilly; the hot water bottles were my favorite of all services offered. (Thinking of getting one for home; also helpful for sore backs, as Rick found out.) Here are other tents much like ours. Note how tents are attached to the permanent overhead structure.

The food and gathering spaces at Sarova – oh my! Check the soaring ceiling in the Isokon Restaurant (below). It’s the same in the Oliop Bar. The décor is like the Mara itself, all open space, sunlight, air. Food stations in every direction, breads piled high, local produce, grilled meats; African style, international too. A server always near, “I’ll carry your plate for you, Miss Linda,” whenever they spotted my cane. That’s our table on the left, second photo.

Sorry I didn’t have time to visit the chef’s garden, plant a tree, maybe even take a beading class. I only went on one game drive! With all the wonder to see in the Maasai Mara, I had only one trip out. Three were offered, true, and the rest of the gang took advantage, but for me bouncing around in the 4×4 both morning and afternoon was not an option – I needed a nap. Darn it, I wish I could stay a little longer!

One other thing to mention, they have golf carts going in every direction to give you a lift, great for me and my cane, slowly, slowly (pole, pole). Just remember, when you come here, book at least three or four days. A week would be better!

Sarova Mara Game Camp https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/

Crossing The Mara

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya– The Great Migration, ah, that rousing event that sometimes results in more blood and gore than even the Coen Brothers could think up. Or, it could wind up as cozy as a Sunday morning sleep-in, as we witnessed. We did see a crocodile-in-waiting, and a line of wildebeests stretching as far over the horizon as the eye can see. This photo I grabbed off the net shows what could, and often DOES, happen when a wildebeest tries to cross the Mara River, as below.

Why cross the Mara River? It begins with the weather. The weather creates rainy seasons and dry seasons. The rainy seasons are when the grasses grow. Over a million wildebeest eat a lot of grass. So do half a million zebras, and half a million eland and gazelles. When the grass is gone in one place, they move to a greener pasture. All this occurs in a regular pattern over a year’s time, as the grazers move in a clockwise direction from Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park across the border to the north to Kenya’s Maasai Mara and then back south again. As you can see on this map, they have to cross the Mara River twice to do that! And thousands of Nile crocodiles live in that river, just waiting for lunch to arrive. Which means people line up along the riverbanks to see what might happen. Will the wildebeests cross today while we’re here? What are they waiting for? Is there a leader, giving a signal? What causes the first one to start running, and what causes the others to follow in a spectacular frenzy of rolling and tumbling and jumping and swimming?

All a mystery, but Daniel did his part so we could see everything there was to see; shifting our 4×4 this way and that, around the 30 or so others waiting on our side of the river; all jockeying for position. And which WAS the best position? There were several possible crossing points. The other side of the river was lined with 4x4s too, and school buses, yes, this is a school-trip-worthy event. The zebras graze nervously as we wait; the giraffe stand high, peering, maybe counting the numbers of wildebeests in the line? Otis spotted a crocodile waiting on the riverbank. “It’s THERE!” he said, over and over, “by the zebra’s head!” My camera zoom finally caught it. Yep, zebra head by crocodile head. We waited. And we waited. And we waited. The hippos weren’t afraid, swimming the Mara with little hippo eyes just at the surface; stretching out on the bank in a muddle of hippo fat. And smiling, I swear!

We didn’t pack a lunch, so Abdi finally called TIME. He had an obligation to keep us fed, and it was a long drive back to Sarova’s dining room. “Sorry, we have to leave,” he said. Aww, shucks. Daniel made sure we had our own “crossing” thrill however, bless his heart. “Hold on!” he yelled, as he 4×4’ed us across a Mara mudhole. Then we passed a group of wildebeests that had already made it across, grazing in their greener pastures. A good morning, all told.

Note: During the migration about 250,000 wildebeest and 30,000 zebra die every year as a result of predation by carnivores, drowning, thirst, hunger, and exhaustion. An average of 6,250 animals drown or are trampled crossing the Mara River.

A Brighter Note: As many as 500,000 wildebeest are born between February and March each year as the rainy season begins. Approximately 8,000 young wildebeest are born every single day during the peak of the birthing season.

Room to Roam

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya– Porridge. “It’s what we eat for breakfast in Kenya,” Abdi assured Judy. “It’s good for the digestion.” Judy decided to try it too, a big bowl of the brownish stuff. “I like it,” she proclaimed. “Not too heavy for a morning start.” I had some fruit and yogurt, feeling pretty health conscious myself. Meanwhile Rick was enjoying a Full English Breakfast “in the bush,” meaning, outdoors, with a sweeping view of the world around. AND, all the sausages and eggs and buttery biscuits that the British ate in the olden days when out on safari. Tea available, of course, but champagne if you’ve just completed a balloon ride. The rest of us were gathering at our Sarova table INDOORS, showing up one by one, sleepy headed, but eager to climb into our 4x4s and get out on the Mara. First stop: to pick up Rick.

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is called The World Cup of Wildlife; it is home to Kenya’s highest concentrations of “the Big 5” (remember, buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros) and the Big Cats (cheetah, leopard, lion). With plenty of room to roam for all of the above. What would we spot in the next hour? The ROOM caught my attention first – so much air, and sky, and space, and, I say it again, space. We were on the ground, not in a balloon, and yet, amazed at all the THERE out there! Do the animals realize, I thought to myself, just how fortunate they are? It took us an hour to get to the Balloon Safari’s breakfast spot, where Rick awaited; take a look at what I saw on the way. Note my first sighting of the big hairy wildebeest. Imagine millions of them! The story of The Great Migration I’ll tell you next post – it’s the greatest draw to the Maasai Mara — both in animals, and in tourists.

Balloons Over Africa

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya– This post isn’t mine. I’m posting on behalf of son Rick Shumate, who was brave enough, and hardy enough, to get up early enough for a 4:30 AM pickup this morning. He wanted to watch the sun rise over the Maasai Mara from a hot air balloon, floating high in the sky. Oh, did I say brave? Well, look at his face, head on the ground, instead of high in the sky. What the dickens?

“I thought I’d just climb into the basket,” he reported later. “But they turn the basket onto its side and then you get down on the ground and slide your butt into the seat. I was making that face for fun.” “Right,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

Seriously though, bravery is not my strong suit when it comes to heights. So thank you Rick, for bringing us these gorgeous images of a morning over the Maasai Mara, from sunrise to champagne, and everything between. You show us  Tanzania, just across the border. You show us the Mara River and the back-country roads twisting and turning across the plains. You show us zebras running and shadows changing and balloons hanging in the air. You show us what a person can see, when they get up early. And float in a balloon. Over Africa.

Note: Most of Rick’s footage was video; these are some of his best stills. He claimed it was nothing short of fantastic. “We didn’t see that many animals,” he said. “But that didn’t matter. All that open sky and open space and watching our shadow moving along the ground below – awesome! I’m so glad I took the trip!” 

Fig Tree Camp Balloon Safari https://aaballoonsafari.com/balloon-safari-maasai-mara/

They Came To Dance

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya–I said I wouldn’t miss it. They came to dance, and I was there to watch. It wasn’t authentic, as far as the setting, and the glittery stuff that sparkled in the artificial light. A stone and concrete patio around a pool of aquamarine water doesn’t speak of tradition. But we got the SOUND of it, the idea of what it was meant to tell us. Our gang was there, part of the tourist crowd. The show was staged for tourists, a group hired by Sarova, or maybe the park itself, to make the rounds of the fancy-schmancy lodges and camps that pepper the Maasai Mara Reserve. That’s a good thing – tourist dollars helping the locals. As for the tourists, it opened the door for us to learn some Maasai history; appreciate their heritage. And that’s a good thing too.

Did you know there are more than a million Maasai? Most live in Kenya, some in Tanzania. Their spoken language is MAA; the name “Maasai” means “people who speak MAA.” Their cows are their most prized possessions – their security, and wealth. Semi-nomadic, they move their homes and herd their cattle in a seasonal rotation. And they hunt lions – never for fun, only if needed to protect their homes and cattle. The Maasai are known for their physical beauty – both their strong, slender, graceful physiques and their unique clothing and body ornamentation. Maasai dress is distinctive, and often copied by fashion designers.

The SHUKA. Made of animal skins in the beginning; today these wrap-around blankets are woven cotton, purchased, not handmade. The distinctive coloring and fabric design tells of family connection – like the Scottish plaids of the clans. Red is the most-used color; brilliant blues and yellows are used too, in various designs of plaids and stripes and checks. (Online Photo)

The DANCES. Imagine the dances in the wide open spaces, circled round a fire. Start with the ADAMU, known as the jumping dance. It is joyful, and cocky, a show-off dance. Who can jump the highest? Who is strongest, bravest? Who will attract the best wife? Lots of shouting and whoops, laughter or praise, as each takes a turn stepping in front of the group and jumping as high as he can. The music is created on the spot: voices chanting, modulated, call and response; the perfect soundtrack for what they do; it changes, underscores, leads. The hunting dance; encouragement and morale building as they ready to kill a lion. Friendship and family, celebrating a birth, or a wedding. Grief, and mourning a terrible loss.

We couldn’t follow the words, but the tone and movement told each story well. We asked questions at the end; posed for photos too. I bought a shuka from their table by the pool; the red and black checks my choice. So much to learn about the Maasai, in the days ahead.

Sarova Mara Game Camp https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/

One Little Monkey

Linda Lou Burton posting from Sarova Mara Game Camp, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya–A lion on the gate! Promises of things to come! We are at the Maasai Mara – the place, at last! The Great Wildebeest Migration happens HERE. The most lions of any park live HERE. Oh joy oh joy we squeal like little kids, it’s Santa time! Daniel pays the fees, takes care of stuff; then on our way to CAMP. “Sarova Mara Game Camp” to be precise, it has a ring, don’t you think? Ten minutes more and we are there, piling from the 4×4, me slowly, slowly, (pole, pole) but happy as a dancing deer.

Karibu! We’re greeted at the entry bridge, a heated towel for our dusty hands, a glass of mango for our thirst. A handsome smile. The desk, yes, Abdi checks us in, takes care to get a tent that’s close for me (5 minute walk OK?, he asks). We gather in the bar, a roaring fire, a crowd, “Hello” I hear; a woman smiles, extends her hand. “I think we’re following you!” – another traveler in a group, an Aussie accent I believe. We chat. Then Get-Your-Bearings time; everything explained; what’s happening; and where it is. Balloon Safari? Who’d like a morning skybird ride? Hot ticket item; Rick the only one of us who dares. He’s game, gets signed. Fig Tree Camp Balloon Safaris, pickup 4:30 AM. Eeek!

Lunch is pampered, a creamy soup to start, who can remember all of it? We stop by the pool on the way to our tent. A Maasai dance at 7 there; I won’t miss that. The grounds are spacious, quiet; a tiny bushbuck no taller than the lamp! Or is it a gazelle? I don’t know. And then, what’s that? An armadillo? But with a furry look, not shell. Down the walkway, Tent 15, three monkeys wait. “They’ll run away,” I say. We sit down on the porch, looking towards the creek, a viney haven for cheeky monkey jinks. But one little monkey stays, hanging out with us? Apparently I have a lot to learn about animals.

Sarova Mara Game Camp https://www.sarovahotels.com/maracamp-masai-mara/