Lake Baringo, the Equator, Goat, Kick Boxing, and the Super Bowl

[and we're back to Kenya, last stop, promise]

After our thrilling safari adventure, we hopped the short flight back to Nairobi, where we hardly spent any time at all. About all we did was relax for half a day in Philip and Emily's apartment, and then went out to a big Ethiopian dinner with several of their friends (and Philip's brother, Andrew, who was in town for a couple of days).  Thankfully, Andrew brought his camera to dinner, as my iphone shot is all darkness.  Snagged from his facebook:

It was a first for Alli and myself.  Basically it's lots of meat (though some veggie dishes) richly flavored, sitting on a big piece of injera, with rolls of injera for tearing off and hand scooping meat.  Injera is just a kind of bread, but it has a spongy texture and very interesting soured flavor.  I really had no idea what I was eating, but it was all good (and at least as far as I'm aware, the ordered items were all recognizable meats. As long as you consider goat a recognizable meat).

Philip and Emily enjoyed our company so much that they took Friday off from work so that they could drive the 4 of us up to Lake Baringo.  We stocked up on some food items and headed up around noon (deftly avoiding the majority of Nairobi traffic).  It's a 3-4 hour 2-lane drive to the north, through and alongside the great rift valley and across the equator (rift valley picture here).  We drove right across the equator without even realizing it--but luckily for us, there was an exhibit set up to mark the place and attract tourists.  We decided that we don't cross the equator in a car every day, so we made a stop.  Two guides walked us through a small building with pro-Kenya tourism photos, describing each in detail.  Next, Philip pulled his car up on the stage for a great photo opportunity:

(Those two flags are France on the Northern Hemisphere side and Israel on the Southern Hemisphere side. There were lots of flags and we have no idea what order they were supposedly in.)

We were informed by the guides of the interesting phenomena related to which side of the equator one is located on... such as the direction of whorl your hair may take depending on where you were conceived, and the famous toilet swirling (counter-clockwise drainage in the North, clockwise in the South).  We nodded along.  Once back in Singapore and unable to sleep from jetlag, I took the time to do some more research on the Coriolis effect, as this is called (the toilet bowl part.. can't say there's a name for the supposed hair whorling).  The consensus seems to be this is a true effect, but could only be seen in very large volumes of water.  Regular toilet flushing is apparently exempt, but the myth is perpetuated anyway.

Ahem.  We got into our cabin on Lake Baringo in the late afternoon.  We men got to work fixing dinner while the ladies relaxed.  Our house was just about 1 full stride away from the water--where we knew there were definitely some crocodiles, and probably hippos nearby.  There were no plans for swimming in this lake.  viewing only.  Unlike our protected spot on the Mara, we were definitely in the wild here, and the signage advised we just sit tight after dark.  A strong cool breeze blew constantly off of the water and into our cabin. Once it did get good and dark, Alli and I were amazed by the number and intensity of the stars.  I'm not sure how much of it was a perfectly clear night or how much further we were from light sources on Earth than other times, but I am pretty sure it was the most stars I've ever seen.  You'd think in the woods of Maine, or in the hills of Laos, you might get just as good of a view, but this was better.  The down side is that to really see the stars you had to step just out from under our cabin.  I'd have loved to just lay down and stare for a while, but I did not want to be a hippo statistic.

The next day we took a boat ride on the lake--over to an island with natural sulfur springs (bubbling hot water, neat), and then just around to see the wildlife.  Our guide pointed out no less than 40 different kinds of birds.  We spotted a few crocodiles, and then boated in to a known hippo area (remember this is prior to reading the part about unprovoked attacks).

As we neared the herd, our guide informed us there were about 20 of them.  As we could count only 6 or so, we were all very inquisitive about where the others were.   When our boat ran across a submerged log, there was a brief fright.  Similar to our experience with the rustling bushes by the river of 40 hippos, Alli and I asked our guide to just go ahead and take us back to the less hippo-populated areas.

We spent the rest of our time at the lake just relaxing and catching up with Philip and Emily, playing some card games, doing lots of reading:

bird watching and photographing:

eating well, and having a good time.

We closed our time in Kenya by cooking Southeast Asian for P+E, visiting them at work, a kickboxing class for Alli and Emily with one of the Kenyan national team coaches, and going to a real (only delayed to Kenyan prime time) Super Bowl party.
Oh, and juggling. There was quite a bit of juggling.

P+E: We had a fantastic time. THANK YOU! K+A

Here kitty, kitty...

We originally planned to head back to Nairobi on Wednesday morning. Sammy, our steward, shook his head knowingly on Tuesday afternoon. "You love it here. You'll stay," he told us. He was right. By Tuesday night we'd decided to stay until Thursday.

But even with the extension, Kyle had already decided he wasn't up for an early morning game drive before an early morning flight, so the Wednesday afternoon drive was our last chance.

And we were not disappointed.

Hello, Gorgeous.

We didn't actually come across a leopard strolling across the plains. We were on high leopard alert, but another jeep spotted her first, laying on a hillock watching a herd of impalas.

The first jeep alerted the others by radio and soon there were six jeeps from our camp semi-circling the leopard and the DLTs. We sat for an hour watching the leopard watch the herd. A small group of zebras passed through, a couple of buffalo walked by. A frisky male impala chased a single not-in-the-mood female again and again while the rest of the herd went about their grass-munching business.

The impalas moved across the plain slowly as the sun set. For a moment it looked as if they'd head into the brush. "That's what she's waiting for," Alice told us in a whisper. "Leopards don't chase, they stalk. She'll follow them into the bush and get one."

But then, out of nowhere, came the leopard's greatest enemy most annoying pest: guineafowl.

The little flock of guineafowl was wandering along when they noticed the leopard. And they let everyone know. I have never heard such a bird cacophony. They circled the hill, they advanced, they retreated, and they made the most ridiculous scene. None of them was interested in actually getting too close to the leopard, but every creature in earshot knew that the guineafowl had identified danger, an enemy in their midst.

The poor leopard just gave up and laid down. She didn't even twitch the tip of her tail, purposefully ignoring the birds and the racket. But after ten minutes of guineafowl-abuse--as the impalas decided against the bush and took to the open plain instead--she finally sat up, stretched, and headed into the bush herself.

The next morning, while Kyle slept and packed, we looked for her again and found, not the Mama leopard, but her baby. The cub was older, but still had some youth and playfulness to his movements. Like lion cubs, leopard cubs stay where they're told. Alice guessed that the mama was hunting and would be coming back at some point with breakfast.

On Wednesday night, after escorting the leopard into the bush, we came back to camp to find a lantern-lit table for two set up outside of our tent. Sammy stood at attention. "What is this?!" we asked.

"It's your last night, right Alli?" He smiled and poured me a glass a of wine. "Yes, today you saw the leopard."

Mudding on the Mara

On our third game drive the radio buzzed that someone had seen the leopard. We raced to the gulch with about 5 other jeeps. We drove around clockwise. We drove around counter clockwise. I was seeing spots everywhere I looked, but no leopards.

Couds were rolling in and the temperature was falling, so we gave up. Alice assured us that wherever the leopard was, she wasn't going to show herself at that point.

So we headed off. We saw impalas heading for cover...

And Elands accompanied by a little warthog...

A pair of silver-backed jackals crouched in the shrub before one faced off with a huge bird (who finally just flew away). 

Zebras wandered across the plains.

And shortly after spotting the rhino, we watched the storm roll across the Mara.

Alice asked if we wanted to go back. And we definitely did not. Wrapped up in red plaid Maasai blankets we raced across the Mara chasing the storm and being chased by it, passing whole herds of DLTs standing with their backs to the wind, getting completely stuck in a herd of buffalo, and splashing through new streams.

We were trying to drive out of the storm when I saw a flash off in the distance. We could barely see the jeep, but it didn't belong to our camp. We decided to go see what was worth taking the camera out in the rain. 

Two cheetahs looking for something to chase. (rain + wind + bumpy terrain cheetah chasing does not equal my best pictures) We stayed with them for a while until they got tired of our company and broke into a trot in the other direction. 

The next morning an impossibly thick fog lay over the whole Mara. We checked again for the leopard, but could barely see anything in the mist. A giraffe wandered past us.

A hyena skulked home.

An elephant went looking for fresh mud.

Late in the morning the fog cleared a bit and we headed to the river. On the way we saw the (apparently?) quite rare bat-eared fox with more jackals in the background. It was the first one our guide-in-training had seen! 

At the river we got out of the jeep to see the hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

More than 50 hippos grunted in the river while two crocs floated silent and log-like. Alice seemed unconcerned, but at a rustling in the bushes, Kyle and I jumped back into the jeep as quick as we could.

We headed back that afternoon for our last lunch at camp and only one more long game drive ahead of us. 



See, here's the secret about the Big Five. When people ask you if you saw the Big Five, what they really mean is, Did you actually see the leopard?

Rhinosaur* (Dino-ceros)

There is actually a rhinoceros in the Singapore zoo.  It is part of the night safari.  We have been on this night safari, and... if you live in or visit, Singapore-- you should go.  But let's not pretend that seeing a rhino in a zoo is anything like seeing one 10 feet from your land cruiser.  with its baby...

You know, before we go straight to those pictures, I feel I should interject a few things.
First off- when you're on a safari, and out in the wild, even when you're all snug in your little hotel tent, and you put your feet into the bed, and you feel this surprisingly warm and wiggly thing down there where you expect only more cool crisp sheets... well, you might jump too.  My brain did do an amazing number of immediate calculations and rememberizations in that shortest of nanoseconds such that I knew it was only a water bottle and not a python, but it wasn't fast enough to capture the very little yelp prior to its escape.

Also, even in our safe little tent camp, we were not completely safe.  You see, there were these warthogs:

and they were all over the camp.  At least 5 or 6 of them.  If you got close to them, they would run from you, but still.

Also there were some DLTs:

They napped by the pool mostly.  See how dangerous it was!  Actually if you did leave your tent at night you were only to do so with a guard at your side.  There was some mention about if things got really desperate out on the Mara, lions would make their way in and pick off the overly relaxed warthogs for an easy meal.

On the note of the whole water bottle thing, I don't think we've mentioned what the weather was like in Kenya.  It was pretty great.  Despite the fact that Singapore is 1 degree north of the equator, and Nairobi is 1 degree south of the equator, they have vastly different climates, owing largely to the high elevation of Nairobi:

The private airstrip for our camp.  Altitude reads 5360 feet.  Coordinates also provided if you want to google map us.

During the day, when the sun came on full force, it became pretty warm, and you didn't want to stay in direct sun, but all it took was to duck into shade and the temperature changed by several degrees.  This does not happen in humid Singapore and was a welcome feature.  In the evenings it cooled down quite a bit, to the point that a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed was fantastic.  Once you knew it was coming.

Right, so on to number 4.  We spotted the rhinoceros on our 3rd or 4th game drive (2 per day).  In a way, they are easy to spot, even from distance.  While the buffalo have convex backs, viewed from the side, the rhino has a concave back, so you can differentiate by the profile.  Still, we were somewhat amazed at our guides' ability to spot them from pretty much as far as our eyes could see.  And so we tore across the plain to get a nice close look.

Wow.  Would you look at that thing?  seriously.  That can not possibly be a modern day creature that just walks around Africa chewing on plants, with its 2 horns and giant body.  let's get a little bit closer...

Oh my.  That, my friends.  That is a dinosaur.  surely a vestige of a day gone by. 

And then, it turns, it looks at us.  Oh my God it's coming right for us!!!  but then you remember, this thing doesn't even make the list.  pfft, 12-14 kills per year.  we're not even afraid of you, rhinosaur.

Besides, she's got a kid to look after and can't just go picking fights with land cruisers.

Awww, aren't they cute?

On the note of the whole dinosaur thing... I picked up Obama's "Dreams from My Father" for light reading on the trip.**  It was a neat choice as it's the story of his journey from Indonesia to US, ultimately taking a trip to Kenya to trace this half of his heritage.  I happened to be on a safari just about the same time as he was in his book.  He described what he was seeing:

"It was like that for the rest of the day, as if I were seeing as a child once again, the world a pop-up book, a fable, a painting by Rousseau.  A pride of lions, yawning in the broken grass.  Buffalo in the marshes, their horns like cheap wigs..."

He goes on to give some more flowery description before pausing and reflecting:  "This is what Creation looked like."

And I think that's a pretty good summary of how it makes you feel, like you're in quite a different world and time even, a place where you can actually start to imagine giant dinosaurs walking around like they make perfect sense.

4 down.  1 to go!

*rhinosaur, as far as I am concerned, was coined by Philip when I suggested that rhinoceros are clearly dinosaurs.  what a fitting name.  rhinosaur.  Dinoceros is a close second.

**In the interest of full disclosure and political equality, I also picked up George W's "Decision Points" for the same trip.  I enjoyed both, and invite no political commentary on this blog whatsoever.

The Most Hateful

On our first morning game drive, we had breakfast on the plains. We drove up onto the escarpment, chasing a troupe of baboons up the slope so we had a view of the whole plains. Our guide, Alice, and our guide-in-training Elias found us a nice, safe spot and laid out the spread: coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fruit, yogurt, juice, single-serve frittatas, and fresh crepes with honey.

Kyle even enjoyed it all a bit more after a mini-snooze.

Below us, a curious giraffe hung out for a while before loping off to find other trees to munch.

To the right, a group of DLTs grazed. Oh, DLTs? I am stealing that from Philip's friend: Deer-Like Things.(ha!) We saw Thompson's gazelles (my favorite), impalas, bushbuck, eland, topi, waterbuck, the miniature Kirk's dik-dik, and (slightly less deer-like) zebras. (Pictured here, topi and possibly a Thompson's gazelle--the smallest one.)

The only reason I didn't fully enjoy myself, though, were the buffalo way off to our left. As I'm sure you remember, Alice told us that buffalo would lay down and hide until you get close and then attack you! In February in the Mara the grass isn't high enough to hide a buffalo, but they still made me nervous.

 
They just seem to glare at you with their Alfalfa horns:

(See the resemblance?) The rest of the animals seemed to coexist quite peacefully with the buffalo. There were always a few warthogs running around among the herd. But to me, the buffalo somehow seemed especially likely to change its mind suddenly and decide you were foe, not friend. We drove close by one resting herd, and as we passed a buffalo jerked its head up from its grassy lunch to glower. I just as quickly dropped my camera and tried to be invisible. Minutes later we passed a beautiful mother and baby very close to the vehicle, but at that point there was no way I was clicking shutters and adjusting focal points.

The best place to watch buffalo, in my opinion, was from the pool.

Yes, our tented camp had a pool--a pool overlooking the Mara no less. In fact, our tent looked out toward the plains as well.

As did the hammock.

Ok, in the spirit of full disclosure, I guess I should say that "tent" is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, it was canvas-covered and zipped up. But it also had a carpet, down comforters, electricity, steaming hot showers, a wooden dressing table with a inlaid sink, laundry service, and "wake up calls" that consisted of your tent steward laying out freshly made tea/coffee/hot chocolate on the writing desk. We weren't exactly roughing it. 

In fact, the only actually scary "wildlife" encounter we had on the whole trip was the first night when Kyle slipped into bed to find something, warm, soft, and wiggly at his feet. The yelp was halfway out of his mouth (and he was halfway out of bed) before he realized it was a hot water bottle tucked between the sheets.

With that kind of treatment, we could skip the buffalo on the game drives. I was content to watch the herds moving across the plains from the safe side of the camp fence.

Three down, two to go.

Like a Soap Opera

This area of the Mara is where parts of Out of Africa were shot, so the pride of lions that lives there is called the Out of Africa Pride. (This is also the area where BBC films Big Cat Diary). And there is a shocking amount of drama going on in the Out of Africa pride.

When you are on a game drive there is a lot of radioing back and forth between the camp jeeps with drivers telling each other (in Swahili) which animal is where. When we first arrived, we saw four of the lionesses from the pride under a tree with some cubs, sharing the hunting and babysitting duties. The male was lazing a fair distance away. After the elephants scratched, we headed there to see if they were still around.

The females and cubs were gone, and the male had moved deeper into the bush. Alice told us that a few months ago, a group of juvenile males had attacked the alpha male. He'd fought them off, but was wounded. As she told us, the radio buzzed. Three young male lions had been spotted not far away.

The youths were across a gorge from us, and they looked calm. "The alpha male is hiding," Alice told us. "He doesn't stand a chance against three teenagers." Won't the lionesses help, we asked? "No," she told us. "Their priority is to keep the 15 cubs safe and fed. They'll keep moving the babies until something happens."

Later in the afternoon we found the females and the cubs relaxing on the plain. "Everyone is waiting," Alice told us. "You're going to hear lions roar tonight!"

All night I waited, but it was quiet. The next morning we couldn't find the alpha male or the young males. We found two of the lionesses looking anxious, but no cubs. Alice explained that if the young males were to kill the alpha male, one would take over the pride and the other two would move on. The new alpha male would kill all of the cubs because the lionesses won't go into heat while they still have nursing cubs. If the cubs can survive until they're weaned the new alpha male may let them live.

By the afternoon, we found a different group of four females from the same larger pride, but without cubs. As we drove toward the escarpment (the long hill that serves as the "back" of the Mara plains) late in the afternoon, we found the females and cubs hiding in the bush. But there was still no sign of the males.

On our last full day, we only saw the lions once. The lionesses were on the move again,  herding the cubs across the plain from high point to high point and looking anxious. Still no sign of the alpha male and the youths.

The morning we left, I took one last early game drive while Kyle slept and packed up for us. We saw three of the lionesses hunting and Alice said the fourth was with the cubs. They didn't get their prey (warthogs), and stalked off together toward the escarpment.

(I shot video of this, and it goes like this: lioness, warthog, lioness, lioness running, OMGLIONESSESRUNNING, THREELIONESSESSHUNTING, sky. I'll spare you.)

As we were leaving we heard that the male had been spotted deep in the bush, injured, but alive. The three youths seemed to be gone. All of the cubs had been accounted for.

Two down, three to go.