Volunteering in the Naboisho conservancy 4 weeks july-august 2018

[Earthian]

Loving your report and feel that i am there with you. Great writing and humour too. The one about the "behind the bush" was hilarious. So was 'needing a fresh pair of pants' scene.

 

Eagerly waiting for more.

Thank you for sharing.

[khakialahari]

After lunch and confirming to all other volunteers that I was a weirdo, we went on our evening drive. I was no longer concerned that we were just going out on little excursions to massage the egos that all volunteers need constantly massaging! I'm a London lad and if this comparison goes above your head then I'm sorry but it's like cyclists. Even though motorists pay for the roads, pay tax to drive on them, number plates making motorists accountable and the duty on fuel being extortionate, cyclists are wheeled angels......according to themselves. Conservancies survive on high-end tourism and the volunteers are not required. I love cyclists by the way. They just don't have the right to break the rules and still feel owed something. Anyhow, we drove into the prime viewing area for the first time on this drive. The area of the park that eagle view looked out onto. This is where most of the wildlife makes its home. Being volunteers and paying a fraction of the price that most of the conservancies visitors pay we are the bottom rung of the ladder. There is a limit on vehicles at a sighting which is the best rule I've ever heard of, even if we were to suffer. We saw an old male giraffe rubbing on a tree. He rubbed on that tree for a long time. Francis, who I didn't immediately love was an amazing guide and guy. He explained how male giraffes die younger as they spend so much time eating the top leaves they eventually lose their eyelashes because of the harsh sun. males often end up blind or partially sighted and fall victim to water holes or hazards that eyesight helps avoid. We then came to two male cheetahs!! I won a race at school once, and that day I thought I was a cheetah. My favourite animal for over two decades and two splendid examples where here, in front of me. eeiick! If I hadn't had enough special moments already, (i had) this was just amazing. What an incredible animal. There were vehicles around them, and I will go into the volunteer rules later so as not to get anyone one in trouble, but Francis positioned us in the best possible place without cornering the two male cats. There is a story to tell but it's late where I am and the boiler I need to fit tomorrow won't fit itself so I will add some photos and hope I haven't scared anyone off this report with far, far too many words and not enough action.

[wilddog]

Really enjoying this and love your writing style. 

 

I am in UK and am reading this as I have my morning coffee and have laughed out loud many time's already today.

 

Please can you eke this TR out a bit and do a post each night so I can have a good laugh every morning.?

 

Thought that picture of you with the panga says it all. You would not be allowed out with one of those at home. ?

 

A remote world is bliss.  

Edited January 15, 2019 by wilddog

[ForWildlife]

Really enjoy this report, your enthusiasm about everything shines through the writing!

Did you do the same 2 transects over and over for distance sampling? Or did you do a bunch of different transects? Could lead to a really nice datasets, but it sounds like some better instructions might be needed.

 

As for cyclists...most cyclists also own cars, and hence pay road tax. English roads are horribly dangerous for cyclists. I cycle to work everyday. How could somebody who thinks of himself as a conservationist justify taking the car to work if it's only 3 miles? Even though cars are allowed 60 mph on the same narrow road. But most drivers are quite considerate towards cyclists. And most cyclists are considerate too, but there's dickheads in each group. As a conservationist, you would think you would side with the cyclists....

[Seniortraveller]

This should be a book, not a trip report!

I am enjoying this so much, will be sorry when it comes to the end.

[lmonmm]

OMG- I am laughing hysterically at some of these stories. You really are a wonderfully humorous narrator. Yes, I have done a volunteer stint. Actually did a rhino research 2 week volunteer trip in Ol Pejeta in Kenya. I'd been to Africa before and many times after, but that still was such an unbelievable blast. I too got really lucky with our group- all really awesome people. I was paired with a lovely woman from Ireland for the two weeks and we meshed beautifully. I couldn't handle a compass if my life depended on it, but she was awesome. I was best at measuring. We did really sexy things like measure trees and note what ate it (certainly an interesting discussion), walked about 5 K on several occasions to either count animals (yeah, that is really kind of joke), but the best was when we did the 5 K and counted elephant dung...and had to rate how old it was. OMG- we'd be on the floor rolling in laughter as we were uploading all this info and trying to rate dung. "Old, really old, young, ancient, REALLY ANCENT". And there was one young woman from the southern USA- can't remember exactly, but she'd never been to Africa before. She cried every time we saw something and I just kept patting her on the shoulder going..."yeah, been there"  (pretty much what I did on my first trip).

 

[offshorebirder]

23 hours ago, khakialahari said:

All the pressures of modern life disappear and all you need is binos, a camera, and to see the beauty of the world.

 

Well said @khakialahari.

 

I too am very much enjoying this trip report.  Thank you so much for taking the time to "lard it with details" as @Tom Kellie would say.

 

On my first safari, I had an incredible encounter not far from Koyaki Guiding School.  In Four-wheel-drive Lugga, a Lioness named Willow was relocating 2-3 day old cubs from one den to a new one. 

 

As @wilddog says,you never forget your first African safari.

[khakialahari]

@ForWildlife Yes you are very right. It was slightly tongue in cheek but that doesn’t really come across written down very well. “Some of my best mates are cyclists you know”! It’s more the holier than thou attitude that I associate with cyclists. It was a lazy comparison and I probably (certainly) shouldn’t have used it. 

[khakialahari]

@lmonmm that is hilarious. I would have loved to be there with you. I’m sure much poo slinging would have been had. Probably physically and verbally. Aging poo is all in the taste like a fine wine I hear.

[khakialahari]

@wilddog Sorry I only read your post today, after taking a day off. I can't promise daily updates but I will do my best. It's amazing how much you relive your experiences putting them into word.

Edited January 16, 2019 by khakialahari

[khakialahari]

So as I alluded to in my last report the cheetah sighting wasn't without incident. Unfortunately for the first two weeks of my trip most the drama was human based. We had some amazing sightings but it seems no matter what corner of the world you go to, humans seem to want to steal the show. As we sat with three other vehicles watching the two male cheetahs, one member of the group was struggling to get photos. One of the Spanish couple (probably my favourite people ever) was kind enough to offer his backpack as a makeshift support. As we sat there another two vehicles arrived. There is a limit in the conservancies and too many vehicles were now there. Being the dirty unwashed we had to retreat. Frustrating but this is something you have to understand when paying far less and the data we needed to record was done so we had no reason to stay. As the vehicle sprung to life a bottle in the backpack decided to slip out and drop on the ground. If it was whisky, rum, or gin I would have jumped out there and then but it was just water. We informed Francis and he pulled over away from the cheetahs. He took it like a pro but was not willing to leave the area until it could be retrieved. " it's so ugly, we cannot leave that". I was liking Francis more and more by the minute. We waited whilst the other vehicles filtered off and then went back and collected the bottle. The cheetahs couldn't have been that thirsty as they only drunk half of it. As we continued the sun began to fade. My first water buck was seen. I never understood how big and majestic they were. After a few details from Francis I'm sure he muttered "so smelly" as we left them. The silhouettes of lappet-faced vultures in trees was stunning and as my decrepit bladder started to fail again my girlfriend nudged me and said she too wanted to mark her territory. It seemed I had taken responsibility for being the shameless pisser so I asked if we could stop. Offering support i joined the lady to mark said territory. Whilst holding a shemagh (a middle eastern scarf) around her, probably a whole 2 meters from the van this time, whilst taking advantage of the stop myself I remarked on the advantage men have whilst doing the do. All of a sudden we heard what sounded like a dog barking and hurriedbaxk to the van. I kid you not, before I managed to tell Francis of the sound I heard a hyena ran past within a meter of the van. I was assured the situation was being monitored and was in hand but some kind of warning would have been welcome. I was finished well before the better half and would have liked the option to save myself. I would never have chosen to leave her of course, just would have liked the option. Maybe i could have been more help from the safety of the van? Anyway, the light was almost gone but it was clear something was happening. Francis told us that we were hearing a male baboon's alarm call and the interest the hyena was showing made me immediately think leopard. I wasn't alone. We sprung off after the hyena and followed it to a small gully was a creek split the valley we were in. We located the lone baboon still making a ruckus. The red light was employed but the volunteer it was given to perhaps could have done better. We headed home with the somewhat useless red light being directed in all the wrong places. Very much a back seat red lighter me!!

[khakialahari]

the worst photos ever but at least these are relevant to the words

[khakialahari]

Beautiful boys and the speed the light in Africa fades is incredible. I never understood the golden hour but do now. The light really just hits the top of the heads in the middle hours and colour can look as dull as in the shade. 

[khakialahari]

Nothing was seen in the red light until we got back to camp but around camp a lot of herbivores were seen. I think they realised being close to me guaranteed safety.... for them. I did finally have a good nights sleep. In the morning I we met and everyone was smugly asking how i had slept. "beautifully thank you, and yourself"? Turns out no one had slept well as lions were feeding rather noisily right by the dome tents. Haha. This was animal monitoring morning agian. Uneventful in the main but my first striped mongoose, what is the plural of said species? I've forgot but believe there is some contention on the issue. What I do know is that the plural of fish of one species is fish, fishes only refers to multiple species of fish. Not much use on safari but then neither am I. We also spotted a black-breasted snake eagle, sooty backed shrike some secretary birds and the usual cud chewers. I had still not seen a buffalo or eland but was informed there were many in the conservancy, "so many" according to Francis. We counted the animals impeccably and the rangefinders decided to work. It seemed I was the permanent range finder as nobody else had the patience. it helped that I no longer had the patience to be questioned "well why don't you pace it out then and we will meet you by those lions and compare"!!! Some downtime at camp and no birding. Unfortunately, I was embarrassed by my bush lurking activities the day before. The embarrassment was short-lived to be honest but I'm sure I would be sectioned in London if I was caught doing similar. Time came for the evening drive. We went out this time with the same group of volunteers but with Fred as our guide. It turns out he was a freelance who was hired to help with the large numbers of volunteers. He had his companies hired vehicle which, it turns out was only to be with us for the first week of our stay. Fred was the nicest man you could hope to meet. I'm a complete novice to this TR writing and I have never written something as in depth as this ever. What I find difficult, and I think it integral to telling a good story, is when to say what you have to say, in an order that makes it the best story of the same happenings. There is nothing all that interesting about my time with Fred as short as it was. But I do think my observations on him would be better told later. Don't hold your breath. It is probably only important to me. What was clear from the get go was how different he was to Francis. Fred asked us what we wanted to see, and set off incredibly slowly. I actually heard the sounds a bit more and felt a bit more like we were stalking something than coming across it. We got to see a giraffe drinking which is `a sight to behold. Like a daddy long legs doing a bench press. We then saw a juvenile fish eagle with a fish in its talons. Some of the photos taken by my favourite Spanish couple and another crazy but amazing volunteer that I'm not sure if I will write about yet were absolutely amazing. Fred said this was his first fish eagle with a fish and he was very excited. When it's your first safari you arent to know if lions tying elephants trunks in knots to inflate them is normal so when a guide is excited you have to be. Saying that I couldn't get too excited in a fish eagle eating a fish. It was a special sight and I am being a little disingenuous. I was incredibly excited. Then, inevitably I needed the rest room/bush. 

[khakialahari]

Can I just say the lovely messages I have received are very much appreciated. I love this site. Thank you so much for the support and kind words. The experience I had was massively improved by reading and educating myself from this site. I owe you guys a huge amount and if I can pass some of your time or make you chuckle then that makes me very happy.  

[Tom Kellie]

18 minutes ago, khakialahari said:

Can I just say the lovely messages I have received are very much appreciated. I love this site. Thank you so much for the support and kind words. The experience I had was massively improved by reading and educating myself from this site. I owe you guys a huge amount and if I can pass some of your time or make you chuckle then that makes me very happy.  

 

~ khakialahari:

 

The images and commentary you've provided reflect an original voice.

 

Nothing would be more welcome and appreciated.

 

There's a certain zaniness to your descriptions which reflects safari reality.

 

The respect for nature juxtaposed with your own bemusement at being there is a terrific combination.

 

Thank you so much for your excellent trip report.

 

Tom K.

[Amylovescritters]

Omg you “shameless pisser,” you... Glad you didn’t lose a leg or your lovely girlfriend in the hyena drive by! Fantastic report! Now I am trying to figure out how to pencil in some volunteer time between my paid work in the US as a biologist. Sounds wondrous.

[janzin]

I too am greatly enjoying this report and your way with words...quite a unique and entertaining voice! I am excited every time I see a new update!

 

And in all my safaris (not that many, only 7 but still counting ) I've never seen a Fish Eagle with a fish!

[wilddog]

I have to say I am curious about your avatar and wondering if it featured in your trip.

 

Time will tell.

[kittykat23uk]

Me too! If it did I will be well jealous!

[JohnR]

@khakialahari I'm enjoying your report, especially the volunteering part which is close to my heart.

 

The volunteer organisation is go with  (Biosphere Expeditions) finally has a project in the Masai Mara so I may finally be heading out that way at some point, disabilities allowing.

 

11 hours ago, khakialahari said:

my first striped mongoose, what is the plural of said species?

 

Mongooses, they are not related to geese , but I'm sure you know that.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by JohnR

[Kitsafari]

You have such a great sense of humour! That sense of wonderment and the enthusiasm on the first safari reminds me how i was then. May it always stay with you on every safari you will take from now on, because, did anyone warn you, that safaris are addictive.

[khakialahari]

After the eagle flew off we carried on along the river for a bit but all that water made me ask for my routine territory marking. Back onboard and about 200 meters from my scent marked bush we saw a lioness. My girlfriend noticed a bit of blood on her and I told her it was probably an old wound. Then a male lion cub came from around a bush, A minute later female cub appeared. The male went straight to a bush and started feeding on a Pumba kill. "Old wound yeah Jon"? Didn't live that down in a hurry. Then another lioness came to join them.... and then another male cub..... and then another male cub..... then a female lioness was seen coming from a different place but didn't join the others and wasn't seen again.... and then another male cub. Stumbling across 7 lions would be amazing but the way this sighting just kept getting better and better added to the experience and made us feel so lucky. There wasn't much left of the warthog but there was some fighting over it. The beautiful female cub was rather skinnier than the others and my heart melted for her. Female lions really are the most amazing animals. They have the toughest time to grow to adulthood, if they make it they do the bulk of the hunting, then either have to, or chose to give their kills to bigger males or the younger ones. Truely remarkable and as majestic as male lions look the lionesses are just incredible. There were a few scuffles between the cubs over the food and we sat with them for over an hour. It was very special and for two days in a row my toilet breaks coincided with action. I was prodded at regular intervals for the rest of the trip as sightings were sparse "you sure you don't want to go and mark you territory mate"? I think at this sighting my girlfriend took over 500 photos. I'm a bit of a neanderthal with technology and posting photos the way I am is torturously slow. 

[khakialahari]

[Tom Kellie]

~ @khakialahari

 

The warm luminosity in the lion images above is lovely.

 

I strive for that, but typically fall short.

 

Thank you for posting such fine lion images.

 

Tom K.