Laikipia Wilderness Camp - Wild Dog Photographic Safari with Albie Venter, March 2015

[PT123]

@IamFisheye

 

What a very productive day in NNP - serval, black and white rhino plus a great sighting of the lioness transporting her cub. That's a great way to end a safari.

[Marks]

Very glad to see this thread continued. Looks like a great experience. The serval and black rhino shots are standouts for me.

[Big Andy]

Black Rhino, White Rhino, Serval, Lioness carrying a cub, and all within sight of the city, what a great way to end your trip and having the whole camp to your self, maybe something to do with the missed shower, I might try that.

[wilddog]

Really interesting about the Porini Bush Camp in NNP and good sightings too.

 

I note that you also survived your bush sleep out in Laikipia despite a few toilet trips.

 

Amazing how well one sleeps...........

 

Lovely report, Thank you @@Big Andy

[CaroleE]

@@IamFisheye

 

Sleepouts in Laikpia with elephant for company, black leopards, serval cat in daylight, black and white rhino and a lioness carrying a cub. Crikey that was a very good 24 hours!

Thanks for the info re the Porini camp. That could be a good place to stay in Nairobi NP.

[Big_Dog]

The dogs delivered! Wonderful shots of them, and a lion / hyaena conflict too, even if obscured by bush! Nice shots of sentinel leopards and servals too. Overall a fantastic time with equally good photos it seems. Apologies for the like-storm on all the earlier posts!

[TonyQ]

What a great viewing of the serval - lovely photos

[IamFisheye]

Final part of the Report.

 

Before I begin here’s a bit more on Porini Nairobi Tented Camp for @@Game Warden & @@wilddog

 

The camp is set within a riverine forest in the NP about 20 minutes drive from the main gate. The main camp is at the foot of a steep bumpy track with a small parking area outside the admin tents which then leads to a public lounge and bar tent. The mess tent is to the left and is not set up for communal dining. As I was the only person in camp it didn’t really matter! Both tents overlook a clearing where a fire is lit in the evening.

 

There are 9 tents set inside the forest. The whole camp is unfenced so wildlife can roam as it pleases. Monkeys were a problem and I was advised to make sure the tent was secure when I left. They also have a female black rhino that pays regular visits to the camp and browses the trees around the camp. Unfortunately she didn’t visit while I was there. As you would expect you are escorted to and from your camp in the dark.

 

The tents are furnished to a high standard and are very comfortable. Power is solar and limited, camera batteries need to be charged at the bar or by the manager. Additional lighting is provided by oil lamps at night. Cold water is plumbed in. Hot water needs to be ‘ordered’ in advance and someone will bring a bucket or two down for your shower once you have arranged it. Something I found a little inconvenient and intrusive (a voice from outside asking if I needed any more water mid shower) but I guess the price you have to pay for your eco credentials. A flask of hot water is provided for washing and shaving in the morning.

 

Food was fantastic, well presented and plentiful. All cooked on an open fire. As I was the only guest dining, times were tailored to my needs. Staff were a little over attentive, perhaps as I was the only guest and I’m a fairly private person and don’t really enjoy small talk.

 

I had a little bit of a conflict over the game drive and other activities that I planned to do. They were at extra cost and I thought they were inclusive. After a few calls my travel agent agreed to pick up most of the bill as it was miscommunication on their side. I had to pay for the afternoon excursion to Karen. So if you do stay for a day or more and want to do a couple of drives make sure you book one of their packages which includes the activities.

 

They only had one vehicle, which serves as a taxi between the main gate and the camp. Ferrying guests in and out for their airport stopover and departures. Talking to the guide Andrew over the day and bit I was there this was the norm and my stay was an anomaly. He was basically an overqualified cabbie with guiding experience gained from other Porini camps (Amboseli and Ol Pejeta). It sounded like his usual working day was pretty stressful picking people up and dropping them off at all hours of the day, a waste of good guiding talent. I’m glad my stay changed his daily grind!

 

The camp is advertised as a only minutes from Jomo Kenyatta and Wilson Airports. It is convenient for Wilson no doubt. But once you add on the paperwork at the gate and the stop/start for wildlife the transfer may take a little time. So if you are in no hurry to get your head down it’s fine. I will add a little bit more detail on my departure from the camp to the park gate at the end of this report as it was pretty special. The drive from the main gate to Jomo was via a Game Watchers mini bus and was during the Nairobi rush hour. It was white knuckle all the way. Traffic was appalling and I was worried about making my flight. I would certainly stay here again if I was flying from Wilson or transferring to somewhere else by road the next day but not to Jomo at peak time. I’ve actually booked the Emakoko for next year’s last day/night in Nairobi as I think it’s better logistically for Jomo (and I’ve never stayed there and the reputation is good).

 

Drive 11 - Monday 16th March Morning

 

It was still dark when I got my early morning call. Tea, biscuits and enough warm water to wash with were left at the front of my tent.

 

Fully restored and with the light just beginning to show through the trees I left the tent and made my way up to the main camp where Andrew was waiting with the Vehicle and we left straight away.

 

We were just out of camp at the top of the hill and on one of the smaller roads when we spotted a white faced owl struggling with its quarry, a dove. the dove was obviously too heavy for the owl and it was dragging it along the verge of the road trying to pick it up and fly off. Our sudden presence frightened it off which I felt bad about. We watched it hop from tree to tree and by the time we had reached the main junction I could see it had returned to the dead dove. I was glad we hadn’t ruined it’s breakfast.

 

Sunrise was still a little way off and the sky was full of foreboding clouds.

 

It was very quiet not another vehicle in the park at this time of day. Andrew spotted some spore on the road and we circled around until he spotted and pointed out the young lion in the grass.

 

We drove up another track to get a closer look.

 

Now the sun was starting to rise and the light was perfect

 

We found a nice group of giraffes and buffalo and I took advantage of the photogenic light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew spotted a male lion lying in the distance and tried to point it out to me. I am pretty useless at finding things that other people point out and he had to drive some distance around the other side of the lion before I could actually make it out. By the time I’d actually spotted it, it was too late and the lion was on it’s way

 

 

There was still little to no traffic in the park as the morning progressed. Monday morning, low season and being in the park before the sun comes up are a great recipe for a game drive in this park. Along one of the main roads we found a lone Black Rhino. We stopped and watched him browse for 10 maybe 15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Then we moved on and found our second group of Giraffe for the day.

 

 

I was hoping to get a comical picture here with the smaller giraffe in the background emerging from the other side of the bush making the grazing giraffe look like it’s head was going all the way through the bush. But he changed direction headed off the wrong way.

 

 

 

 

We did get up close to the grazing giraffe though.

 

 

Next we came across a harem of impala, the buck was defending his ladies for a small group of marauding young males. This involved a lot of snorting and running around. We say one challenge but no rutt took place.

 

 

The park also has a healthy population of Ostrich

 

 

 

and eland. Here’s a lone one, I wish I’d managed to get a shot of the herd on the 1st day

 

 

as well as plains game

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of newborn giraffe and zebra in the park

 

 

This one was about 2 weeks old

 

 

 

and some older residents

 

 

sizable Impala herd

 

and some young Zebra

 

 

Morning drive over and I didn’t get the rhino / giraffe with city scape in the background shot I had hoped for. It was very overcast and the game just wasn’t in the right place at the right time. We headed back to camp and finally passed a few day trippers on their way into the park.

 

After a spot of breakfast we headed out to Karen to visit the giraffe centre

 

 

 

It’s a bit of a disappointment. A small round visitors centre houses all the giraffe information you could need and a paddock is home to a handful of tame endangered Rothschild giraffes that you can hand feed if you like. The centre also has a good coffee shop and gift shop. I thought it was overpriced for $10 (tourist rate) entrance fee and I would have just been happier putting the $10 in a collection box for the giraffe’s conservation fund. It is doing a good job in highlighting the plight of the Rothschild giraffe, there are now something like 500 left in the world.

 

We returned to camp and I got myself packed up ready for the evening departure. I was relaxing on the porch when I heard an almighty thud. A troup of monkeys were descending onto the roof of my enk and running around. I sat quietly on the porch and watched them emerge and run through the forest. I’d packed my camera gear up by now and only managed to snap a few poor quality pictures with my P&.S.

 

 

 

At six I headed up to the lounge for tea and biscuits prior to my departure at 6:45pm. I was originally offered dinner but asked them not to bother as I was still stuffed from lunch. We left for a mini game drive towards the main gate.

 

We were trundling along quite happily in the half light when Andrew suddenly put his foot down and shouted rhino. I looked round behind me and uttered a few expletives as a black rhino came charging out of the bush and slowly drew to a halt as we dashed along the road. I won’t forget those flaring snorting nostrils in a hurry. Andrew stopped the vehicle as we watched the rhino settle back down and go back to the trees for it’s evening meal.

 

As we drove past a large plain on the way to the gate we saw a couple of old hyena cross the road and a the silhouettes of a couple of black rhino as they moved across the plain together.

 

I reached the gate at 7:20 and it took another hour and 20 minutes to reach Jomo Kenyatta airport.

 

Another safari over. The next one starts in a weeks time!

[Marks]

Lovely NNP pictures; without exception they are clear, crisp, and in excellent light.

Also appreciate the extra details on the lodging; glad you got the game drive costs worked out, too.

[SafariChick]

Have really enjoyed this report - thanks a lot for writing it!

[rouxeny]

Thank you for writing that.

 

I really enjoyed reading it.