Of Old Friends and New: Kenya Revisited - February 2016

[Caracal]

Many thanks for the clarification @@Safaridude and belated thanks for that lovely pair of klipspringers.

 

A wonderful series of hartebeest photos in that link highlighting the variations.

[Safaridude]

Lake Jipe, Tsavo West National Park – A Tale of Two Circuits (Continued)

 

This is my third visit to the greater Jipe area of Tsavo West. I have waxed poetic about this place before, because it just may be the largest, intact chunk of savanna left in “East Rift Valley Maasailand”. With so much degradation and fragmentation occurring in this biome, that such a pristine savanna remains relatively unknown is extraordinary. From the main road leading from the Maktau Gate to the lake, the bush-dotted grassland on either side seems infinite. It’s like the parting of the Red Sea as Coke’s hartebeests and Grant’s gazelles, at first curiously studying the oncoming us, trot away to either side of the vehicle. Zebras graze, look up, trot away some, stop, look up, trot away some more, stop, repeat. These animals aren’t used to visitors. This place remains wild.

 

A visit to the lakeshores the first afternoon finds big concentrations of great cormorants and open-billed storks as well as a pod of hippos. Disappointingly, a few tin-roofed buildings have sprung up on the Tanzanian side of the lake since my last visit here in 2012, but they cannot diminish the splendor of the most dazzling sunset over the Pare Mountains of Tanzania.

 

 

Great cormorants and marabou storks on the lake shore

 

The Pare Mountains of Tanzania

 

Sunset over the Pare Mountains

 

A view from camp

 

 

There are only a few game loops that have been developed in the Lake Jipe area. As a practical matter, there are really only two: the “Salaita circuit” to the north and west of the main Maktau-Jipe road and the nameless circuit to the south and east of the main road.

 

Elephants near camp at dawn

 

 

 

An eerily beautiful sunrise

 

 

The Salaita circuit proves exceptionally rewarding. We encounter several groups of zebra, Coke’s hartebeest and the rare fringe-eared oryx, with one particular oryx herd allowing us a close observation. A lesser kudu bull, out of its elements out on an open plain, bolts away into the thickets at our approach. The Maasai ostrich seems to do well here. And not a sign of another human being or vehicle during our all-morning run at Salaita. The wilderness feel is absolute and complete.

 

 

Fringe-eared oryx

 

 

 

 

 

The other (nameless) circuit is a different story. The vegetation is significantly denser and the game still present in good numbers, but certain parts are overrun with cattle. Big Somali cattle herds (characteristically consisting mainly of white cows, James tells us) and Maasai cattle herds converge onto the artificial dams located in the thickets. The greater Lake Jipe area has received some the best short-rains in memory, yet the pastoralists are bringing their cattle into the middle of the national park to graze and water.

 

And yet, somehow, the game hangs on. A cheetah is seen on this circuit one morning. Somewhat small and pale, this male cheetah zealously scent-marks a tree for several minutes and then climbs it for good measure. A subsequent leisurely watering at a small pool is interrupted by a troop of angry baboons. A big male threateningly displaying his fangs easily chases off the cheetah. This would be the only predator sighting at Lake Jipe.

 

 

Cheetah sequence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fleeing from an approaching baboon

 

 

Shortly after leaving the cheetah, we run into a herd of cattle once again. Are the pastoralists bringing cattle into this circuit because the thickets give them better cover against KWS rangers? Or do they overrun the more open Salaita circuit anyway at other times? Has the grazing outside the park been already depleted despite the excellent recent rains? If so, what precisely is the scale of overstocking? I retire, pondering these questions.

 

On the one hand, I know very well the general plight pastoralists often face. On the other hand, some of these trespassing pastoralists are said to be bringing cattle belonging to “cattle barons”, not to your proverbial poor, struggling people. If so, my sympathy and understanding do not extend to the former. One thing is clear: Kenya needs to figure this thing out. Conservation in Kenya is intricately linked to tourism. Further debasement of national parks and reserves from livestock incursions could translate to fewer tourists, which in turn could lead to further debasement of these protected areas. “Secondary” parks with limited popularity and relatively little management attention such as Tsavo are particularly vulnerable. Since last year’s widespread cattle incursions into many protected areas and private properties, the government of Kenya has made a lot of noise regarding tackling this issue head on. At least in this one corner of Tsavo West, I am not seeing progress – even after excellent rains. So, what will it be? It’s either upward spiral or downward spiral from here.

 

For the rest of our stay at Jipe, we turn a blind eye and focus on the Salaita circuit and the main Maktau-Jipe road. The term, “miles and miles of bloody Africa”, is often used to describe monotonous, uninteresting, not-so-pretty Africa, but this, Jipe, at least viewed from the main road, is miles and miles of bloody stunning Africa. During our drive to the airstrip on our last morning, as if on cue, the most magnificent fringe-eared oryx bull enters the picture, posing in front of the miles and miles of… It’s all worth it. There is still enough time to conserve this in full. Here’s to hoping that we get on with it.

 

 

 

 

Miles and miles of bloody stunning Africa

Edited March 24, 2016 by Safaridude

[Safaridude]

More photos from Lake Jipe...

 

 

Coke's hartebeest

 

Hartlaub's bustard

 

The mess tent at night

 

Elephants watering on the lake

 

A rain shower over the Pare Mountains

 

A cattle egret kill

 

Zebra

 

Squack

 

 

 

 

James

 

A sad goodbye to Liam (and Squack and Mirjam, of course) at the airstrip

Edited March 24, 2016 by Safaridude

[Zim Girl]

@@Safaridude

 

Loved this last set of pictures. I am a sucker for sunsets/sunrises with moody skies and the ones at the beginning of this post are lovely.

[Zim Girl]

...... and followed up with another great set. The Mess Tent at Night - beautiful!!

[amybatt]

The feeling on some of those skies is very dramatic. And I looooove the cheetah shot with the giraffe in the background. Nice perspective on that.

[AKR1]

Lake Jibe seems to be an amazing place. Superb set of images- particularly liked the Pare mountains shot, cheetahs and the elephants both at dawn and in the lake. Cattle in parks, a familiar problem in Kenya, much less so across the border in Tanzania I understand? Did you take a picture of all the animals to illustrate your point on "parting of the Red Sea"?

[TonyQ]

Stunning sunsets, and the Oryx with dark skies behind them is beautiful.

Your cheetah pictures are also outstanding - and the mess tent is very appealing!

[Safaridude]

Lake Jibe seems to be an amazing place. Superb set of images- particularly liked the Pare mountains shot, cheetahs and the elephants both at dawn and in the lake. Cattle in parks, a familiar problem in Kenya, much less so across the border in Tanzania I understand? Did you take a picture of all the animals to illustrate your point on "parting of the Red Sea"?

 

 

@@AKR1

 

Thank you.

 

I did not get a photo of the "parting of the Red Sea", as the vehicle was moving. A GoPro would have done the trick, I think.

[madaboutcheetah]

@@Safaridude - The cheetah photos are really nice and the scenics are spectacular!!!

[Game Warden]

As @@offshorebirder mentioned in post #86 he has opened a fresh discussion topic in the debate section about the entitled The effect of helicopters and other low-flying aircraft on flamingos, here, and thus as previously stated I will be tidying up this topic: therefore I again request that any members wanting to contribute to that discussion copy their comments from here to there by 6pm GMT before I edit/delete them from this thread.

 

Matt

[Safaridude]

Masai Mara – Olare Motorogi Conservancy (Part I)

 

 

 

James’ tip-top Land Cruiser awaits us as we land at the Naboisho airstrip. Flights are, for whatever reason, not going into Olare Motorogi where our Kicheche Bush Camp is located, but this is nothing but a bonus of a long journey through the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, a place I have never seen. Fairly thick Acacia gerardii and whistling thorn patches are interspersed with open plains, and just about all the plains game representative of the Mara region is encountered in a matter of minutes through Naboisho.

 

James is at the wheel and in firm control for the next four days. Of course, he knows all the staff at Kicheche Bush Camp, and he is treated just like a guide employed by the camp.

 

It’s tricky, this safari business… On the one hand, scale (lots of beds and/or a circuit of camps) helps to turn a profit. On the other hand, scale usually dilutes the quality of talent as well as guest experience. So it is particularly satisfying when you discover a thriving small-scale safari operation with exceptional management and staff – one that also has stood the test of time and is “all heart”. Kicheche Bush Camp is such a place (though I can’t speak from experience about Kicheche’s other camps, they all seem to be highly regarded), reminiscent of the old Rekero Camp. The way James sees it, the proof in the pudding is the palpable positive energy radiating from the staff. The other proof is the incredibly high percentage of repeat guests. And hardcore repeat guests they turn out to be… they are all itching to get out pre-dawn as much as I.

 

 

The mess tent at Kicheche Bush Camp

 

"Bada-Bing", the camp Jack Russell belonging to Darren, the manager

 

This was James to me in 2010: “In the Mara, you never know. You always have to be ready.” How true… Within 10 minutes of setting out our first afternoon, we find Amani the cheetah. She has very recently given birth to cubs (though no one has yet seen them), and she may be on a hunt. But it is just after 4pm and still quite warm. Amani doesn’t appear to be hugely motivated at the moment and botches her half-hearted stalk. She is quickly noticed by a group of Thomson’s gazelles, and they alarm-snort and edge closer to her as is typical.

 

Amani

 

 

 

This was James to me in 2014: “Masai Mara… crazy…” How true… Just when Amani appears to be content to laze around, the radio announces the discovery of Imani (Amani’s grown-up daughter) and her cubs. A short drive down the valley from Amani brings us to Imani and her fairly grown-up cubs. Then, things do indeed go crazy. There is commotion up at the top, and Amani is seen chasing something (an impala fawn?) into an acacia thicket. James and I are paralyzed, trying to decide between the two options. We opt to go find Amani up top. Then, a pair of black-backed jackals appears out of nowhere, and they themselves begin to chase an impala fawn. A couple of impala rams try to bully the jackals. Zebras, topis and Coke’s hartebeests form a phalanx and set off alarm calls at the jackals. Then, a lioness wakes up from her nap and begins to walk toward the phalanx of the ungulates. The alarm calls intensify… this ain’t no dainty jackal playing around… this lioness is the real deal. Yup. Masai Mara… crazy…

 

Imani and her cubs

 

 

 

 

 

Zebras on alert

 

A phalanx of topi beginning to form

 

The reason

 

 

 

Topi being topi

 

Giraffe browsing whistling thorn

 

Tawny eagle

 

A sunset/dusk series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Safaridude

[TonyQ]

I am looking forward to seeing Kicheche Bush and OMC through your eyes (and lens)!

We thought it was an excellent camp (and Kicheche Laikipia).

[Safaridude]

Masai Mara – Olare Motorogi Conservancy (Part II)

 

What heats up sometimes must cool, however. The Mara region received near record rains in December and January, resulting in an ocean of chest-high red oat grass. Historically, prior to the arrival of the domestic cattle, the Cape buffalo, occurring in unimaginable numbers, would have mowed down the grass, providing a mosaic of ideal grazing conditions for other herbivores that depend on shorter grass. In the year 2016, cattle have largely supplanted the buffalo in that role, and ideal pastures for most ungulates in the greater Mara region right now exist in parts of the conservancies (outside the Masai Mara National Reserve) where cattle have been allowed to graze. Even larger patches of ideal grazing are, ironically at the moment, in areas not designated for wildlife use, even further away from the conservancies. The game is spread out in the greater-Mara region like no other time James can remember, and things go a bit quiet – by Mara standards, that is.

 

One particular patch of shorter grass in Olare Motorogi, where cattle have been allowed to legally graze, is found at the top of a plateau. Thomson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, impala, topi, Coke’s hartebeest, wildebeest, eland, Maasai giraffe and warthog all co-mingle. The eland is of particular interest, as, while the animal is generally catholic in diet, I have found that it tends to focus on a couple of food sources at any given time. Right now the eland is singularly focused on the weedy herb, Sodom apple (Solanum incanum). A patch of Sodom apple would always translate to an eland herd nearby; and we would arrive at a Sodom apple patch we had visited earlier to find all of the herbs gone and no sign of eland except for the droppings.

 

Grant's gazelle of the "robertsi" race

 

Eland

 

 

Near the center of Olare Motorogi, an elephant has died of natural causes (the cause of death confirmed by the conservancy rangers; the tusks taken in custody), providing a huge bonus meal for the local lion pride. We would visit this gruesome, malodorous scene three times, each time encountering drooling, panting, miserably sated lions that could hardly move. I know that feeling… after 2 pints of ice cream… I wonder if those lions also hate themselves after such a food orgy.

 

Lion on elephant carcass

 

 

 

 

 

 

A camp vehicle has spotted a dead Thomson’s gazelle slung up a tree. It’s surely the work of a leopard. This one turns out to be a shy, unknown male. Though well hidden in a korongo, the outline of his body suggests he is huge. James and I sit quietly in our vehicle, some distance away from the cached gazelle, for two hours to see if the leopard would come out from the korongo to feed. No such luck and it’s time for dinner. The next morning, the huge male leopard obliges us, strolling casually through the tall grassland to a nearby hill.

 

 

Big male leopard

 

 

 

 

 

Did I say things went quiet after the first afternoon’s multiple cheetah sightings? Geez, I didn’t really mean that. A handsome ginger-maned lion (suitably named, “Handsome”) makes a long stroll from one corner of Olare Motorogi into the Reserve. A pair of blacked-backed jackals shoo off vultures in order to feed on a dead topi. A black-chested snake eagle, sitting atop a tree, feeds on a boomslang kill. And Amani is seen again, drinking at a pool and then sauntering off to a nearby hill where James suspects she is hiding her newborns.

 

 

The "Handsome" sequence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topi carcass sequence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A black-chested snake eagle with a boomslang kill

 

Amani again

 

 

 

My last morning with James is always tough (gosh, I love that guy…). It’s extra-tough this morning, because, on the way back to the Naboisho airstrip, I am actually seeing fences I had heard so much about. These livestock and agricultural fences are blocking the traditional migratory paths of the Loita wildebeest. (The Loita wildebeest migration is a lesser-known wildebeest migration that occurs in the Mara region: http://safaritalk.net/topic/12723-a-chat-with-james-sengeny-maasai-safari-guide/ (about halfway down the page)). We have seen many more wildebeests (all of them of the Loita variety this time of year) on this trip than in previous times, and this is largely because they can no longer travel to their ancestral calving grounds in Loita. These Loita wildebeests will at some point become completely resident in the Mara and some of the bordering conservancies. They will probably survive in some form, but one thing is for certain: their numbers will be vastly reduced. What is this Loita wildebeest (though the same subspecies as the Serengeti/Mara wildebeest, bigger and darker), which never co-mingle with the Serengeti/Mara wildebeest, worth? Or, as Mike Norton-Griffiths would say, How Many Wildebeest do You Need? And, specifically of what kind? I have my own answers, but barring some seismic event, the fate of the Loita wildebeests will be settled in the short-run by the value of wildlife-based land use versus the value of agriculture and livestock in the Loita area.

 

 

A Loita wildebeest bull (bigger and darker, with more of a bluish rather than reddish tinge)

 

Fences on the outskirts of Naboisho

 

What does the future hold for the Loita wildebeest?

 

 

Finally, at the Naboisho airstrip, a long two-handed handshake and a “bro-hug” with James… and it’s back to reality.

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by Safaridude

[Safaridude]

More photos from Masai Mara...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bettel]

When I was leaving Naboisho we met Asilia camps owner and he was asking Jimmy for Porini camps owner contact information. I think they want to try to work with communities to bring at least some of those fences down. I hope they will be successful.

 

Your photos are so beautiful that instead of giving some relief from Africa nostalgia, they make things worse

[AKR1]

The landscape shots (especially the very first one) in OMC- Part I and the shot of James in the vehicle at dusk, the Buffalo close up in Part II and the Zebras taken from some elevation at the end, are my favorites.

Edited March 25, 2016 by AKR1

[BieneMaja]

Your photos are amazing. I especially like the first one of the zebras, the "James in the morning" photo, the scenery ones and the last one of the three elephants in front of that. I keep checking this trip report for new installments regularly, you have me completely hooked!

[madaboutcheetah]

@@Safaridude - I guess flying into Naboisho is a nicer experience compared to the rugby scrum whilst flying into the Ol Kiombo airstrip - that's the one i've flown into whilst visiting the OMC on prior trips!!!

 

Lovely segment from the Mara. So, the fences are meant to keep their agricultural lands clear?

[elefromoz]

@@Safaridude, great fun photo of the piddling Eland, bald patch on his rump from tail flicking, and his face rug, looks like his toupee slipped. Beautiful Fringe Eared Oryx, thanks for the info on their status. I could be wrong but Im sure thats what we saw small herds of, briefly as they were usually bolting in a cloud of dust, in Mkomazi?

[Tom Kellie]

@@Safaridude - I guess flying into Naboisho is a nicer experience compared to the rugby scrum whilst flying into the Ol Kiombo airstrip - that's the one i've flown into whilst visiting the OMC on prior trips!!!

 

~ @@madaboutcheetah

 

I laughed out loud when I read your right-on-the-money description of Ol Kiombo Airstrip.

Very, very humorous...and apt!

Tom K.

[Safaridude]

@@madaboutcheetah

 

The fences are for agricultural and livestock purposes.

[Safaridude]

@@bettel

 

Thank you. I hope they are successful too.

[Safaridude]

@@Safaridude, great fun photo of the piddling Eland, bald patch on his rump from tail flicking, and his face rug, looks like his toupee slipped. Beautiful Fringe Eared Oryx, thanks for the info on their status. I could be wrong but Im sure thats what we saw small herds of, briefly as they were usually bolting in a cloud of dust, in Mkomazi?

 

 

@@elefromoz

 

You are most likely right. The population in Mkomazi is Tanzania's largest. Mkomazi is contiguous with Tsavo West in Kenya.

[Safaridude]

Nairobi National Park/The Emakoko

 

 

Photos from my last afternoon (a day-room at The Emakoko and an afternoon game drive in Nairobi National Park)...

 

 

Anton and Emma, the owners of The Emakoko

 

Believe it or not, Nairobi National Park is one of the best places in Africa to see mountain reedbuck

 

Coke's hartebeest

 

Black rhino

 

That's the end of the trip report!

Edited March 26, 2016 by Safaridude