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Meru, Samburu, Lake Nakuru, Kenya — October, 2014


Tom Kellie

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Thank you so much Tom for this amazing trip report ! We wonder how you can take so many photos on the road .......Photos, writings everything is wonderful.

You show us the Kenya which we love. .......And these colobus are magnificent.

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@@Tom Kellie I just love your photos of colobus monkeys, I certainly have seen them before,but not in quite a while. Colobus monkeys aren't only beautiful they have so much character.

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What does Colobus life entail,


With perpetual ups and downs?


Have they their own share of travail,


With bad days resulting in frowns?




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Sylvan Dwellers



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Adorable Cousin



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To Be So Nimble



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Look Downward, Angel



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Perfect Perch


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Colobus often scurrying,


Dashing as swiftly as they can.


Why are they always hurrying?


Do you suppose they have a plan?




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Nibbling



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Stands to Reason



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Juvenile Colobus



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Rapidly Scurrying



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Finely Brushed


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I keep my distance as I should,


For I'm just a visitor here.


From what little I've understood,


One unfamiliar may cause fear.




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Hands



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Don't Try This at Home



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Buddies



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Am I Next?



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Fruit Snacks



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Any More?


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Arboreal dwellers at heart,


Colobus are at home in trees.


They move, one hears them with a start,


High above, doing as they please.




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Long-tailed Panda



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Wedged-in



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Colobus guereza in Repose



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Physiognomy



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Inscrutable



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Colobus Patriarch


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This is great @@Tom Kellie - I stayed a couple of nights in Doha in August on my way to Europe so those Hamad Airport scenes look familiar (I never thought to take any photos).

 

I always prefer to take road transfers where feasible and love seeing African street scenes giving impressions of the local way of life.

 

Interesting to note in #28 that Tracar Funeral Services is immediately followed by the aptly named (WA Phillip) Life is too short - Nothing Lasts Forever Duka.!

 

Are the colobus seriously threatened there by deforestation and human encroachment?

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@@Tom Kellie Loving this report. It's so interesting to see the photos of the countryside.

 

I particularly like the photo of the Colobus in a Callistemon Tree, beautiful among the red and green.

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Black and white in such sharp contrast,


Colobus stand out from plant green,


A brief flash of color, soon past,


A feature of the Trout Tree's scene.




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Colobus guereza Profile



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Impeccably Groomed



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Sharp Fangs Revealed



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Distraction



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Once Seen, Never Forgotten


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Growing up Colobus, how's that?


A lot of cavorting in trees,


Eating enough, but never fat,


Jumping everywhere with such ease.




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Fingers and Toes



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Enter the Colobus



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What's Over There?



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Growing Up Colobus



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Happy Hunting Grounds


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From the distant trees and tall grass,

A small figure cautiously moves.

Wondering what will come to pass,

Our view gradually improves.

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Look Who Appears

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Prudent Scrutiny

 

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Thanks Tom and yes, many reasons to go on safari and the advantage of Meru is the high diversity and yes, it is a long drive but the landscape and people you meet on the drive is fantastic.

 

In the old school when

"going on safari meant “jumping in a Land Rover at Nairobi airport and just driving north”.

John Rendall

https://www.ft.com/content/b453ce14-de48-11e2-9b47-00144feab7de

 

Unfortunately few visitors enjoy this wilderness experience. Offbeat Meru has shut down and we are about to.

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@@nhanq I'm sorry to hear that you're shutting down. As you know it's so unfortunate that so many tourists are simply scared away by security concerns. Frankly after living in Nairobi for 4 years I feel far safer here than I do in my native Chicago. Furthermore, the risk of being the victim due to a terrorist attack has fallen considerably due to heightened security in all major shopping areas,and tourist areas.

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So sad companies are shutting down. We are counting the weeks until our first visit to Kenya. Pen

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What a glorious sight to see,


The Sykes’ monkeys all coming out,


Avoiding a calamity,


By constantly looking about.




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Emerging



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Watching Out for One Another



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Cercopithecus albogularis Trio



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A Slow Amble



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Here They Come


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I'm constantly urging friends and family members to visit or return to Africa. I'm also constantly posting on TripAdvisor,and here urging people that visiting Africa

isn't dangerous. I'm constantly disappointed that no matter how hard I try, it doesn't seem to do much good. As we know there's nothing that can benefit Africa's

wildlife,and employment more than going on safari. I knew long before I went on safari nine years ago that for 99 and half percent of all the people that I had ever met

the best trip that they had ever had was their safari to Africa. As I frequently tell myself I can remember how bored and jaded I felt about traveling,nothing that I did or saw excited '

me anymore,that of course completely changed when I went on went on my first safari which was to South Africa nine years ago. I can remember worrying that I wouldn't enjoy it and that I'd find boring; instead the opposite occurred.

 

I'm now increasingly able to emerge from my comfort zone,and visit places that are off the beaten track. As I've told many people Nairobi is actually far less dangerous in terms of violent crime which is wha all of us fear most than Chicago,Detroit,Memphis or St. Louis. Actually as far as tourist are concerned South Africa is actually quite safe.

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@@nhanq I'm sorry to hear that you're shutting down. As you know it's so unfortunate that so many tourists are simply scared away by security concerns. Frankly after living in Nairobi for 4 years I feel far safer here than I do in my native Chicago. Furthermore, the risk of being the victim due to a terrorist attack has fallen considerably due to heightened security in all major shopping areas,and tourist areas.

It is not confirmed and we will evaluate after the Christmas season.

 

Yes, even if the Meru is safer now few tourists are aware of it and it needs a promotion boost.

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It's tough to pass a barbed-wire strand,


When monkey fingers are so small.


The slightest error would cut their hand,


Hurting more than a careless fall.




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Paused on a Stone



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Holding a Stalk



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Uncertainty



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Barbed-wire Barrier



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There Must Be Away


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One Sykes’ Monkey comes rather near,


Sitting, delicately eating,


It surprises, showing no fear.


Such a memorable meeting!




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Cercopithecus albogularis



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Sykes’ Monkey



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The Better to See With



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Gaping


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As we take time to look around,

There are Sykes’ monkeys here and there.

Perched on branches and on the ground,

They appear to be everywhere.

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Lichen-covered Tree Limb

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At Home in Foliage

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Large Adult Male Cercopithecus albogularis

 

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@tomkellie I just love them.I have to admit that they are one species that I wasn't overly familiar with.

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Let it never be said again,

That Sykes’ monkeys can't really fly.

You must be ready to watch when,

They leap off branches to soar high.

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Caught in the Act

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Sykes’ Monkey in Flight

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No Wings, No Trapeze, No Net

 

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I just love your poetry. I never ceased to be astonished by trip reports.

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The Trout Tree is monkeys and more,


The landscaping is very nice.


If you didn't visit before,


A couple of hours will suffice.




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Brugmansia in Naro Moru



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Multi-hued Green Foliage



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Botanical Inventiveness



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What Doesn't Belong?



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Water Channel



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Hen with Chicks



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Red Mesh Patterned Pot



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Ceramic Boot Planter


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