Horns, Spots and Stripes - Happy Days in Lewa&Ol Pejeta Dec 2018

[TonyQ]

Beautiful leopard photos!

[janzin]

fabulous leopard! How funny was that video, what was she doing? Cats will be cats...

[Amylovescritters]

Wow. Gorgeous leopard shots of a quite perfect specimen.

[Kitsafari]

We went in search of a spot for our breakfast but stopped for a gorgeous rhino mum and her calf. the mum had a beautiful horn, genes of which I hope will pass down to her next generation. the long grasses hid the her young one.

 

the Lewa wildlife conservancy used to be a privately-owned cattle ranch (owned by the Craig/Douglas family, to which Sophie is related to) but was turned into a conservancy on a community-based approach in the mid 1990s. that inclusive approach has resulted in a partnership with the various communities living around the conservancy, resulting in the formation of Northern Rangelands Trust. I will elaborate on this a little more later.

The 62,000-acre Lewa conservancy opened its borders with the Borana conservancy, creating a 93,000-acre contigous land for the rhinos to roam. A corridor links this region with the Samburu/Meru areas. The Lewa conservancy is regarded as the first private sanctuary for the rhinos, which have flourished here. the population has grown from 15 to around 170. 

This explained why we had many sightings of the rhinos - both eastern black rhinos and white rhinos. and what gladdened us was the many healthy calves and young rhinos we saw during our stay. 

 

 

Further on, a lone male rhino was spotted moving along the plains, together with a couple of giraffes, an ostrich and a grevy's zebra. at one point, the zebra stopped to look at the rhino and vice versa, but having realised that each one was only there to munch their meals and not spoiling a fight, they crossed paths peacefully. 

 

 

 

a little further on, a herd of elephants was crossing the hillside, probably making their way to a waterhole somewhere among the rolling green hills. 

 

 

we stopped under a huge euphorbia candelabrum for breakfast. as we sat to enjoy our muesli, yoghut, fruit and eggs, the lone male rhino was still roaming on the plains in front of us,  more elephants were on the hillside joined by a herd of elands and a handful of cape buffaloes, and the drongo and shrike were swooping for insects while a raptor glided past us in the skies.

 

Did I tell you how much I love breakfast in the bush? 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

After we packed up breakfast, we went to spend some quality time with the elephants. We had many splendid moments with the elephants and there were so many of the breeding groups, all with young ones ranging from a few months to a few years. After so many years of habituation and non-persecution, the elephants were as calm as the rhinos were. 

 

they slowly grazed and munched towards us, when they suddenly noticed the humans in them. as they went behind the vehicle, they suddenly panicked and the entire herd went running towards the hills. We were baffled as to what spooked them, but I did wonder if my camera clicks while I was filming had frightened them.

 

 

 

 

oops, bush loo. 

 

baby testing her strength against a branch

 

 

such beautiful tusks on a magnificent elephant

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Kitsafari

 

I started looking at your latest post from the bottom.

 

The elephant images were delightful, especially the young one with its trunk wrapped around a dead branch.

 

Then...the lone rhino!

 

What a magnificent animal!

 

I'm so glad that you saw it. Thank you for posting it here.

 

Tom K.

[Kitsafari]

We winded our way through the hills, stopping for a few minutes to watch the majestic elands. I've often found that the elands I saw in Kenya - for eg in Nairobi National Park, Mara and now in Lewa - are hardly shy animals that run the instant they hear the safari vehicle. and boy could they run when we saw them kicking up a dust storm and running away from us in Gonarezhou and Tswalu. I suppose the elands in Kenya are more exposed to higher vehicular and human traffic than parks like Gonarezhou and Tswalu which get far less vehicles. 

 

and of course, we made the usual birdie stops too. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

at the top of the hill, we paused to admire a couple of adult giraffes and their young ones. But they were staring hard down the hill into the valley.

As you all well know, if the grazers and browsers stop and stare into one direction, we humans should also stop and stare into the same direction. but it was down in the valley. Squack and Joseph scanned the horizons and as far down as they could see down the hill but saw nothing. 

all of a sudden the giraffes fled for their lives. the two young ones ran in opposite directions, but the two adults ran along one of the young to our left. one of the adults realised it was not her young and she turned away, peeling towards her fleeing young on our right. 

 

 

 

Now, all I could think was - it must be lions that made them fled with terror. Of course we had to roll down the hill to explore and examine. after a few minutes of searching, Joseph found the culprit resting under a bush. 

 

 

There are only about a dozen cheetahs in Lewa, so we were hugely privileged to see one on our first day!

This is a known female cheetah. I can't quite remember her background much - she had a litter but soon after she hurt herself very badly. i can't recall if it was a fight with her kind or with another predator, but she couldnt care for the litter and they all died. She did recover, but a very serious injury remains and she survived with a limp, I believe. 

no matter. her resilience is astounding. and she is still one gorgeous cheetah. she rested a bit before she yawned a couple of times - signs of her getting restless - stretched on a doggie-yoga pose and then moved on. in a clear open plain,  it would be difficult to hunt since the prey would have a view of her. 

 

I just adore the amber eyes of the cheetah, the perfect symmetry of its face, and the delicate roundness of its face.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

 

Before we headed back to the lodge for lunch, we ticked off a couple of northern species which we wanted to see - Jackson's hartebeest and a closer look at the beisa oryx. 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon drive saw us scouting along a valley for lesser kudus. It was a lifer mammal for me and from photos I've seen, they are rather fascinating antelopes.  their name naturally refers to a similar look to the greater kudus, which are my second favourite antelope, after sables. the most obvious reason is the size. Greater kudus are large herbivores and the fully grown adult is majestic with its spiral horns towering above its head. There are other subtle physical differences - one of which is that lesser kudus spot white bands across their necks. 

Lesser kudus do occur in Lewa but very far and few in between. I"ll just be upfront and say I was disappointed as we couldn't find the antelope despite Squack and Joseph exploring all the valleys and hillsides. 

we did however find a very shy hyena mum with an equally shy cub. 

 

 

 we then left as the mum was too nervous to let the young suckle and we didn't want to keep the hungry cub from his meal. 

 

a couple of rhinos ignored us as we travelled by, leavingthem in peace and quiet.

 

 

as the sun dipped lower among the clouds, the light started to fade fast. That was when we (we as in Squack and Joseph of course) spied an antelope that Herman and I so wanted to see - one with a long neck and narrow face and impossibly big ears - the gerenuk. the solo gerenuk was standing between two bushes, feeding on them. He was nervous as he decided to move away after looking at us several minutes. but further on, we came onto a group of them - about six to eight of them scattered around and behind bushes. sadly though none of them did the leg stance for us as the juicy leaves were still at a comfortable height for them without standing.

This would be the first and last time we would see the gerenuks 

 

[Kitsafari]

some of the other birds we saw on the first day: 

 

[Tom Kellie]

 

 

 

~ @Kitsafari

 

What's not to love?

 

Or even adore?

 

The two cheetah portraits above...

 

Thank you. Photos guaranteed to turn a grey day sunny.

 

Tom K.

[amybatt]

Just getting caught up with you  now on this one @Kitsafari.  You've had some great sightings.  Love that leopard, and yes, I was struck too when I saw one again how small they are, especially the females.  But that cheetah, man, if ever a cat was looking right into your soul, it's that one head-shot!  Wow.  Some very very nice rhino sightings too.  Lewa has delivered so far!

[CDL111]

@Kitsafari, the success rate of breeding rhino from 15 to 170 is outstanding, do you know if there is much poaching there! Not an expert on birds and as Herman doesn’t name them, l am having to look them up, but being retired helps pass the time of day.

[optig]

@Kitsafari As you know I am sad to hear about your dog, Rosy, passing away.That said I just loved your trip report and I am happy to hear that you were very much impressed with Squack Evan's  guiding skills.Your photos are just too awesome and needless to say I'm delighted to see Herman's as well.I love all your photos but my favorites have to be the red fronted parrots.I have never been to Lewa House before but I have visited Kicheche Laikipia camp 8 years ago where I met @Zarek Cockar for the first time.The wildlife scenery birdlife tents food and guiding were all wonderful,however I felt the concrete cattle troughs detracted from the wilderness appeal. I also didn't particularly like the fact that it was located near Adnan Kashoggi's house. The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary doesn't belong there it should be in Nairobi.

[LarsS]

On 1/30/2019 at 7:59 AM, Kitsafari said:

 

Very impressive TR. Enjoying your pics, especially the leopard and cheetah pics. But this one of the rhino impressed me the most. I was so baffled that I didn't even read your comment but zoomed in on the picture to see the horns of this rhino. At first I thought it was an optical illusion and that it was a tree/branch behind it. Unbelievable those horns!

[KI-NRT]

@Kitsafari So sorry to about the loss of your dog. Hopefully he's in good hands, playing with others (including my beloved Akita, Ryu.)

 

The towel incident hit home for us! Mrs. KI-NRT has a similar condition, and also has GERD. Therefore, she needs TWO large towels and TWO medium towels, and then folds them in a specific way to alleviate the severe discomfort when trying to sleep.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your trip. We are thinking about Northern Kenya (including Sarara Camp) next year, so I'm following your report with keen interest.

[Kitsafari]

@CDL111 I was rushing to put up the instalments before I headed out for a 2-week safari trip, and I didn't have the time to put up the names which was really bad on my part! I'm not sure if you managed to get the names but here they are: Scarlet-chested sunbird,  white-browed sparrow weaver, ring-necked dove, greater blue-earred starling, Pangani longclaw, Isabelline shrike, D'Arnaud's barbet, Black crake. 

 

Re: poaching in Lewa. we were told there's been no poaching, and lewa wildlife conservancy's website supports that with that no poaching has occurred in the last five years. But it does acknowledge that the northern section is a  hotspot for human-wildlife conflicts. The areas lying north of its borders is rife with occassional cattle rustling, road banditry and inter-tribal conflicts which give rise to unstable situations. 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Sorry for the two-week absence, but it's time to continue my journey before I take another break of a week for a working trip!

Since I got back from another safari (to Botswana), my mind has gotten muddled up with events of the Kenya trip with the latest one but hopefully, the cobwebs will clear from my foggy brain. 

 

Day 2: 

A lovely sunrise greeted us the next morning as we walked to the car porch. I had heard lions roaring last night, and they seemed pretty close at one point. Sure enough, Joseph found the tracks right in the car park. for all I know, the big cats could have walked quietly by our room during the night. how thrilling that would have been if I had got up and peeked out of the window. But not having the eyes of the cats, I would have seen nothing but darkness in the black night! But the roars raised my expectations to see the tawny cat. I didn't  know how tough that would be. 

A layer of mist hung over the horizon as we set out. birds were, as always, singing for the sun to rise and warm up their tiny bodies. The road beckoned to us, holding promises of another wonderful day ahead.  

 

 

A white-backed vulture was preening in anticipation of long flights, while a black chested snake eagle scanned the horizon and a tawny eagle perched on a acacia tree. Lewa and Ol Pejeta appear to be very popular hunting grounds for the black chested snake eagles as we saw so many of them. Two diks diks tried to melt into the grass without being seen, and we obliged after taking a couple of "dik dik hiding" shots. 

 

 

 

And then, of course, the rhinos started to appear. We had at least a dozen sightings of rhinos in Lewa in our four-night stay, and at some sightings the herd numbered more than four in the same sighting. that seemed to put to rest the theory that rhinos, especially black rhinos, tend to be solitary. Lewa is one of the few conservancies that boast a growing number of rhinos (Solio is a breeding conservancy while Ol Pejeta also houses a great number of rhinos). The rhino story in Lewa is a positive and encouraging one. It started in 1983 as a private sanctuary and breeding area for rhinos with only an initial 15 rhinos. there are around 170 of them now. 

A mother and a young white rhino were initially wary of us as we came to a halt a short distance from them. Mum with her beautiful horn kept behind the bushes but the calf was less nervous, and came forward to feed, treating us like we were a huge grey boulder that happened to roll in front of them. Both looked healthy and in good shape. 

I was amazed by how much trust and confidence in us that calf had in coming forward to feed. it was both humbling and reassuring that these animals, so heavily damaged by men elsewhere, had such faith in us humans. I suppose that while humans have wreaked havoc and destruction to wildlife and nature, humans have also repaired and rescued wildlife and nature. I suppose such a balance bears hope and optimism for our future. 

 

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Kitsafari

 

The direct face-to-lens image above gave me a start when it appeared on my computer screen.

 

The detail shown in that perspective is very much “you are there”.

 

Thank you for picking up on your Kenya safari when Botswana is freshly in your thoughts.

 

Tom K.

[Kitsafari]

A pretty black-winged kite - another common small raptor in the central Kenyan lands - watched us as we trundled by in our vehicle as we loped our way uphill. looking down in a valley, we were astonished by the number of giraffes dotted among the greenery and small trees. we stopped by a rocky platform and got out to get a good look around, hopefully to see some lesser kudu (which we didn't). a few rock hyraxes watched us  curiously as we stood on the rocky lookout and took to binos and cameras.

 

it was quite a lovely place in the valley, watching the tall dangly reticulated giraffes gracefully work their way through the trees. 

Reticulated giraffes are designated as an endangered species. With only 11,000 individuals left in the wild, the permanent existence of sanctuaries and conservancies such as Lewa and Ol Pejeta are critical to this northern species. IUCN listed a number of organisations and efforts now underway to ensure that the species does not die out; these include close partnership between the Northern Rangelands Trust with local communities to collect data on the giraffes; the Hirola conservation programme which monitors the species in eastern Kenya, the Twiga Walinzi team - a collaboration among San Diego Zoo Global, Kenya Wildlife Service, NRT, Loisaba Conservancy, Lewa Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation - that works in Loisaba and Namunyak wildlife conservancies to monitor giraffe population and interactions with humans. 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

The northern red billed hornbills chirruped at us as we continued on our way. A steppe eagle took to its wings, while an immature African hawk eagle was more intent on watching out for its parents than us. Lovely dusky turtle doves cooed at each other Squack turned to us to say young male lions had been seen. Yes! a good sign for us, surely, after all that roaring in the night? 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

It was a long way to the young lions. these were three male lions, about three years old and were part of a pride of females which had a litter of six cubs. They were old enough to be kicked out of the pride and become independent. But when we arrived, the three were well hidden in the bushes. more surprisingly, they were very wary of the vehicles. one vehicle was there when we arrived but it soon left. when Joseph positioned our car, Squack read the situation and told us not to move at all, not make a sound and to just be still. the lions were very nervous, and Squack didn't want to add further stress on the cats. you could see the wariness all written on the cats' faces whenever they looked up. after a short while, it was clear they did not want to move when we were there, so Squack made the call to move on. we agreed, seeing how we didn't want to stress them further. It was disappointing but we did the right thing. 

 

Edited February 16, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Hads]

Stunning shots of the Steppe Eagle.Great TR too thanks @Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@Tom Kellie @Hads thank you for the kind comments.

[lmonmm]

Truly appreciate your response with the lions....had a few experiences over the years where it requires common sense to not intrude/distress the animals...and clearly, you showed that. I've not always seen that. Great TR and look forward to more