A Kenyan Adventure - November 2021 | Visiting the last two Northern White Rhinos

[JCC]

On 12/16/2021 at 9:27 PM, Toxic said:

DAY 2 -  Lake Nakuru National Park and Lake Elmenteita

 

It was an early breakfast before we headed out. Enjoyed watching these birds, which I think are village weavers, while eating my toast.  I think in my next day report one of these (or perhaps it is another bird) stole butter from me with photo evidence 

 

 

 

The first stop would be Lake Elmenteita. It was my first trip to Kenya and of course most itineraries won't tell you, as MMMim has pointed out above, that most of the bird life has dispersed, so we headed there with lots of enthusiasm from me!

 

Our stop here was not very long as there wasn't too much activity. Here are a few pictures captured. It was very serene and tranquil though I was approached by someone who was quite persistent in trying to sell me flamingo feathers I didn't want. 

 

If I am correct some of the birdlife captured are the flamingoes, the yellow-billed stork, the spoonbill and an ibis and the Egyptian geese who were very loud. I'm confident in my ability to only name the flamingoes and the geese 

 

 

 

 

We continued our journey on to Nakuru National Park. Journey was uneventful and took approximately 2 hours from my departure point; it was fun watching baboons sitting at the side of the road begging for treats, zebra, camels, donkeys and horses. It was also my first experience of the matatus - they were bonkers!

 

Anyway, we get to the park, buy our entry ticket and off we go. Immediately the observation is that it is very dry, much like Naivasha. It was also a very hot day so wildlife spotting could prove tricky, though things started well.

 

Not 10 minutes after the entrance, we saw my first rhino of the trip lounging in the shade.

 

 

Followed by some common zebra-

 

 

Some pictures of the lake and how far it has expanded - the furthest tree in the first photo used to be by the road:

 

 

 

Followed by some very dusty Buffalo-

 

 

And a fish eagle and pelicans by/in the lake, and we enjoyed watching this egret stalking bugs and having some lunch.

 

 

 

More zebra and buffalo

 

 

Makalia falls

 

 

For some reason I only took these photos in portrait mode, but they were some very curious colobus monkeys and a kingfisher of some sort (I think)

 

 

A very horny (😉) buffalo and then a terrible picture of some more buffalo but I thought all the birds flying were cool!

 

 

 

Heading out we see our friend again:

 

 

A long day but enjoyable. We didn't see any cats in Nakuru but I didn't leave feeling disappointed. I'm not sure I would visit again but good to tick off the list. I don't think Lake Elmenteita was worth a visit and I wouldn't recommend it to my friends but good to see once (and it must have been beautiful before all the climate changes).

 

The next day would be my last full day in Lake Naivasha, which included a boat ride on the lake and my first night drive. 

Am enjoying your report very much. I can hardly believe how dry Lake Nakuru looks - such a contrast to August 21 when we spent 2 nights there. I especially love your Columbus monkey pictures with their wonderful tails.  

[JCC]

On 12/24/2021 at 12:09 PM, Toxic said:

With breakfast on hold, out we went in search for my first ever cheetah.

 

I will say I have no idea how anyone managed to find this cheetah, because it was perfectly hidden in a bush, but I guess that is the magic of safari and the skill of those trained to find such things!

 

Here is us approaching the cheetah:

 

 

And a facial close-up 

 

 

Those eagle-eyed will see blood dripping from his mouth.  We initially thought, because he also looks quite full, this was the remnants of a kill. It turned out he was injured.

 

We spent a good 30-minutes observing him resting as it was so exciting for me. What beautiful cats!    With the promise that we would return during our afternoon drive, I left satisfied and ready for breakfast. 

 

A little in the distance we could hear impala alarm calls, and very noisy birds. So en-route back to the lodge we decided to quickly check it out to see what was going on.  My guide, Jacob, pointed to a particular bush not too dissimilar to the one above, that birds were circling and being very noisy about. He said there is a possibility something is in that bush, and it was the bird's way of drawing attention to it for the impala (who were looking in the opposite direction). 

 

We drove towards this bush, and out jumped a leopard. It happened so quickly I had no time to take any photos. He ran off - we had spooked him and probably ruined brunch for him.  But three big cats in one morning, and to then be told no one had seen a leopard for three weeks in Mugie, made it even more special. The safari gods were smiling upon me on this morning 

 

We got back to the lodge and I sat down to eat. The game-viewing wasn't over though - there was a playful herd of elephants at the watering hole that we could see from the breakfast table, so here are some photos of them (keeping in mind I am quite far away and all of these photos are with 10x zoom!). Nothing better than enjoying some apple pancakes while watching elephants drink, throw dust over themselves, and tiny babies finding their way.

 

 

 

In the afternoon I had a stop at Mugie HQ, as it was time to meet Tala the Giraffe.  I shall quote what the website says about her, which I think explains it so beautifully:

 

On the 6th February 2014, at just a few days old, a baby giraffe was brought to Mugie Conservancy by a local herder after she began following his herd of goats. She was names ‘Tala’ which means ‘goddess of stars’ by the Hahn family who own the conservancy. With much love and attention, she was cared for by Mary (‘Mama Tala’), who quickly became her surrogate mother.

 

Now seven years old, she wanders freely within the conservancy, but often returns to her chosen ‘home’ at the Head Quarters – where the staff are quite accustomed to being overseen by this towering presence! Meeting this wonderful reticulated giraffe is a treasured memory for many and she is definitely one of Mugie’s ‘cast of characters’!

 

I was able to meet Tala, feed and pet her.  She definitely was a towering presence and she was very naughty - she kept trying to steal the bananas and the bread before we were ready to feed her!   This will be the first photo with me in it on safaritalk so everyone better be nice  You can probably see the fear in my eyes!

 

 

A lovely experience that went into more detail as to how she came to be here, filled with lots of giraffe facts, and also that they have tried to reintroduce her to wild several times but each time has failed - other giraffes reject her, and she tends to go into the local villages which obviously is a risk to their crops and such.

 

Back to check if our cheetah friend was still around and to my joy - he was! He was a little more active after some rest, just moving about before laying down again, but it was beautiful to see him in all his glory. 

 

 

 

 

 

I know these two photos are portrait but I think they better show his mouth for the aforementioned injury. As an aside, none of the tracking collars I saw on any of the big cats in here were said to be working (and allegedly haven't for years!).

 

 

A very busy, fulfilling day! 

Such a fabulous photo of you with Tala - were you worried about getting drooled on?

[JCC]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip @Toxic - I’ve had a great time reading your TR.  The video of the elephant herd in the Mara is really beautiful. 

[chui71]

thank you very much for sharing your memories 

[Toxic]

On 5/3/2022 at 6:13 PM, JCC said:

were you worried about getting drooled on?

 

Ahahaha, no!  Fully expect some 'accidents' when there are live animals involved (I have a story involving a monkey sanctuary where one peed on me... 😱) 

 

Apologies for the long gap between reports. Real life (and some non-safari trips!) got in the way.  Fortunately I still remember this trip like it was yesterday so will endeavor to finish, for prosperity! 

 

 

[Toxic]

Day 13 - Amboseli National Park 

 

An early morning start as we had to drive to Amboseli National Park. I was excited for this, having seen some fantastic posts from fellow ST'ers about their experiences in this park. 

 

❗ Animal carcass ahead for those that don't want to view 

 

The first thing we saw on the way was a baby hyena and his mum in the distance.  

 

 

We also pretty quickly got a friendly bunch of elephants gracefully wondering around.  We stayed with them for 20 minutes, listening to them enjoying their breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit ahead of the herd and just before the water was this carcass of a zebra, who had been killed by the resident lions.

 

 

Around the water, we saw many birds, and this beautiful saddle-billed stork fishing for breakfast. He caught a catfish!  The guides made a pretty big deal about the second bird (which I think is a senegal?) but amongst all the other beautiful and colourful birds, it was quite average to me! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were also quite lucky as we spotted - in the distance - the resident pride with a fresh kill. My phone couldn't zoom so far, so most of the viewing was done via the ol' binocs!

 

 

Onwards we went, and we were observing this grazing hippo and a zebra and calf, before what I can only describe as a party bus from Nairobi pulled up next to us.  I call it a party bus, because it was one of those cars with a pop-up roof, and not only did it pull up in front of us (after speeding past our stopped car), it also had music blaring.  Needless to say, neither the zebra nor the hippo decided to stick around very long after that.

 

In the distance you can see where we were heading for lunch (for those that know the area)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost at our lunch stop, we saw some more elephants! The first was this impressive bull, standing alone. He didn't want people around him so we stopped for maybe a couple of minutes before moving on. We then came across this small herd enjoying the marshes, where we stayed another 20 minutes listening to them tearing the roots, splashing around and generally having a nice time. The little baby who could barely keep its head above water came out to say hello. 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for us, the party bus had caught up - also heading up to the hill for lunch - so we decided to stay down by the parking lot rather than make our way up to the top. There were a group of maybe 6 people in the bus, who were speaking so loudly we could hear them from the bottom as they made their way to the top of the stairs. Funnily, maybe a few minutes after they got to the top, a school bus showed up with 30 school children, who made less noise combined than the small group of adults! A good decision to stay at the bottom.

 

On the way back, the elephants had made good progress in the marshes and the adults were now mostly submerged! We watched them for a while before we headed back to Porini Camp.  These final two pics were caught on the way out.

 

 

 

[Toxic]

Day 13 - Night Drive in Selenkay Conservancy - My first real kill 

 

❗ Animal corpse ahead for those that don't want to view 

 

After a long day in Amboseli, we decided on a short night drive to see what we could find. The first thing we saw was another owl.

 

 

We then came across this lone bull, enjoying the watering hole.  As you may be able to tell, he was rather 'excited' to see us 

 

 

 

 

 

As sun began to set, we heard a little bit of commotion behind us.  Two jackals were hassling a mother and baby impala. This part happened very quickly, as in blink and you would miss it, the jackals had ripped the throat of the baby impala out and it was all over.  It was tough to watch, and we didn't stick around too long as bugs swarmed upon the corpse.  It made me realize that mother nature was unkind to the ladies - the mother impala had nothing to defend herself or her baby with.

 

As we learned earlier in the trip, my phone is no good at taking night time photos. But here is what we saw (you'll see the two jackals in the second picture waiting for us to leave the corpse).

 

 

 

 

The next day was pretty uneventful, so here are some photos from that game drive. I would be heading to the final camp of my trip - Porini Rhino Camp in Ol' Pejeta, with a trip booked to see the last two northern white rhinos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Toxic
spelling

[Toxic]

Day 15 | Arriving in Ol' Pejeta 

 

Much like most of this trip, my flight to Nanyuki was solo. I stepped off the plane quite disoriented but managed to find my Porini reps - Fred and Jackson. Jackson was the camp manager at the time, and was only picking me up. My guides for my time in Ol' Pejeta would be Alan (who I think many on here know) and Fred. I had a great time getting to know them both, and even encouraging Fred to try his first alcoholic sundowner. Toxic by name, toxic by nature 

 

The drive to camp from airstrip took approximately 1.30 (30 minutes on main roads, 1 hour in the consenvancy).  The first thing that struck me here was how green it was compared to most of the other parks on my trip. Also a VERY healthy population of Buffalo - and these were not friendly ones!! 

 

The reason for coming to Ol' Pejeta was to see the last two Northern White Rhino.   This wouldn't be until day two, but there is such a healthy population of rhino at this conservancy that we were lucky enough to see some southern and black rhino on the drive to camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some eles

 

 

And the rhinos

 

 

Ol' Pejeta integrates cattle with wildlife, so we saw many cattles - including these very impressive Ankole. The horns look like they could inflict some serious damage! 

 

 

Ol' Pejeta traffic

 

Overall, unexpected, but saw 3 of the big five just from the transfer from airport to camp, as well as many other animals.

 

[Toxic]

Day 15 | Evening Drive 

 

I had tent five, which overlooked a dry water hole. The tent was comfortable, and from my window I got to see many animals - including this ele who visited almost daily, and a herd of impala.  On my last night, I had possibly the worst night of my trip, but that's to come in a few post's time! 

 

 

The first proper drive was the evening one. There was one elderly American couple at this camp, though they would be leaving first thing in the morning. We did not share a car, though I overheard them at dinner bemoaning the chimpanzee sanctuary visit they had done earlier that day. That was something I was not looking forward to anyway, and the actual visit a day later did nothing to change my mind.

 

As I mentioned earlier, tons of buffalo here. The lions were slacking - so much meat roaming around! 

 

The drive was relatively uneventful, but we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. We stuck with one of the giraffes for a while as he was injured and the guides suspected he would not last for very long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Toxic]

Just now, Toxic said:

I had tent five, which overlooked a dry water hole.

 

I meant to also add to this, as a little tip, tent five - half of it had roaming service so I could send off emails and things! But only the part with the desk 

[Toxic]

Day 16 | Meeting Najin and her daughter, Fatu - the Last Two Northern White Rhinos 

 

I must confess that when booking this part, I anticipated the experiencing going something like this: driving up to an enclosure, hearing a bit of information about conservation efforts and the history of the Northern White Rhino, and then perhaps seeing Najin and Fatu in the distance through some binos.

 

I was wrong - the experience was so very impressive and more than what I could have expected. They drove us right into their enclosure, under 24/7 guard, and gave me some carrots and said "enjoy". I was actually touching and feeding the last two NWRs! 

 

Those with eagle vision will see there are actually three rhinos here.  One is a male Southern White Rhino, and why Fatu has had her horn shaved - she was getting very aggressive with him and stabbing him.

 

Again, I was the only one on this experience. The guide told me that some people do self drives, in tiny mini cars, and these girls were so powerful they were moving our safari car - so I have no idea why some people would bring their own cars here.  It was a very nerve wracking experience, as they are absolutely massive, and you'll see in one of the pictures I dropped a carrot under the car and Fatu really wanted it, so kept trying to move our jeep to get to it.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Toxic]

Day 16 | Meeting Baraka, the blind Black Rhino 

 

Also on this day we visited the chimpanzee sanctuary mentioned earlier in another post. I would not recommend it. While the work they do is admirable, compared to everything else and seeing chimps stuck in cages was not what I was looking for on my trip. I only took pictures of the information card which I won't bother sharing.

 

I did get to meet Baraka - from Ol Pejeta's website:

 

Baraka was born in the wild in Ol Pejeta but lost sight in both eyes due to a fight and then a cataract. Baraka now lives in the enclosure, located next to the Morani Information Centre, for his safety, and has taken to his new role as rhino ambassador.

 

 

 

Quite intimidating being next to a black rhino in close proximity, but hearing his story was great. I did note that he particularly enjoyed being touched behind the ears... as he showcased his 'excitement' (if you can read between the lines).

 

Also seen on this day driving between the endangered species boma and camp:

 

 

 

 

 

More rhinos

 

 

 

 

Some eles!

 

 

 

[Toxic]

Next up we wanted to see some of the lions, having heard them making quite the commotion in the night.

 

It didn't take us long to find mum - here she is using this beautiful tree as a scratching post. But where are the others?

 

 

The tree was also resident to this very grumpy looking owl, and if you follow his eyes...

 

 

You'll see why he is so angry!

 

 

 

We stayed here for a great deal of time, seeing if they would get down. It took them a while, but one eventually got brave enough to jump and rejoin mum. 

 

 

 

Then the other joined, and it was a happy ending. Whenever we went to move away, the cubs would start stalking the car which was quite fun.

 

 

 

 

We never did see the pride leader, though my final night in camp was a restless one. It had started raining and I was the only one in camp.

 

I started hearing breathing behind my tent in the pitch black. I couldn't work out what it was, until the culprit let out a little yawn. It was the sound of a big cat. It was patrolling around my tent, nudging the canvas a few times. 

 

At this point I am wide awake, and jump out of bed to grab the alarm whistle (which at that point did seem somewhat insufficient against a lion) should I hear any random tearing.  I also armed myself with one of the large umbrellas Porini Rhino Camp have in the cupboard 

 

I dozed off and woke up later to some roaring.   I checked in with the night guards in the morning - it wasn't one lion who was my night visitor. It was two males - one at the back and one in the front. 

 

Seasoned safari goers will laugh - I was very scared! It made me question whether the canvas tents were secure enough to keep out hungry lions.

 

It was a story to tell people back home, and here on ST, anyway.  

Edited July 10, 2022 by Toxic

[Toxic]

Other photos 

 

❗ Some childbird photos ahead for those that may be squeamish re the aftermath 

 

We've reached the end of my 3 weeks in Kenya! I had a great time, though by the end of it I do wish I took up everyone's advice and had a couple of days of doing nothing. Three weeks of almost non-stop safari was very tiring, but I regret nothing.

 

Here I'll just drop some other photos that didn't make it into the other posts. 

 

 

Graves for Sudan and Suni 

 

 

 

Baby hyena

 

 

We saw two cattle give birth at almost the same time! 

 

 

 

 

Giraffe

 

 

 

 

Bird

 

 

 

Impala

 

 

 

Mum and baby rhino

 

[Neeners815]

I was so happy to come back here and see that you'd added the Porini Rhino portion to your report, as we will be going there soon. I had no idea we'd get so close to the rhino - awesome! I do have to say I also would have been very scared having a lion outside my tent at night. Especially if they were bumping the tent - yikes!

[Amylovescritters]

Fantastic report. We leave for KE in late Nov. Very-excited.

We had the same experience with male lions outside our tent and rubbing on our tented lodging sides at Dunia in TZ. Though a tad unsettling, it was simultaneously wonderful. The thumps they made leaping onto our wooden, raised room were amazingly thunderous. Hoping for a repeat type of thing in KE. Lol. 

[Toxic]

On 8/24/2022 at 3:50 AM, Neeners815 said:

I was so happy to come back here and see that you'd added the Porini Rhino portion to your report, as we will be going there soon. I had no idea we'd get so close to the rhino - awesome! I do have to say I also would have been very scared having a lion outside my tent at night. Especially if they were bumping the tent - yikes!

 

Neeners have the best time, it was an absolutely incredible (and humbling) experience. I have recommended it to so many of my friends who could not believe how many rhino were present, and also at the endangered species boma.   I hope you will be coming back to Safari Talk to share your experience with us!

 

On 8/24/2022 at 9:43 PM, Amylovescritters said:

Fantastic report. We leave for KE in late Nov. Very-excited.

We had the same experience with male lions outside our tent and rubbing on our tented lodging sides at Dunia in TZ. Though a tad unsettling, it was simultaneously wonderful. The thumps they made leaping onto our wooden, raised room were amazingly thunderous. Hoping for a repeat type of thing in KE. Lol. 

 

Definitely nerve wracking and the whistle to raise the alarm immediately felt inadequate  Interestingly I was less frightened of the hippo I could hear outside Little Governor's Camp walking on the porch than the lions, even though I know hippos kill more people than lions! 

 

Have the best time - not long to go now until November! 

[Amylovescritters]

Getting more excited by the day!