Africa 2022

 Up early.  Catch another 12 seater from Ol Pejeta to Ol Seki.  Probably a couple of stops.  I honestly can't remember.  The flights are blurring together and happily they are all basically the same.  Put on a face mask.  Climb in the back, bend way over to get to your seat, what with the 4 1/2 foot ceiling and the 1 foot wide aisle.  Sit down, buckle up.  Listen to the pilot's safety message.  It is very short.  And you're off.  45 minutes, you're coming down.   We were met by Mike, our guide for the next 3 days.  The good news began right there.  The ride to the camp would be 10 minutes.  Not the 40 - 75 minutes we had been experiencing.  This was welcome news. The schedule at Ol Hemingway was 6:00 wake up call, including a coffee tray 6:30 departure 8:30 breakfast in the bush 10:00 return to camp 1:30 lunch 4:00 departure for evening drive 7:00 return from the drive 7:30 dinner rinse / repeat Af...

Yesterday's sunrise was such a smashing success that we were all enthused about another one.  We didn't find quite as dramatic a setting as yesterday, but it was still beautiful. After that, we headed out to the plains.  First we had to cross the river.  It came with this warning. I really enjoy that sort of thing.  This little bit of cleverness brought to you by Ol Pejeta. As we drove around looking for the first big thing of the day, we came across these fellows, just waiting for something to die. Not all that far down the road, we found that their brothers fondest wish had been fulfilled. About now, please allow me to set the stage.  Do you happen to recall our first day out at Inyati in South Africa?  We saw a leopard mother and cub, frolicking on a rock by the riverbed.  It was awesome.  And John said to all of us "I don't see how you can top this". Since then we've seen a leopard kill hung in the tree, hippos and elephants of all manner, lio...

We started the day early, as in very early.  We left camp at 6:00 to be on the open plains by sunrise.  Was it worth it? I just love that picture.  I've made it my wallpaper, I just think it is so amazing.  The zebra with the bird on his head, greeting the new day.   The Ol Pejeta area is best known for its rhino.  There are only a few places left in the world where you can see rhino.  Especially in any numbers.  And you might recall that the 2 that we did manage to see in South Africa had been shorn of their horns to make them less attractive to poachers.  Well, in the Ol Pejeta area they have very good rangers and they leave the horns on.  This makes for a more natural life for the rhino.  The males in particular use the horns in determining dominance and breeding rights.  Who can tell who is the baddest of them all without a horn.  Without further ado, here are 2 shots of white rhino, full shot and close up. That h...

 We started the day with breakfast at the Elerai Camp. Followed by a long, dusty, bumpy ride to the park and the airstrip.  I'll bet you are glad that's over!  Me too. Two flights.  First back north to Nairobi.  Remember Wilson Airport?  Puddle Jumper Central?  It is even busier today.  Quite the melting pot.  Then another 1 hour flight north to Ol Pejeta Conservancy.  Its pronounced "peh jet a".  Don't know why. Our guide for the 3 days, Duma, met us at the airstrip and we loaded up the land cruiser for a ride to camp. It was shorter, it was smoother and it wasn't nearly as dusty.  You won't have to hear anymore about that. Our tents in this camp were also excellent.  Large.  As in about 12 x 20 feet in the main room, plus a bathroom, shower and toilet area.  Much larger than a Maasai hut that would house 7 for the whole year.  The phrase "glamping" has a very clear meaning. One interesting feature of this ...

 As per usual on safari, we started before sunrise.  This is because it is cooler and the animals are more active.  We got up in the dark, flashed our big bright flashlight up the hill to request an escort and went to breakfast.  As it has been everywhere else, the food was outstanding.  Your choice of fruits, cereals, muesli, yoghurt, eggs, sausages, bacon and more.  We're all expecting to gain weight.  It is so good. Oh crap!  We have to make that hour long drive back from the conservancy to Amboseli Nat'l Park.  I'm going to bring that up every time, because I grew to hate it.  The other three were better about it and I didn't gripe too much to them (I say), but I'm going to tell you its a bad road and a bad way to start or end a day. To some degree, we repeated Day #1, except that we didn't spend much time in the really dry parts of the park and much more time around the swampy sections.  That means more animals and more variety...