Kenya Stop #2 - Ol Pejeta Conservancy, August 27

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 horn is worth more per ounce than gold.  And that is a lot of horn!  Not sure how many pounds, but plenty.  So, even with a lifetime sentence for poaching a rhino, constant vigilance is required.  But these guys are VERY proud of their rhino and constant vigilance is the watchword.  They walk the property constantly and strive to see every rhino every 4 days or better.

Now to give you the history lesson on Rhino names.  Because both white rhino and black rhino are the same color . . . gray.  The differences are that:

1. White rhino are grass grazers, blacks eat much more from the shrubbery
2. White rhino are larger
3. White rhino have longer "snouts" and broader snouts
4. White rhino are more herd oriented and also they are less skittish, so definitely easier to find and to observe.
5. Black rhino are more inclined to charge than the whites.

In fact, it is the wider snout that led to the name White Rhino.  Evidently, in Dutch wide sounds like white.  With the Dutch starting the colonization of southern Africa and the Brits taking over, they misunderstood and thought that the rhino were "white", not "wide".  If these guys are white, I suppose the others must be black.  Something like that.

Kenya reports, by the way, that their rhino population has grown from 1,441 in 2019 to 1,605 in 2020 and that not a single one was lost to poaching.  As I said, they are VERY proud of their rhino.

Here is the first black rhino that we saw.  A mother and her calf.  As I said, they are more skittish and so we could only photograph them running away.

I mentioned that they try to see every rhino every 4 days or better.  One of the ways that they do so is to notch the rhinos' ears to make each one more identifiable.  Here is a black rhino with notched ears.  Also, you'll be able to see the shorter, more conical (or less "wide") snout.

Driving around the preserve, we passed a river bank and there was a fish eagle.  Not sure how even an eagle would catch anything in this river, as it is called (in Swahili) the Brown River for good reason.  But a great looking bird, no doubt.  In fact, it is dramatic/majestic enough that it is the national bird of Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

To this point in the morning, it is still pretty cold, especially in an open truck with a 50F temperature.  But fortunately, Asilia, the camp operator, has these very good ponchos.  They are insulated with a flannel quilt like fabric and are waterproof and wind proof.  So you just shelter in your poncho and ride along.

From the river, we moved to the high plains, where we spotted giraffe on the horizon.  On the way to the giraffe, we finally ran across a Secretary Bird.  This one was made important to me by Bary Foran, a Canadian friend with a keen interest in birds.

I think this one is not fully mature.  Too bad, as it would be even a bit more colorful.  They remind me of roadrunners, as they mostly run, not fly and they are fierce predators.  But that isn't everyone's image of them, as the guide (Duma is his name) called this a "terrestrial eagle".  

Now it was time to stop for breakfast.  Duma opened the truck and created a spread for breakfast.  This is about 9:30 or so I would estimate.

You might notice that out here on the open plain, there are no facilities.  Gentlemen were encouraged to go to the other side of the truck and check the tire pressure, while the ladies took a separate shift (or two separate shifts) to pick a flower.  With our stomach and bladder needs satisfied, we got back in the truck and resumed our GAME DRIVE.  You can tell that things warmed up while we were eating (no ponchos).

One of our objectives was to see a cheetah, which in Swahili is "Duma".  The same as our guide's name (almost undoubtedly his nickname, not his name).  So, we did some searching, but never did actually find one.  

On our way back to camp, we came across a tower of giraffes.  We were literally surrounded.  Our normal experience with giraffes has been that when they are watched, they move away.  But in this case, they hung around and we got to observe them in a more normal setting.  That is John's ear in the foreground and 3 of our giraffe in the brush.

John and Sue watching the munching . . .

With a very successful morning under our belts, we returned to camp.  Lunch was served (we have done NOTHING but eat, at least that is how it feels at times).  And the food has been consistently excellent.  I really should take more food pictures, but I'm so focused on animals that I forget that the food could be, should be, a lasting memory.

Diane went back to our tent to relax, organize, whatever it is that she does after lunch.  Laying in bed, doing her whatever, she looked up and captured this view right from the tent.

The accessibility of these animals all across Africa has been amazing.  While it doesn't provide a photo, let me tell you that we've also listened to lions roaring and leopards growling (they sound a bit like a saw) through the night.  A tent wall always feels thin at those times.

Later that afternoon we resumed our expedition.  Today there was no rain, thankfully for us.  The animals undoubtedly would have chosen another storm.  Even after 1 day it was clear that things were greening up, so we were hopeful of seeing action.  We started with this mixed photo of 2 of the Big Five together, a rhino and a cape buffalo.

Can you tell that it is black rhino?  Probably not, so I'll just put it out there.  This is a black rhino.  

We saw a great variety of animals as we moved about the plains area.  Rhinos in a crash of about 8.  I could only get 4 of them in this picture, along with a "mini-rhino", more commonly known as a warthog.

One of the things that I've learned during this trip is that lions sleep all day.  They don't get up until about 45 minutes before sunset, which is 5:30 or so here at the equator.  So at about 5:30 we went looking, hoping to find lions.  We were looking for an adult pair, a male and a female.  They were known to be in the area and we even had a radio report on their approximate location, so off we went.  But on the way we saw a number of trucks pulled to the roadside (always a sign that something is to be seen).  So we joined the crowd.  Lions !!  A mother and two cubs.  

Somewhere I have a picture of them walking right past the vehicles.  They are so very close.  Its absolutely amazing!  So what does Duma do?  HE DRIVES AWAY !!  Let me assure you that we all thought we had hired the dumbest guide in all of Africa.

Way down the road, probably a quarter of a mile and then he turns back and heads into the center of the plain.  Eventually we park up in the middle of the plain and wait.  By now the light is fading and photo quality isn't quite as crisp as if the lions were in full sunlight, but they are out there playing and it is heaven.

The mother and her 2 cubs slowly proceed to walk and then tussle their way across the plain without another truck between us and them.  For 15 minutes.  We all silently apologize to Duma.  We've clearly hired the smartest guide in all of Africa.  

Eventually it got too dark to really enjoy the show, so we packed up our cameras and headed back to camp, absolutely thrilled with the way day 2 in Ol Pejeta had started . . . and ended.  Fantastic.