Well, Tsavo definitely gets the prize for my favorite East African safari landscape. Rugged, rocky ridges. Arid acacia forests. Cinder cones. Lava flows. The blue Chyulu Hills in the distance. The far flat plains stair-stepping up into the highlands. Tsavo is Kenya's largest game preserve and covers 22,000 square kilometers. Because of this vastness, it is not a preserve to visit with the agenda of ticking off wildlife from one's checklist. It is a place to soak up the scenery and lose yourself in the stunning landscape, which I absolutely did. And to think that we saw only a very small portion of the park. Hmmmm . . . yet another reason to come back!
We stayed in the Ngulia Bandas, a permanent safari 'camp.' Each thatch-roofed banda had a big mosquito net-draped bed, private bath and small balcony looking out over a watering hole and the vast Rhino Valley. Solar power for lights and hot water, and a beautiful open-air, thatch-roofed dining room with yet another incredible view.
Peter, our driver, had us out on game drives Saturday evening, Sunday morning and evening, and Monday morning. We saw tons of elephants, giraffe, Cape Buffalo, topis, kudus, waterbucks, baboons, other various monkeys, a handful of zebras, hyenas, dik-diks, impala and scads of exotic birds (Patricia, you should be here!) We tried in vain to find the elusive black rhinos in Kenya's most important rhino sanctuary (which made our sighting of 3 black rhino in Maasai Mara even more important!) And though we followed cat tracks on the road for awhile this morning, we did not see any of the famous lions of Tsavo. We were not disappointed though. Even if we had seen no animals at all, the landscape would have been worth the trip.
This afternoon we left Tsavo for the little town of Loitokitok, which lies just outside of Amboseli Game Preserve. We were supposed to travel in a vehicle convoy over the backcountry road between Tsavo and Amboseli (all safari vehicles traveling this route are required to travel together because TWENTY YEARS ago some poachers murdered a group of tourists on the remote road. Seems like no violence in 20 years would be enough to lift the restriction, but alas.) Today, however, there were no other safari vehicles traveling from Tsavo to Amboseli, so instead we got our own guard, complete with his loaded AK-47, to escort us 20 miles to the edge of the 'danger zone.'
Photos: impala, Tsavo; Ngulia Hills, Tsavo; Chyulu Hills, Tsavo; elephant; olive baboon; red-billed hornbill; Cape buffalo flinging mud; vervet monkey with blue balls (!); female ostrich; Brenna and Kristin at Roaring Rocks, Tsavo; Chyulu Hills.
Well, Tsavo definitely gets the prize for my favorite East African safari landscape. Rugged, rocky ridges. Arid acacia forests. Cinder cones. Lava flows. The blue Chyulu Hills in the distance. The far flat plains stair-stepping up into the highlands. Tsavo is Kenya's largest game preserve and covers 22,000 square kilometers. Because of this vastness, it is not a preserve to visit with the agenda of ticking off wildlife from one's checklist. It is a place to soak up the scenery and lose yourself in the stunning landscape, which I absolutely did. And to think that we saw only a very small portion of the park. Hmmmm . . . yet another reason to come back!
We stayed in the Ngulia Bandas, a permanent safari 'camp.' Each thatch-roofed banda had a big mosquito net-draped bed, private bath and small balcony looking out over a watering hole and the vast Rhino Valley. Solar power for lights and hot water, and a beautiful open-air, thatch-roofed dining room with yet another incredible view.
Peter, our driver, had us out on game drives Saturday evening, Sunday morning and evening, and Monday morning. We saw tons of elephants, giraffe, Cape Buffalo, topis, kudus, waterbucks, baboons, other various monkeys, a handful of zebras, hyenas, dik-diks, impala and scads of exotic birds (Patricia, you should be here!) We tried in vain to find the elusive black rhinos in Kenya's most important rhino sanctuary (which made our sighting of 3 black rhino in Maasai Mara even more important!) And though we followed cat tracks on the road for awhile this morning, we did not see any of the famous lions of Tsavo. We were not disappointed though. Even if we had seen no animals at all, the landscape would have been worth the trip.
This afternoon we left Tsavo for the little town of Loitokitok, which lies just outside of Amboseli Game Preserve. We were supposed to travel in a vehicle convoy over the backcountry road between Tsavo and Amboseli (all safari vehicles traveling this route are required to travel together because TWENTY YEARS ago some poachers murdered a group of tourists on the remote road. Seems like no violence in 20 years would be enough to lift the restriction, but alas.) Today, however, there were no other safari vehicles traveling from Tsavo to Amboseli, so instead we got our own guard, complete with his loaded AK-47, to escort us 20 miles to the edge of the 'danger zone.'
Photos: impala, Tsavo; Ngulia Hills, Tsavo; Chyulu Hills, Tsavo; elephant; olive baboon; red-billed hornbill; Cape buffalo flinging mud; vervet monkey with blue balls (!); female ostrich; Brenna and Kristin at Roaring Rocks, Tsavo; Chyulu Hills.
Amazing. Thanks for bringing us along.
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