Safari Day 2

On day 2 of the safari, we got up for an early game drive at 6:30am, just when the sun rises and the animals are most active. It was a cool and breezy morning, so I was glad to have my long pants and long-sleeved shirt. We headed out of the lodge well-rested and excited to see new animals. Our first sighting was a beautiful male impala. The animals in the park seem used to vehicles, which is fortunate for us safari-goers, but I am almost certain that the animals would run away as soon as a person tried to get out of a vehicle.

Beautiful impala in the morning sun.
Only wish the background was cleaner!

Our second major sighting was the Cape buffalo, a feared animal among Africans. The buffalo is very dangerous and short-tempered and can easily kill a person. But they are beautiful animals and, in the safety of our vehicle, we were able to see them up close.

Cape buffalo with food hanging from his mouth!

 Soon after spotting the buffalo herd, Bonaya heard on the radio that there was a lion spotted not too far away. So we rushed to the place and discovered about forty other vehicles also there, vying for the best spot to see the lion. Fortunately, we had a good look at the lion, which started off lying in the grass, but then he got up and began walking. Male lions are often solitary animals, because they get kicked out of the pride at maturity. Also, males generally do not hunt, partly because their main can cause overheating or impede camouflage. However, when the male is alone, it must hunt for itself to survive. We only stayed for about three minutes to watch this lion, while I would have stayed until it was out of sight; what we might have missed was this solitary lion making a kill!

The lion we saw. Beautiful animal, wish we could have
watched it for a bit longer though.

 After leaving the lion behind, we had some beautiful views of elephants, giraffe, and impala feeding in the same area together. It was really impressive to see all these typical African species together in a group, going about their daily business.

Elephants and impalas feeding in the same area. There were also giraffe in the trees to the right of this photo.

Lugard's Falls

After our game drive we went back to the lodge for a quick breakfast and to grab our belongings from the rooms. We were back on the road looking for wildlife by about 9:30. At this point, we were headed to Lugard Falls, which is a really interesting land formation with beautifully sculpted rocks of different type (metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous) that had been overturned some time in the distant past by geological forces. While there, we saw a fish eagle and a hamerkop. After enjoying the change of scenery and the chance to get out of the vehicle for a little while, we went a little further up the road to a lookout. The lookout was high on a cliff, and we could see the river down below, with crocodiles and even a hungry hippo. I managed to take a decent photo of the hippo through the scope that Roger had brought with him for looking at birds. Hippos are actually feared by the locals more than crocodiles, and they are extremely dangerous.

The hungry hungry hippo!

After our stop at the lookout, we had our boxed lunches and were on our way to Tsavo West. All of us (except the driver!) slept most of the way to the gate, because it was very hot and we were tired from getting up early. On our way from the Voi Gate exit to Tsavo West, we went by the "Maneaters Lodge", and then Bonaya took us off the main highway to the old highway to see the bridge that was being built when the men were getting eaten by lions. It's easy to joke about the "Maneaters Lodge", and we had a laugh when we saw the sign for it. But when you really think about the camps of men being terrorized by two crazed lions, it's spooky to say the least. I remember watching the "Ghosts in the Darkness" when I was younger, but I will want to see it again when I go home.

The bridge that was being built when the Tsavo
Maneaters went in their rampage.

Tsavo East, mostly open and shrubby plains

Tsavo West, mostly thick brush

Upon arrival at Tsavo West, I discovered that the landscape is completely different from that of Tsavo East. There are many more hills and the brush is much thicker, which makes for difficult wildlife viewing but beautiful scenery. Because big game viewing is more difficult, we got to stop and look at more birds than in Tsavo East. We saw some really awesome birds, like the Secretary bird, in Tsavo West, but we also saw lots of beautiful birds in Tsavo East. Luckily, Bonaya seemed to be keen on birds and stopped when he saw something new or interesting.

Kori bustard, seen in Tsavo East

Abyssinian roller, seen in both East and West

Vulterine guineafowl, seen in Tsavo East

Secretary bird, seen in Tsavo West

 In Tsavo West, we drove around in the Rhino Sanctuary, but did not get to see any of the rhinos that are supposedly in there. Bonaya is convinced that there are far fewer rhinos in the sanctuary than the staff claims (no more than 10 versus 60). We did, however, see the Secretary bird here; I spotted it, but Roger identified it. The bird is odd looking, with the body and face of an eagle, but very long legs. The long legs evolved as a defense against snake bites in the thick bush where the bird lives. I and the others were very happy to see this bird, and it was simply luck that allowed us to spot it.

After we left the sanctuary, we headed up a steep hill to get to the Ngulia Safari Lodge. The lodge is pretty nice, but not quite as nice as Voi Safari Lodge. We made our plans for the next and last day of the safari, and then watched the spectacle that occurs every night at the lodge. For many years now (at least thirty I believe), the lodge has been putting out a leg of meat for the leopard that comes pretty consistently every night for its feeding. This leopard is about thirty-forty feet away from where people are eating their dinners, and the cat eats calmly through hundreds of flashes from cameras. I don't think this is appropriate, because the cat may become accustomed to people, making it more vulnerable to poachers, or it may associate people with food and some day try to eat a person (and probably succeed). I don't know what would happen if they stopped feeding this leopard, but the lodge should at least stop this practice when this leopard dies. The watering hold is also very close to the lodge, and people take hundreds of flash photos, but the flashes don't seem to disturb either the elephants or the leopard. I just hope that these animals are not being put in danger by becoming accustomed to people. These animals are being corrupted or adulterated by being too close to people.

"Feral" leopard