Slice of paradise

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Small slice of paradise

Stories of a hyena den have been circulating the Mpala dining hall table and today Stefan offered to show me the place but after he played tennis. So I tagged along with Stefan and Kathleen as they went to the Ranch house to play tennis. I’ve only been to this place at night (the evening of the trustees’ fancy dinner) and I was enraptured by how lovely it is during the day, especially when the sun is starting to set. Purple, creamy orange, pink, and white bougainvillea and plumeria spill over everything, climbing up the tall green-tinged yellow fever trees. The ranch buildings are white-washed with red tile roofs splayed out in a tiny maze with all sorts of strange horticultural plants tucked in corners and lining walkways. Important guests are the only ones who stay there but there is a village behind the ranch buildings. Children’s voices and smoke from the kitchen fire puffed in the chilling evening breeze. I brought a book but I quickly became absorbed in bird-watching. At first glance, I thought I saw mice skittering up the vertical wire fencing protecting the garden but then saw it was speckled mousebirds. Appropriate naming! Marisco sunbirds with their curved wings and flash of green in the light popped in and out of sight. While I was focused on one of the birds, trying to get a good look, the branch shook and a vervet monkey’s dark face, ruffed in white, peered at me. I walked around enthralled, staring up at the brilliant colors of the flowers and the flitting birds.
The tennis match ended and we set off for the hyena den. We got distracted twice by elephants, both herds marching down to the river. We arrived at the hyena den, up on the escarpment, right as the sun was nearing the horizon. And there was a young spotted hyena pup head poking out of the grass. Stefan shut off the car and we just watched. Four semi-grown hyena pups slowly meandered about, one had a hunk of meat in its mouth and two others dogged it. When they are very young, spotted hyena pups are almost totally black but these were old enough that the black was fading and spots were emerging on their front legs and chest. Their faces are still dark with wide foreheads and squashed, appealing faces below soft-edged square ears. One adult hyena nursed a pup for a while, another adult popped up out of the den and flopped herself down in a cloud of dust. Her subsequent yawn showed us clearly how huge those teeth are and how wide their bite is, a good reminder. The den consisted of one hole or maybe two holes in the ground; I don’t know if the hyenas dig their own dens or appropriate other creatures’ dens. Aardvarks create very deep, large holes so perhaps it’s an old aardvark home. At one point, the pups and one of the adults stood and sniffed the wind. Eventually, a third adult emerged out of the grass, with a perfectly spotted coat and that strangely long neck swinging around to survey the home scene. She paused to look at us but we weren’t much of a concern. As Truman says, “They’re carnivores. You’re food.”
We finally left when the sun set in a small but intense blaze of pink and purple. Two of the adults had set off toward the whoop of another hyena far away. The third stayed behind with the pups. Stefan revved the engine back up and we bounced our way home.
Evenings like this make me fall a little more in love with this place every time. (Don’t worry, parents. This love affair won’t make me move out here. I’ll just have to come back!)

Animal sightings

black-capped social weaver
speckled mousebird
marico sunbird
vervet monkey
spotted hyena family pack

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Photos

peek at the ranch house
I didn't take fuller pictures of the ranch house buildings because I was too distracted by the flowers and birds. But you get the idea of what the buildings look like.

Bougainvillea taking over
All the way up to the top of a fever tree!

speckled mousebird
Clinging vertically on the garden fencing. I couldn't get enough of the way the move. I kept purposefully scattering them just to see them skitter like mice.

More bougainvillea
Anything this colorful completely overwhelms me, in the best way possible.

Down to the river
Elephants moving down to the river. I think you can only see one mama clearly in this photo.

Hyena den
Adult hyena off to the right, pup head off to the left. The den entrance is hidden in the grass between them.

hyena pup close-up
Of course, I couldn't get a good shot through my binocs since it was so late in the day that light wasn't good but you can make out the dark little face of the pup and the squared ears.

thieving elephants
This is the water tank behind the kitchens. First time since I've been here that the elephants have raided the water during the day. They're parched!