The Lord and Lady of the House

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Not exactly positive where I left off exactly. I think with Ol Pejeta. After our day there where we saw chimps at their sanctuary created by Jane Goodall and the old dying rhino we went back to the El Kamara camp for our last night. There were apparently lions prowling aroung that night, but I never heard them. I haven’t heard any of the wild animals people have been talking about since we got here. Just last night Erin said there was a huge buffalo right outside our room knocking small trees down. Sleep right through it. I think I might be immune to animal noises since I grew up next to farm animals. Its still surprising though, since I have always been a light sleeper.

The next morning we left El Karama conservancy, leaving behind the very pregnant owner who was only days from having her baby (she would be taken by a small plane to a hospital… have no idea where the hell they had an airstrip though).



Oh funny thing I forgot to mention on Ol Pejeta. When we were there we went by the watering hole of sorts that was originally for cattle. There were so many different animals there, just sharing the water and going about their own business. There was also the cutest baby zebra who was running around nonstop racing back and forth. There was also a waterbuck or some form of antelope species that just stood and stared at us the entire time and we were there for at least 20 minutes. The damn thing wouldn’t look away!!! It was ridiculous!

But out of no where came this huge male buffalo. The thing was absolutely gigantic! Stuff got out of its way, but it wasn’t until about five minutes later did things really get interesting. The rest of the herd came out of the trees and there must have been at least a hundred. No kidding. And EVERYTHING just got out of its way. Seriously all of the animals just slowly walked off, it was really interesting.

Anyway, after Ol Pejeta we headed back to camp and the next morning we left for our week stay at Soysambu conservancy. Where we were staying at the research center was not exactly spectacular.. with the rundown runs with crappy beds, freezing/scalding showers and spiders the size of your palm, but boy the land was pretty spectacular. There is a huge lake here called Lake Elementaita that usually has a lot more bird species such as flamingo and pelicans, however the water was too high and therefore not as alkaline. But because of this there was a lot of other species, such as hippo in the water, even though they are usually not there.

The land is also still partially owned by the Delamere’s. A very old British family. I got to meet Lord and Lady Delamere at a sundowner last night actually, and honestly I don’t think I could have expected any different. But I shall get to that later.

When we got in and got settled we went out for a game drive and got to see the different species present in this area, a lot that were not in El Karama, such as the flamingos and pelicans as well as the Roschild giraffe (sp?). Yet at the same time there was some species that weren’t present like at the last conservancy like the reticulated giraffe, the grevy zebra, and the lion (the last of which we did not see).

Its hard to remember everything we have done here since it is the end of the week and I am kind of blanking. But we did a lot of game drives and a lot of sundowners (watching the sunset with alcohol).

We did the first sundowner after our first night in Soysambu. We went to the “birthday spot” a beautiful spot by the lake where people tend to celebrate their birthdays. It was a full moon, so we got to watch the sunset and the moon rise. It got a little boring at the end, probably because I only had half a glass of wine the whole time.. but I ended up stargazing and teaching a few people how to find the big and little dipper, and consequently Polaris (which sadly some of them had no idea that was the name for the North star).

During our stay we visited a lot of the conservancy, both to see the animals and the people who lived there. There is a whole group of white British people who live right by Lord and Lady Delamere’s house on top of this giant hill where you can watch the zebra and hyenas roam. Very impressive. We visited there shortly at the beginning of our stay and I was finally very happy to see an animal that I loved, a black lab. Though he was old he was still a treat to see.

The reason I was probably so happy might have been due to the fact that there is a demon cat living here at the research center. Her name is oreo or something and it’s a little she-devil. Seriously, while I don’t HATE cats this one nearly makes me want to change my mind. She scares the shit out of me by coming up and rubbing against you quickly under the table, sometimes even clawing you. She will jump up from the side of your chair and even on to the chair next to you and will attack you. INSANE CAT. I cant wait to say goodbye to her (I am just assuming it’s a her, I honestly have no clue).

Another thing we did was set camera traps. They are just these camouflaged cameras in boxes that you attach to the side of a tree to take pictures when an animal walks by. We set them up around the forest. I saw forest, but really this thing is like a mini rainforest set in the middle of the savanna. There are huge trees with wide, green canopies that have lots of monkeys swinging about. And there are even those huge, thick vines like in Tarzan. I expected to see him flying across at any second. It was really cool to see that after seeing so much brush land, not that that wasn’t gorgeous, but it was nice to see a variety.

Wow… I’ve written a lot. Sadly I have a lot more to say, but I think I shall save it for another post. Until then!!!



ONCE AGAIN IGNORE ALL THE ERRORS, TOO LAZY TO CHECK

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