Safari Jeopardy

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Let's play safari jeopardy! You know the game. What are the correct questions to the following answers? 1) Wildebeest Tail 2) Leopard and 3) Pink Flamingos. Questions are provided at the end of the blog!

The week of October 30th was spent on safari with the Safari Chicas: Sheila, Janet and Kim and what a special time! We can proudly say that we have all seen in the wild Africa's Big Five: elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. The latter being the most illusive and we were blessed to see two! Our certificates are in the mail! We also enjoyed seeing giraffe grazing on trees, wildebeest & zebra grazing on the plains, hippos snorting, vultures eating, crockodiles sunbathing, baboons grooming, and elephants racing. We also saw jackals, hyenas, monkeys and several species of gazelle and deer like creatures, including Dick Dicks, Topi, and Impala. The scale, diversity and richness of the Mara is hard to fathom and even harder to find the words to explain. This was my second visit and I remain in awe. It was also magic to share the experience with friends...Sheila's bright eyes and screams of delight will forever be etched in my memory. And who knew that Kim had amazing tracking abilities!

For those familiar with our Italy adventure last year you may remember that Janet (and her sister Carolyn) travel with Thor the garden gnome. He has visited many a foreign land including China, Thailand, Italy and now East Africa. He is amassing quite the photo album! One of my favorite memories with Thor this safari was time spent with children in the Masai Village. They adored Janet's "baby" as they called it and had a wonderful time taking turns to carry him. One of the Masai men fondly refered to Janet as Mama Thor! There were also many offers for Janet to sell or trade Thor. Fortunately for Thor, Mama was not having any of it!

We also had the great fortune of having an outstanding safari guide. And of course his name was David (wink!) He was brilliant in tracking down leopard, lions feeding and elephants roaming. He was also incredibly knowledgeable about the birds of the Mara -- over 700 species. He took very good care of us, including having a cooler stocked with Tusker Beer and sodas. It was very tempting to accept his offer to drive us back to Kisumu!

Our road trip back to Kisumu included a planned stop at Lake Nakuru for a night -- the home of thousands of Pink Flamingos. Our journey to Nakuru was both shorter and smoother than our journey to the Mara -- it even involved a stretch of smooth tarmac -- our bodies were in shock!

Lake Nakuru is a disappearing alkaline lake. In fact the water level was down considerably from when I was there in July. And very sad is the fact that flamingos are dying at an alarming rate -- due both to disappearing habitat and pollution. It looked like a killing field on parts of the lake. We all vowed to support the World Wildlife Fund upon our return to Canada. It is shocking to see the beauty and vibrance of these live birds amidst the death and decay of carcasses. Again a testimony to the paradox of Africa -- where beauty and magic live so visibly along side suffering and decay. It also points to the challenges a developing nation faces in trying to address the poverty of 80% of its inhabitants and the conservation of a unique world environmental resource. Expertise and resources are badly needed here on both accounts. I've come to see places such as the Mara and Lake Nakuru as world resources -- our African brothers and sisters need our help to conserve and preserve these unique habitats.
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Questions: (1) What is a lion cubs favorite toy? (2) What amazing female cat hangs her kill over a branch high up in a tree? (3) What kind of bird is dying at an alarming rate at Lake Nakuru?

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