TSAVO- Land of the Maneaters!

TSAVO!

Hi everybody! Sorry for the long break, but I just got back from the “Land of the Man-Eaters,” Tsavo National Park. If anyone has seen the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness, then you know where I’ve been for the past week. That movie is based on the true story of Colonel Patterson who is famous for killing the two lions that when on a 9-month killing spree of Indian workers who had been brought to Kenya to build the railroad going from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. While I never actually saw a lion while I was in Tsavo, I did fall asleep to them roaring in the not-so-far distance. Also, I know I look like a dweeb in most of these pics, but since we didn’t have access to showers the whole week I hope you can understand.

My story begins on March 3 at 5:00 in the morning…

This morning was my turn for cook crew. Battling the beetles and bats flying at my headlamp, I got ready to cook breakfast with my team, Kikuyu, before the whole camp left for expedition. Since we packed all the food our cook, James, just brought back from Nairobi, we didn’t have much to work with. We managed to whip out a healthy meal of scrambled eggs, toast, oatmeal and freshly sliced watermelon before the sun was up. After shoveling our food into our mouths, we packed our things into the Rhino, the big white truck we carry all of our supplies in, and hit the road. We stopped for a 2 hour wildlife management class on top of a hill just outside of Kimana. Afterwards, we scrambled into the cars once more to continue on our journey to Tsavo. About 45 minutes before getting to Tsavo, we had to stop and pick up a couple of KWS guards to accompany us to the gate. Apparently the road we take to Tsavo has become popular to tourist targeting, but we were absolutely fine:) When we got to the gate, we found out that something had gone wrong with our smart cards (a system used in Kenya to get into all of the national parks and protected areas). After about 30 minutes we were allowed to continue on our way to our campsite. Literally 3 minutes into our drive we saw 7 giraffes browsing by the roadside and startled a huge warthog from where he had been hiding in a bush. We continued on our way to Komboyo campsite where we set up the tents and unpacked the Rhino. Then we ended the day with a nice game drive through the park. We saw elephants drinking water from a watering hole by KWS headquarters, lesser kudus, guinea foul, impala, gazelles, zebra (punda mulia), and more giraffes. After a filling meal, we sat around the campfire telling scary stories and listening to the elephants trumpet and lions roar.

March 4

Today we went to the Chyulu Hills for a lecture and a nice hike. Chyulu is often advertised as the secret of Kenya…and I can see why. It’s gorgeous! The scenery reminded me of the picnic scene in Out of Africa. It makes me sad that my camera can’t capture the beauty…but then again it might be the photographer:/ Anyway…we had a 2 hour long environmental policy class where I managed to get really attractive sock tan lines that are about halfway up my calf. Fall has started to set in where I am, so it’s really funny to see all of our professors basically wearing winter coats and sweaters while all of the students are in shorts and t-shirts, and are still sweating. After class we ate lunch (I imagined I was on a lunch date with Robert Redford) and then, for those who wanted to, went on a hike with some really good-looking KWS escorts. While hiking we saw a herd of Coke’s Hartebeest galloping over the hills. On my way down with Isobel and Anna, some of the boys decided to hide behind a bush a scare us…it worked. Our staff surprised with a visit to the town right outside of Tsavo NP for ice cream! It honestly felt like I was back in the States, because the roads were paved and there was a Shell station on the corner. There was even a flush toilet…weird! On the way back to camp we stopped in at the Visitor’s Center and did a game drive the rest of the way back to camp.

Funny, sort of, instance that happened to me at night. Well I woke up really having to go to the bathroom at night. When we need to go to the choo, we are supposed to flash our flashlights at the eskaris so that they can accompany us to the bathroom and protect us from whatever happens to be lurking in the tall grass nearby. So deciding that I couldn’t wait until morning, I flashed the eskaris and was accompanied to the choo. While I was on my way back, the biggest roar ever came from the darkness. AHHHHHHHH! Actually I wasn’t that scared because the eskari that accompanied me is famous for killing a lion back in the day. The eskari rushed me back to my tent and joined the other 3 guards to assess the situation. In the morning we found out that a male lion had decided to take a stroll by camp and have a quick cat nap in the middle of the road that runs by our campsite.

March 5

Today we had a low key day in camp. We got to sleep in this morning (6:30 am)…yay! After breakfast we had a preparatory lesson for the animal count we will be doing tomorrow for wildlife ecology. Then we went for a short game drive where our professor showed us the difference between shrubland and bushland. I’m not gonna lie…they look pretty much the same. On the way back from camp we found some honey badger poop! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but my professors (ALL of them) LOVE picking up poop. Fortunately the poop was still fresh, and kinda runny, so they refrained from picking it up and passing it around even though I could totally tell it was killing them to not pick it up. When we got back to camp, a scientist working for Tsavo West came to speak with us about the health of the park and the problems being faced. It’s sad to hear the poaching is still a problem…although it’s not as bad as it once was because KWS has really been able to crack down on the bad guys. We ended the day with a, you guessed it, a game drive!

March 6

Today was an early day! We woke up at 6 to do our animal counts in our different transects. My group saw lots of cool animals: hippos, klipspringers, lesser kudu, impala, warthogs, dik-diks, zebra, giraffes, monkeys, baboons, and lots of pretty birds. At lunchtime we met the rest of the group at an inactive volcano and hiked to the top for a little R&R…and lunch:) The lava rocks are sort of loose so it was funny watching all of us slowly make our way to the top. We ate lunch, took lots of neat pics, and then headed down so we could go to Mzima springs, where the fish give hippos pedicures. On our way down, a bus full of boys from one of the secondary schools in the area came and totally put us to shame as they sprinted up the side of the mountain.

At Mzima Springs we enjoyed seeing all of the hippos, crocs, monkeys, and birds. I was even lucky enough to snap a shot of an African squirrel…whoa! There was a neat underwater observation deck where you could see these really big fish. They looked really tasty. I also saw a crocodile sitting by a waterfall with his mouth open waiting for the fish to come his way.

Word of Caution: When visiting Mzima Springs, beware of monkeys. They like to come up and say hi!

March 7

Today we went and visited the Ngulia Rhino sanctuary where Kenya is in the process of rehabilitating a population of black rhinos. Supposedly there are 69 black rhinos living in this sanctuary…well we were there for 4 hours and never saw one! We did however see the cutest scene of guinea fowl running to this watering hole, getting quick drink of water, and running back into the long grass for protection. We also saw the prettiest giraffes, the ugliest warthogs, and zebra.

After the sanctuary we went to a lodge for another killer buffet and some swim time. This lodge is known for baiting leopards with goats to show the guests. We didn’t stay long enough so we didn’t get to see it (Side note: It is not good to feed wild animals because they lose their natural ability to stalk and kill their prey…so don’t do it).

March 8

Today we packed up camp and headed back to KBC. I really miss Tsavo but it feels good to be home.