Kenya

Kenya cultural reflection:

As we entered the village of Enoosaen we noticed all the different languages circulating around us as we walked into the market. Kenya is made up of 47 different tribes, or ethnic groups, the main ones being: Kikuyu, Luhya, Lou, Kisii and Maasai. Each tribe has its own language but naturally everyone speaks Kiswahili which is the most popular language. The national language is English and most Kenyan citizens can speak it well enough to get by. Some villagers from Enoosaen were able to go to a college in the states: University of Oregon, Univ. of Western Alabama and Stanford. The difference between here and the states is that everyone in Kenya is part of some tribe, whereas in the U.S. the people are almost all immigrants from Western European countries, with the exception of the Native American tribes that still remain. Each ethnic group migrated in its own way down to Kenya from surrounding countries. For instance Maasai herdsmen and their flocks of goat, sheep and cows migrated to the southern part of Kenya near Masai Mara and just west of Lake Victoria. Fisherman moved to around Lake Victoria and to the Mombasa area on the west coast. Although many intermingle they all must speak Kiswahili because you can’t, for example, speak Maasai to a Kisii man. It is amazing to see all the different cultures and languages spoken in Kenya.

Enoosean Village:

Days 212-223; 2-4/15-06:

We finally were able to get out of Nairobi heading over to the Acamba bus line station. We boarded a bus heading toward Kisii where a man named Julius was to meet us. After an excruciatingly long drive, where the bus broke down just before Kisii, we arrived. Julius met us just as we were unloading our packs and wondering what to do next. We were ushered over to a restaurant that was airing the African Cup. As we ate we discussed the price for the matatu into Enoosean. Finally coming to an agreement we drained our sodas and hurried down to the waiting matatu where we met the driver, Sele. Before leaving Kisii we stopped at Nakumatt to pick us groceries for our 10-day stay in our friend Ole Ronkei’s house. Three packets of spaghetti and bread and half an hour later we boarded the car with our groceries in tow. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed off on the bumpy road toward Enoosean in the night. Finally, in the dead of night, we arrived on the front porch of Ole Ronkei’s house on a hill. There we met Sureya, who lived in an adjacent house, and Elijah the goat and cow herder. After some chit-chat I made up my bed on the couch and fell asleep. Today was the first full day in Enoosean. We walked down to Enoosean Catholic Church. The church was small but it looked coo, made out of clay bricks and home-made wooden benches. After church we visited some of the water project committee members’ house. We walked a little ways throughout maize plantations and finally came across a few dwelling made up of clay. We were able to figure out what time we would meet in the morning while enjoying a cold Krest (bitter lemon soda). Eventually the meeting came to a close; we shook hands and departed towards our home.  After not walking around at all in Nairobi or the safari it was good to walk the 7km, even if it was in the hot Equatorial sun.

Nairobi—Nai-robbery:

The day after the safari we were really tired so we didn’t wake up for breakfast but went out to the youth hostel to eat breakfast. While we were there someone stole my mom’s wallet and Paul’s, mom’s and mine’s passports. This was very disappointing as passport are expensive to replace and we had collected a lot of stamps in the passports.

*List of animals spotted**:

1^st day: Samburu National Park

Ostrich

Von der Decken hornbill

Red-billed hornbill

Gerenuks (long-necked antelope)

Kirk’s dik dik (tiny antelope)

Giraffe, reticulated

African elephant

African buffalo

Mother lion and 2 cubs

2^nd day: Samburu/Buffalo Springs National Parks

Hadada ibis

Helmeted guinea fowl

Dik dik

Giraffe

Mother lion and 2 cubs (again)

Buffalo (up close this time)

Red-billed hornbill

Leopard

Dik dik

Herd of impalas (antelopes)

Oryx (antelopes)

Grant’s gazelles

Pride of 10 lions

Grevy’s zebra

Dik dik

Grant’s gazelle, oryxes, gerenuks, and impala

Herd of oryx with babies

Unstriped ground squirrel

Butler eagle

Mongoose, white-tailed

Black-backed jackal

Impala

Water buck

Lone female lion

Mother lion with 2 cubs (again!)

Superb starling

White-headed buffalo weaver

Ring-necked doves

Elephant shrew

Vervet monkeys

Olive baboons

Common agamas (lizard)

Ostrich, 2 males

Impalas

Oryxes

Harrier hawk

Mongooses, white-tailed

Grevy’s zebra

Water buck (big deer)

1 zebra

Grant’s gazelle

Gerenuks

Crocodile

Herd of zebras

Cheetahs, male and female

Thompson’s gazelles (the prey)

Vulturine guinea fowl

Black plover

Marabou stork

About 25 elephants

3^rd day: Buffalo Springs and Lake Nakuru National Parks

Dik dik

Grant’s gazelle

Herd of giraffes

Gerenuks

1 cheetah

Herd of zebras

4 elephants

Nakuru National Park (same day)

White stork

Grey-crowned crane

Wahlberg’s eagle

Marabou storks

White pelican

Sacred ibis

Yellow-billed stork

Zebras, plains (wider stripes)

Thompson’s gazelle

Wart hogs

Buffalo

Flamingo, greater and lesser

White rhinoceros (7)

Buffalo

Zebras

Thompson’s gazelles

Zebras

Olive baboons

Rothschild’s giraffe

Fish eagle

Wart hogs

Buffalo

Zebras

Impala

4^th day: on the way to Masai Mara

Secretary bird

Zebra, plains

Masai giraffe

Topis (large antelope)

Marabou stork

Gazelles, Thompson’s

Impalas

5^th day: Masai Mara

Wildebeest

Impalas

Zebra

Secretary bird

Harrier eagle

Topi

Thompson’s gazelle

Masai giraffe

Cheetah eating Thompson’s gazelle

Female lion, injured

Ground hornbill

Secretary bird

Herd of Zebras

Hartebeests (antelopes)

Wart hogs

Hartebeests

Lilac-breasted roller

Zebra

Wildebeest

Hartebeest

Buffalo

Eland (largest antelope)

Ostrich, male and female

Buffalo

Red-billed oxpecker

Ruppell’s vulture

Thousands of buffalos

2 giraffes

Topis

28 ostriches

Masked weaver

Hippopotamuses

Crocodile

Cheetah on top of grassy mound

Thompson’s gazelle

African elephant

1 giraffe

4 ostriches

Wildebeest-zebra-eland

Topis

10 Masai giraffe

12 elephants

1 lion

Herd of elephants

2 lions

Kori bustard

Goshawk

2 juvenile lions, 1 mother lion, 2 2-month-old cubs, and 1 male lion with a huge mane

1 black rhinoceros

3 yellow-billed oxpeckers

Elephants, baby and mama

6^th day: Masai Mara

5 black-backed jackals

Wildebeest

Crested plover

3 cheetahs (2 2-year-old cubs and a mom, who played with our lens cap that my father accidentally dropped)

Thompson’s gazelles mating

Wildebeest

Zebra

Giraffe

Wildebeest

Zebra-wildebeest-impala

Egyptian geese

Hippo

Marabou stork

Bush buck

Zebra

Buffalo

Wart hogs

3 buffalo (one had a spear in his head)

4 giraffes (2 babies, 2 mothers)

Zebra

2 ostriches

Buffaloes

Baboons

Elephants

4 male lions

White-headed vulture

Black-backed vulture

Elephants (4, plus a baby)

Reed buck

Buzzard

7^th day: Masai Mara to Nairobi

Giraffe

Elephant

Zebra

Hartebeest

Jackals

Thompson’s gazelle

Topis

Wildebeest

Zebras

Tawny eagle

Bat-eared fox

Masai Mara National Park:

Days 208-210; 1-31-06/2-2-06:

The first night we rolled into Masai Mara we stopped at a campground that was located nearby the park. The next morning we did not leave as early as usually because we were going to be staying for a full day in the park. As we entered the park our first wildebeests were grazing in a field, surrounded by impalas. The wildebeests were very humorous to watch because they had abnormally long, flat heads. We continued on past the impalas and through a herd of grazing plains zebras through a windy road out into the savanna. We continued through Thompson’s gazelles and, as we past a steep incline, a masai giraffe looking down on us. We drove up the hill towards our first masai giraffe. The masai giraffe was completely different from the other two kinds of giraffes, it’s coat appeared more spotted then drawn out like the other ones. Finally we left its majestic presences and continued on the road. Soon later we came across a cheetah with its kill, a Thompson’s gazelle. After a while of just relaxing by the kill the cheetah started to munch on the rear-end. When all was still you could here the snapping of the bones as the cheetah made its way through the leg meat. Eventually we decided to take off and try to find a different sight. Driving into a clearing we came across an injured lion lying underneath a bush. Sampuli said that she was hiding under the bush because if a pack of hyenas came by they could kill her while she was hurt. On the way to the Mara river we passed thousand of buffalos that were migrating over to Masai Mara from the Serengeti. As we started to approach the Mara river area we saw thousands of buffalos and zebras that were also migrating from Serengeti to the fertile pastures of the Masai Mara. Eventually we got to the famous spot on the Mara where the buffalos and zebra cross the Mara and subject themselves to the blood bath as it is a feast for large cats and crocodiles waiting in the bushes of the river. When we got to the area we saw around 20 hippos basking in the sun and playing in the water. To see the hippos was awesome because they really are magnificent and gigantic. They also have funny noses because they are shaped like a wide spoon. A little further along the river a croc was waiting patiently in the water for prey to come up. Although we good only see the head the guide said he was 10 meters long! After seeing the hippos and crocs we had lunch under the shade of a tree. Once we finished lunch we illegally crossed into Trans Mara where we ran into a cheetah. The cheetah was perched a top a mound on a hillock just pass the Masai Mara-Trans Mara boarder. We starred at it for about fifteen minutes before we saw a patrol truck coming over a near by hill and we had to high-tail it out of there. The rest of the day was spent looking for the black rhino which was on the edge of extinction. While in pursuit we came across a female and two cubs close to their den. Farther away a male lion relaxed in the tall grasses. Just then Sampuli spotted a black rhino and zoomed away. As it went into the bushes the rhino disappeared then Paul saw it again going through the bushes. We circled around the bushes and nearly ran into the rhino who had popped out of the other side. Soon he disappeared again but it was getting to late to track him. The next morning we made a bid to leave a little earlier in the morning to hopefully come across some more animals. We left not much earlier than before but it definitely paid off. We drove pas on the dusty road through herds of zebras and wildebeests. Unexpectedly we skidded to a halt in front of a bramble bush opposite a thorn tree. Curled beneath in the shade of both of the trees, was snuggled two baby cheetahs and their mom. Majestically resting beneath the trees the fastest animal in the world heaved deep breaths as it sat with one eye open surveying the uninvited visitors in the pale white van. As a curious baby stood up the mother stayed still but her attention spiked. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! Cameras went off like six shooters as the three of them rolled over, turning their backs on us, giving us the cold shoulder. Sitting in their presences was awe-inspiring. With a glinting gold coat that was reflecting in the suns light to give the appearance of a virtually being from above. Speckled from nose to toe were black spots adding a fifth-dimension to the coat of royalty. Waiting patently for something to happen we took less interested shots. Though one of those shots changed our view on cheetahs forever. As dad took a picture he repositioned the camera and in doing so the lens cover that blocked out the sun light slid off and hit the ground with a thud. The effect was immediate: each cheetah immediately sprang up to attention. Both baby cheetahs gingerly approached the alien object. After contact was initiated and they determined it to be a safe object they started to bat it around under the watchful eye of their mother. After a while we approached playing babies and they scattered. Sampuli was able to reach down and pluck the cover from the ground. It was hardly beat up so we decided to send our pictures to Sigma for an advertisement.

            After a long day of seeing wildebeests and buffalo we finally came across to males resting after a kill. They both had big manes on them and sat looking full after their meal. After a while of looking at them we started to wonder where the females were, Sampuli said they should be nearby. We drove into a heavy bushy area where we came across two more males under a bush also relaxing after a kill. When we could find no females and cubs nearby we pursued a group of elephant not to far away from the lions. One had a baby that looked really cool because it was so small.

Lake Nakuru National Park:

Day 206; 1-29-06:

We let for the National Park just after the sun crept over the mountains surrounding the valley and lake. After sliding our Smart card and gaining entrance we followed a path leading through zebras and birds until arriving in the open space surrounding the lake. The zebras however were what most people envision as a zebra. The plains’ zebra has thick strips and goes all the way around its body. We got out of the van for the first time ever in a game drive and approached a herd of zebra that promptly ran away. In a river flowing into the lake there were a ton of pelicans and herons. Eventually we got back into the van and headed over to the lake where approx. 3 million flamingos were standing. As we approached the lake the flamingos nearby to us flew away. Flamingos, I think, are portrayed wrong in most drawing you see of them. First of all, when I got to Nakuru I had the impression that flamingos were tall, it turned out that there only about three feet tall and look even smaller. A lot of people think that flamingos are pink, there not. Flamingos are white birds with a little pink around the tail feathers and the inside of there wings when they fly is a shocking, dark pink. We got back into the van and started off again, passing Thompson’s’ and other gazelles until we arrived at the spot were we though we had seen a rhino in the distance. They actually turned out to be five rhinos surrounded by hundreds of buffalos. The one we were looking at was a white rhino, one of the two species of rhinos on the earth. The white rhino is less endangered then its cousin, the black rhino. A rhino is hard to describe unless you have seen it before, they are like nothing else as they are so colossal and impossible to miss, even from a distance. White rhinos weight in at about 3500 kilos of sheer terror. Two horns in the front complete this forbidding animal. We soon passed on and encounter two more rhinos on our way to look-out point. From the look-out you could see the stones leading out into the lake where Meryl Streep stepped during the production of Out of Africa. Eventually we went down from the look-out and headed away from the lake to a savanna-like setting. There we encounter the Rothschild’s giraffes which are similar to the reticulated but the hexagons get cut out by whiteness about half-way up the neck. Now at two out of three we await the Masai giraffes in Masai Mara.

Buffalo Springs to Lake Nakuru National Park:

Day 205; 1-28-06:

Since we had to go through Buffalo Springs National Park to get to Lake Nakuru we were able to get an enroute game drive in Buffalo Springs National Park. On the way we saw the usual things like zebras and deer but also saw the same herd of elephant from last night. Driving on we passed a cheetah on a morning hunt but he ran away as we stopped. That night at Nakuru we stayed at a hotel nearby the park entrance.

Samburu/Buffalo Springs National Parks:

Days 203-204; 1-26/27-06:

*See my list of animals I have placed at the end of Masai Mara.

I woke up at Flora and rushed over to the breakfast table just as they clanged the bell signaling a meal. Eventually Jackson’s crew, Alex the chef and Fred the Driver, showed up and we got on the road. First though, was a stop at Barclays Bank. Unfortunately the bank did not offer transfers of the amount of money we needed for the safari. Finally we hit the trail for a seven hour journey to Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Parks. Just before entering the park mom shouted out. She literally shouted out, scaring away all the animals’ non-deaf and with half a brain. Anyways what she saw was a few ostriches peaking away of bits of this and that on the ground. All of our senses immediately took an adrenaline spike. One flat- tire and half an hour later we arrived at the zebra stripped gate into the park. Now, looking back on the day that night at camp, I really believe what a truly amazing place Africa is. Right as we entered the park we spotted a hornbill and an Oryx (a brown deer with a black stripe down the sides, it also has long, spiral horns). Soon after we encountered a herd of gerenuks grazing in the bushes. Gerenuks have super long necks with very petite heads. After the gerenuks we were speeding a long the trail to get to camp before dark when Paul cried out “Giraffe!” and sure enough a reticulated giraffe was grazing the tops of the trees on our right side. It was amazing to see it so close up. The reticulated giraffe has white lines forming hexagons against the brown body. With a neck as long as its body the giraffe still blended in against the bush land. The reticulated giraffe is what most people envision as a common giraffe though it is mainly secluded to the Samburu/Buffalo Springs/Shaba area. After getting a good glimpse of the giraffe I let my dad move in to get some pictures. As I did this I looked to my right and saw an elephant only about 150 meters away. Even from far away one could tell that the African elephant is gigantic but like everything else it blends in with its surroundings. He had a tough gray body with two shiny white ivory tusks protruding from the sides of his mouth. As the elephant moved away we could see a baby trailing along that we had not spotted yet. Soon the elephants moved away and disappeared into the brush. We could not follow them as we had to hurry back to camp before dark. Just as we were nearing camp I looked to my left and saw what appeared to be a jackal. Immediately we disappeared behind a bush but as we came out we realized that it was a baby lion. Looking past the one baby we saw another baby and a mother across the ditch. The cubs started to play restlessly as we watched them from the van. Lions more difficult to explain there awesomeness then the other cats as they don’t have a magnificent coat that makes them stand out. They just are. Lions are almost impossible to explain with words as they just have a light, dull coat with big ears and feet to large to fit the body. Today was another early day for us as we gulped down our tea and headed to the mini-van. Just as we started out we spotted two African buffalo in the brush only a little way from the road. Soon later we passed by about five about five mini-vans surrounding the lions we saw yester day only this time we had a better view of the mother lion as we could get closer because they were all resting under a tree. We entered open grassland with a dead tree sitting in the middle. By this time I wanted to see a cheetah so I looked around on the ground but Paul cries out that there’s a leopard in the dead tree. The leopard was maybe one of the coolest sightings so far (only rivaling with the lions). The coat was very shiny as though it had been recently polished. It sat majestically in the crook in the dead tree, its tall floating above a branch. In about 30 seconds we were surrounded by 10 mini-vans all swarming the tree to get the best picture. Looking over at the other vans it’s amazing to tell how much money some of these people have. One Chinese sitting in a van next to us has a brand-new Canon 600-800mm lens, somewhere around $8,000. Soon the leopard got tired of his vantage point and leaped down from the tree and came right towards our van. He went right under our van and at one point I was a meter away, it’s amazing to see such an awesome animal in so close quarters. The leopard slowly vanished into the bush and pulled away to look for other animals in the park. About five kilometers away we found a herd of reticulated giraffes standing on a ridge. Racing down the road our driver, Sampuli (Fred), saw fresh lion tracks on the side of the road. Sometime later we encountered a resting female in a grove of bushes. Trudging forward of came across a pride of lions crossing past the bushes in front of our van. The pride mainly consisted of grown females and juveniles along with some babies trailing behind. Following in the rear we fallowed them to a rest spot where it became to hard to spot them. Some time later Paul looked down the mountain to see a Grevy’s zebra in a distant plain. With pillars of dust in our wake we hastily made our way down the mountain and approached the zebra. Now Grevy’s zebras have very thin stripes down the sides but no stripes on the stomach area. Later on we started to look for elephants in a heavy elephant population area but came away with nothing. As we came down from that area we pasted a water buck which looks very much like a common donkey. Just as we were heading back for lunch we spotted a female lion in the shade that promptly left as we arrived. About a kilometer from camp we saw the female lion and two cubs that we had seen the day before. Though it was surrounded by mini-vans we were able to squeeze in for a few moments before we left to the camp for lunch. During the day we went off across the river to Buffalo Springs National Park to see a different type of semi-arid plains. In the beginning we did not see anything but some deer until we crossed over a ridge and saw two male ostriches in the grasslands. The male ostriches have big, circular black-haired bodies. The small neck and head makes the ostriches seem awkward in the plains. Females have a gray coat which don’t look as good as the males black ones. After a lot of driving and passing through herds of Oryx’s we arrived at a vantage point where we were able to get out and look at the view of the semi-arid plains. We dropped back down into valley and raced past a crocodile and large herds of zebras. After about fifteen minutes we came across two cheetahs basking in the shade of a tree. One cheetah was male and the other was female. Cheetahs have a silky gold coat with black spots from head to toe. On the face two black “tear drops” come down from the eyes to the mouth. Eventually they eased up and headed 200 meters to a fallen dead tree. By now the temperature had cooled and we were thinking that there could be a hunt. Once again they got but this time started heading towards a herd of Thompson’s gazelles. The male soon lagged back and laid low until the female was done hunting. The female crouched down and made her way slowly towards the herd. We waited for a long time while the cheetah slowly inched forward. It turned out all our waiting was for not. One outsider signaled the herd of the danger and the gazelles slowly moved away from the cheetahs. Once the cheetahs cover was blown she stood up and stalked away, waiting tell the herd “forgot” she was there. We however moved on to the site of buffalo springs were the National Park was named. Supposedly the Dutch we attempting to take over Kenya and were planning to bomb Nairobi. The British found this out and set up thousand of lanterns and tents to make it look like a populated center though no one was there. The Dutch fell for the trap and bomb the area, killing thousands of buffalos though no humans. Thus the name buffalo springs stuck and became an underground spring (water source) where the bombs hit. We soon realized that it was nearly dark so we started heading back to camp. Just as we neared camp we camp across and large herd of elephants numbering about 30. We were able to go really close and see them walk by our van. Finally, just like our first elephant sighting, we had to hurry back to make it to camp before dark. 

Nairobi, Kenya:

Days 200-203; 1-23/26-06:

Wow. Africa turned out to be a truly amazing place, at least in Nairobi. Immediately we were impressed by the cleanliness and well-kept manner of the city. Flying into Nairobi, on Air India from Mumbai (we were up graded to executive class); we had impressions that the city was “Nai-robbery”. From the minute we got in we found all the people to be friendly and ready to help. But warnings from the locals tell us not to let our guard down because of some of the issues from which the city earns it reputation, “Nai-robbery”. We were picked up from the airport by friends of friends. (My mom and dad’s friend Ole Ronkei and his family used to live with us in UO family housing in Eugene. Ole Ronkei is Masai but recently he and his family moved to Colorado.) Ole Ronkei’s friend, Jackson, dropped us off at Flora Hostel, recommended by another friend, also a Dominican priest like our priests at Newman Center in Eugene. The hostel was very clean and cheap, mainly because breakfast, lunch and dinner were included, something that has never happened before. In the evening my mom picked up our friend Marcia who had arranged to meet us in Nairobi. Marcia, who goes to our church, traveled when she was younger and decided that now was the time to start anew, seeing as Africa is such in exciting place to visit. She will be traveling with us through Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya before heading back to Eugene as we go to Turkey and Mediterranean Europe. Eventually we went with Jackson’s company on a seven day safari going to Samburu/Buffalo Springs, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara.

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