Had the most amazing weekend at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro this weekend. Was actually in Amboselli National Park on the Kenyan side of the Mountain, and we stayed at a stunning lodge, Satao Elerai that opened recently. (Now if Blogger or my ISP would only allow me to upload some pictures, I could show y'all how pretty it was there - but nooo, the Internet is out to frustrate the shit out of me today and is achieving it's goals admirably!)
It was a trip that I will not forget for a long time, if ever. Firstly we had the whole planning thing arse about face - got the directions wrong and ended up being lost for over four hours, but a least it was a fun four hours - driving trough a national park at night (illegally I might add) and then 'waiting' for a heard of ellies to cross the road - so worth it! And then getting to the camp with a cold gin and tonic and a warm meal waiting for us - how tough is it living in Africa?
The next day, after a scrumptious breakfast, we did a self drive safari with a M
asai as our guide. He command of the English language included left, right, straight, elephant, zebra, warthog etc and nothing else. It was amazing how this man could spot an animal MILES away and I could not find it with binoculars. Muzungu's (White people) aren't made for the bush apparently... We saw a heard of ellies (my favourite animal ever!) of over 100 animals, and the stunning sightings just kept coming. At one stage we were parked on the road with the heard on both sides of us - younger crowd on the left taking a dust bath, older crowd on the right giving disapproving glances.
asai as our guide. He command of the English language included left, right, straight, elephant, zebra, warthog etc and nothing else. It was amazing how this man could spot an animal MILES away and I could not find it with binoculars. Muzungu's (White people) aren't made for the bush apparently... We saw a heard of ellies (my favourite animal ever!) of over 100 animals, and the stunning sightings just kept coming. At one stage we were parked on the road with the heard on both sides of us - younger crowd on the left taking a dust bath, older crowd on the right giving disapproving glances. So the next minute these two young'ens start making a ruckus on the left - chasing each other, kicking up a whole lot of dust and making a real noise. (I'm in heaven at this stage, ellies playing) This goes on for a few minutes and then an old bull from t
he other side of the road decides that enough is enough... He drops his (not unsubstantial) fifth leg and start storming across the road - trumpeting and making sure EVERYBODY knows he's now PISSED. He storms trough the crowd of other young'ens and heads directly for the two young bulls making a fuss. These two have seen that they are now in trouble and decide that the best course of action would be to RUN... They head of in separate directions and run like hell, but the old 'codger' has set his sights on teaching somebody a lesson - and gets a hold of the one young'ens tail - young'en not slowing down for a second, just being tugged at from behind by angry bull elephant and 'sort of screeching' the whole time in this very nervous little voice. It was the funniest thing ever - even our Masai Guide had this grin on his face for the rest of the afternoon.
he other side of the road decides that enough is enough... He drops his (not unsubstantial) fifth leg and start storming across the road - trumpeting and making sure EVERYBODY knows he's now PISSED. He storms trough the crowd of other young'ens and heads directly for the two young bulls making a fuss. These two have seen that they are now in trouble and decide that the best course of action would be to RUN... They head of in separate directions and run like hell, but the old 'codger' has set his sights on teaching somebody a lesson - and gets a hold of the one young'ens tail - young'en not slowing down for a second, just being tugged at from behind by angry bull elephant and 'sort of screeching' the whole time in this very nervous little voice. It was the funniest thing ever - even our Masai Guide had this grin on his face for the rest of the afternoon. So after not being able to really catch this young'en the old bull decided to pee on everything and then went back to standing around and being calm and collected... (By the way, a bull elephant having a pee is a sight to behold!)
Telling you more of this trip will take me a whole day and I just don't have time, but will try and post some video of this event and share it with y'all.
On another note - I only have another week or so left in Kenya before I go back home... Sadness has gripped me, and at the same time happiness as well. And on yet another note - has some really exciting news on the work front as well which I will share soon... Going to have a whole lot of fun I am!!!
Hope y'all are having loving, sharing days now!!!
TTFN
4 comments:
Oh, what fun! Love the elephant stories. (for an amazing show, search YouTube for mating elephants. Their penis is almost as agile as their trunk)
Though the giraffe is my favorite. Did you see any giraffes?
The first time I saw a bull elephants pecker, I got depressed... for weeks.
I never got over the feelings of inadequacy :) Great post! I go to Kili next month and I'm all excited.
I wish I was there to get away
from here. So glad you had a great
time.
Thanks for being you Billy.
You're the best.
Hugs!
Gee, and all I did today was to go the grocery store. Didn't see even one Elephant.
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