Safari to Kenya – Ol Kinyei Conservancy (Day 2)

This is a continuation from Safari to Kenya – Ol Kinyei Conservancy that ended at Porini Cheetah Camp on Friday, March 11 after travelling there from Sunbird Lodge on Lake Elmenteita and a wonderful afternoon Game Drive once at Porini Cheetah Camp.

Recap: On Friday, we travelled 5 hours by road from Sunbird Lodge, Lake Elmenteita to Porini Cheetah Camp. We met our hosts, Jui and Nirmalya Banerjee at Porini Cheetah Camp, our guides Joel and Phillip and some of the staff, notably Edward and Kevin. We went on an afternoon Game Drive and saw numerous animals and birds on Ol Kinyei Conservancy. The highlights of the drive were a Green Mamba, and the best sundowner ever, involving Entito the Cheetah mom with her cubs, just behind Tent #6 of camp! We wound up the day with a wonderful dinner and went to bed early.

Porini Cheetah Camp – Morning Game Drive (Saturday, March 12)

We woke early on Saturday; both Iris and I were up at 0515. While we prepped for the day, Iris said she had seen four Zebra grazing right outside our tent at about 0300! I could not believe that I had slept through it all. At about 0530 a staff member dropped off coffee and tea. After I downed my coffee, I headed for the fire pit (iris needed a few minutes) and met Edward and some other Maasai men sitting around the embers and, incongruously to me, watching English Premier League football (soccer) on their phones! A few minutes later, Iris walked over, and we went to the front entrance to camp to find Joel and Phillip. They were waiting for us, and we set off immediately for our Morning Game Drive. After a drive of about 10 minutes, we saw a pride of lions, two females and five cubs right beside the dirt track! Joel drove off road and stopped right by them. The lions were just relaxing; a couple of the cubs were playing while the mom(s) watched indulgently! We watched them at play for a while and then Joel moved on.

I took a photo of sunrise just as Phillip or Joel said, “Giraffe”! We saw it munching on leaves atop a tree. We set off and had moved a couple of hundred yards when Joel suddenly swerved off road. That is when we saw a beautiful Masai Ostrich. Disturbed by our arrival, it took off and then began dancing a little further away! The first Ostrich photo below shows dust kicked up by the Ostrich’s feet as it ran away from us!

We had a bald patch for about 20 minutes where Joel drove, and we saw very little. But it was a cool morning, very welcome after the heat of the daytime! Just before 7am, we saw a pair of Grey-crowned Cranes (the national bird of Uganda), then a pair of Egyptian Geese, a Roller and then an Elephant mom with her baby feeding on the grass.

Right after the Elephant, we spotted a Topi grazing on the grass. Joel continued to drive and soon we saw a stream. On the bank opposite, we spotted a pair of Dik-Dik with a Helmeted Guinea Fowl.

As Joel took our 4×4 over the stream, we saw a tiny board informing us that we were leaving Ol Kinyei Conservancy. Fording the stream involved going down about 10 feet to and then back up the other side; the Toyota handled that like a champ! On the other side we saw a board announcing that we were now in Naboisho Conservancy. After we crossed over into Naboisho, the track, as it was, improved and was straighter allowing us to go faster (not necessarily a good thing!). A little later, we saw a Pumba family beside the track with two Pumbas on the track, followed shortly by a Hartebeest to our right.

Joel drove for a few more minutes, and then swerved off the track to pull up right beside a lioness and three cubs. The two cubs sitting further were perhaps 6 months old. The lions sat on the grass sunning themselves, and the lioness was clearly sleepy as evidenced by her droopy eyelids! A few minutes later the two cute-as-button cubs that were further away rose, nuzzled, and played affectionately as they walked across the grass. We watched this display for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Joel set off again and shortly came up to a large pond with a bridge going over it. He stopped right on the bridge. To my right was a tree with dozens of weaver bird nests and we could hear them squawking away as they busily continued to build their nests. The guides said that the birds with the best nest would win the females! If no females liked the nest, the male would tear it down and build another in its place! Further away in the pond were a few hippos wallowing in the water! Phillip told us that hippos did everything in the water and didn’t care how filthy it got. The only time they left was after dark when they would go foraging and grazing in the surrounding area.

This was quite a beautiful spot! We watched for a bit and then Joel drove off. We stopped a few minutes later under a tree in an otherwise wide-open expanse of grassland. We dismounted and with typical Masai caution, Phillip walked around the tree to check for anything dangerous, especially any venomous snakes. Joel and Phillip then proceeded to pull out a couple of tables, 4 camp chairs and our breakfast for the day thoughtfully packed by the chef at camp. We helped set things up and had an excellent bush breakfast. There was fruit, juices, eggs, and meats for those who wanted it, baked beans, pancakes (!), toast, all kinds of jellies, jams and hot sauces and coffee and tea to wash it all down. We sat and ate while chatting – it was a most congenial morning.

With breakfast done, we carefully put everything away – not one piece of plastic wrap was allowed to litter the countryside. Everything went easily into the back of the converted pickup truck. By now, it was nearing 9:30am and we set off again. Joel drove up to another pond and we saw a massive Nile Crocodile with a huge tail sunning itself on the bank. We then saw a Wooly-necked stork on a tree branch and at least three large groups of Hippos, probably numbering about 50 in all in the same pond a little further away from the Crocodile. The Hippos made a ruckus as they swam around, and the whole place didn’t smell too good (unlike the other pond, this had far more hippos per square yard)!

After watching the scene for a few minutes, we drove on. We passed a herd of Zebra, then a couple of Giraffe and a Topi standing on a Termite mound. Our guides told us that Topis do that to confuse predators and, in some instances, even sleep in that position! The predators think they are alert and not worth the trouble to hunt. Quite a strategy. We spotted more Giraffe and then a dirt airstrip where some people waited for their flights to Nairobi and other places.

As we approached the airstrip, we saw something hilarious! A man on a motorcycle was at the end closest to the building that housed the restroom. He revved his engine and then drove up the runway! I asked Phillip and Joel, “Why’s he doing that?”. They said that the goal was to disperse any Wildebeest, Zebra and other animals that may occupy the runway! Only in Kenya!!

Joel drove towards camp, about a half-hour drive from where we were. On the way we saw herds of Zebra, Wildebeest, and the odd Gazelle looking for shade from the hot sun. As we approached camp, we spotted our Mongoose family and then a beautiful baby Waterbuck with its family.

A minute later, we were at the entrance to camp. It was 11:15am and we had been out a bit over 5 hours, with 45 minutes of that for breakfast. It had been a fun game drive and we had seen quite a bit.

Interlude (Saturday, March 12)

At camp, we headed straight for our tent to wash up. We decided to hold off on showering till after the evening game drive. The coolness of and around the tent was inviting, and I took up my usual position outside, under the canopy, and transferred photos from the camera to my phone so that I could later upload these to the master album I was maintaining for the trip. I checked the camera batteries – everything was in great shape. After an idle couple of hours sitting around, we washed up again and went to lunch.

Lunch was a casual affair. Nirmalya and Jui were there, and we caught them up on the day. I was very curious about the logistics of running the camp and asked a few questions about it. They told me that there was a ton of planning and coordination involved, right from understanding any dietary restrictions for clients to planning a week ahead. Every week, two trucks arrived from Nairobi (a four to five-hour drive) with all the supplies for the upcoming week. This included all fruit, vegetables, meats, water, drinks, milk, provisions for the kitchen, fuel, and the like. Therefore, they needed to understand what the guests could eat or drink. They did not have the luxury of walking or driving over to the nearest supermarket to pick up what they were missing! They typically did not know who the guests were until they arrived, usually only knowing gender and food restrictions. They tried to eat meals with the guests to get to know them better and had developed friendships. They considered this part of the benefits of running the camp.

After another pleasant repast, we retired to our tent to spend the afternoon. I spent the afternoon on the computer organizing photos, posting select photos to Instagram, and otherwise catching up on email. At about 3:45pm we headed to the lounge tent for tea, quite familiar with the drill now! Again, I opted for coffee while Iris enjoyed a cup of her Kericho Gold tea (she tells me that Kenyan Tea is awesome). I idly took photos of the lounge and dining tents and the manager’s office (the smaller tent in the last photo below) before we headed to the camp’s entrance for our Afternoon Game Drive.

Porini Cheetah Camp – Afternoon Game Drive (Saturday, March 12)

Joel and Phillip patiently waited for us while we finished with tea. We set off immediately. Within a few minutes from camp (you can see the tents on the second photo below) we saw an Elephant peacefully munching on the grass. Joel stopped about 15 yards ahead of it at an angle to allow us to view it. It slowly moved behind the vehicle and then onto our right. Soon, we spotted another Elephant moving on our left. The pair kept feeding while moving towards each other. When they were a foot apart, they said “Hello” to each other by entwining their trunks! They then moved apart again continuing to feed. It was a beautiful sight!

Joel said they were likely headed to the pond up on a plateau to our left and past a stand of short trees. He asked if we wanted to try to see them there and we happily said “yes.” So, he started the vehicle and headed up the plateau until we were beside the waterhole. While we waited, we saw a Hamarkope, then a Zebra drinking at the pond and a pair of Egyptian Geese first swimming at the edge of the pond and, later, on the bank.

We did not see the elephants even though we waited for over 10 minutes. We headed down from the pond on the plateau to check where they were. As we suspected, we saw them moving slowly through the stand of trees eating the tender leaves on top of the trees. They were clearly not too interested in drinking at that moment!

We decided to drive further out and soon saw Giraffe. Like every other animal on the Savanna, they were eating! In fact, other than humans and predators, just about everything else was eating something all the time!

We drove a little further with Joel and Phillip looking for lions where they normally expected to find them at that time of day. They were right, and we found a drowsy lioness half-asleep under a bush. Within a couple of minutes, she was on her side enjoying a fuller nap!

Leaving her to her nap, we drove further and soon spotted a pair of Gazelle, followed by a brightly colored Chameleon, halfway up a tree-trunk, and then a pair of Jackals.

Joel drove a little further and then stopped on the bank of a stream where he had seen a herd of Wildebeest. We had fun watching the herd cross the stream – a miniature of what a crossing of the gigantic herds of Wildebeest across the Mara River must be like during the migration (July-August). Only a handful of these Wildebeest realized that the water was an inch deep and walked across!

By now, it was almost 6pm and we decided to go to an open spot to enjoy our sundowners. We saw another Jackal on the way. Soon we were at a flat plain and stopped to pull out a table. This evening, we had nuts to go with my gin and tonic, Iris sipped on a crisp white wine, while Joel and Phillip enjoyed a Coca Cola and Sprite, respectively. It was a beautiful sunset – we had only two more to go before our Safari was over, and we had to get back to what passed as civilization!

After a drink, we headed back to camp seeing a monkey and an owl. Joel radioed ahead that we would both like a shower. When we got to the camp entrance it was dark and we headed back to our tent under escort.

Dinner and a Night Game Drive (Saturday, March 12)

After a quick shower, we headed back to the Dining tent and had another wonderful meal. We chatted a bit with the Banerjees. They told us about a visit to meet their son in Minnesota while we told them about winters in New Jersey! After dinner, we clustered around the campfire and, after about 5 minutes, we said goodnight to the Banerjees and headed to our vehicle.

At 9pm, we set out for our short Night Game Drive. To me, this was a pleasant experience, but I did not expect to see anything in the dark (thankfully, I was proved wrong). Phillip assured me that he would use the red filtered lamp and we might see nocturnal animals. We drove for 5 minutes and saw a small herd of Eland.

Joel drove on the dirt track for another 10 minutes and stopped suddenly. Phillip quickly shone his spotlight closer to the vehicle until we saw it – a large drowsy male lion right beside our vehicle on the left! I still have no idea what Joel could see while driving; neither Iris nor I saw anything until our trusty Maasai guides told us where to look. Amazing eyesight they have! Joel then told us in whispers that this male was part of the pride we had seen earlier that day. Typically, they stayed away from the rest of the pride for long durations where they patrolled their territory and defended the pride from incursions by other prides. They joined in hunts for larger prey, like Buffalo; otherwise, the females took care of the hunting. We wondered where the other male was, so Phillip slowly moved his spotlight until it shone on the right of the vehicle. And there was the first lion’s partner, fast asleep and completely oblivious to our presence! We took in the sight for about 5 minutes and then headed back to camp for the night.

We got back to camp at about 9:55pm. After a quick goodnight to Joel, Phillip and the staff clustered around the fire, we went back to our tent. We had our visit to the Masai Mara Reserve planned for the next day and were planning to leave camp at 0630. After setting camera batteries to charge, we went to bed right away, feeling happy at how fortunate we had been to see all the wildlife we had seen that day.

Random Tidbits and Musings

• At least a couple of the staff members at camp stayed awake through the night. They guarded camp against any large animals, like Elephants that attempted to stray into camp for forage.
• We had a choice of driving to the Masai Mara Reserve on the road or offroad through Naboisho Conservancy. We decided to go on the road to get their quickly but come back offroad via Naboisho.
• Before the Safari, back in February when planning out our itinerary with Nirmalya, I had asked if we could do a Hot Air Balloon ride over the Mara. He recommended against it – for upwards of $450 per person, it just was not worth the expense unless it was July-August during the Wildebeest migration. You do not see many animals except during the migration. (However, they do serve you a champagne breakfast after the Balloon ride!)
• The fires at Porini Cheetah Camp seemed out-of-character for the Maasai – I had previously heard at Amboseli that Maasai preferred small fires. I suspect they made larger fires at this camp for the benefit of guests (not complaining)!
• The previous day, Iris and I handed over chocolates to Nirmalya and Jui (we had purchased these from Duty Free at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam). They graciously accepted and then Jui carefully put away the plastic duty-free bag. It had not occurred to us that even the duty free bag was verboten in Kenya, especially since it had no markings indicating who was responsible for recycling it!

(Photos can be found on this Google Photos Album while videos are at this YouTube Channel.)

To be continued…