Monday, October 27, 2008

On Safari Day 2

We crossed over and then drove along the equator to Sweetwaters tented camp where we stayed for the second night of our safari. The camp sits in the middle of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. It is a privately owned game reserve that has very knowledgeable Park Rangers who live on site. The reserve is also home of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary established by Jane Goodall.

This site has a watering hole to watch animals come and go. Shortly after we arrived a family of giraffe came to drink. It is quite a sight to see a tall giraffe bend down on its knees to drink. There was also an abundance of warthogs with baby warthogs in tow. We watched the water hole from the deck of our “tent”.



We took a couple of “game drives” around the 90,000 acre property. We saw large numbers of impala, gazelle, water buffalo, hippo, and bushbuck. We were also mesmerized by the quiet beauty of zebra and giraffe. And we saw three lions!! There was a young male, an older male and a female hanging around in some tall grass by the side of the road. We watched them for 30 minutes. We saw them yawn with huge big mouths. We saw them roll around in the grass. We heard them roar – just like a real lion.



We also got to meet “Max”, a white Rhino that was raised by the park rangers and is being reintroduced to the wild. “Max” believes that Ranger Patrick is his mother and he sleeps next to Patrick’s front door. I wonder how his wife feels about that! Patrick can also “talk” to Max using a huffing sound. It was quite amazing to watch.

After a wet 4 hour drive back to Nairobi, we were exhausted and over-stimulated by all that we had seen.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, this sounds so amazing. It is a dream of mine to see giraffe in Africa in their natural environment. I'm so jealous of you. A bit more exciting to see the lions then the wildlife around Harmony Lake.

Anonymous said...

so much fun!
What a great family picture too.

Love to all

Carla (Shaw)

Anonymous said...

It looks like you guys are having a good time in kenya.
God bless
Lianna

Barb said...

Hello everone, just catching up with your blogs. They are wonderful. Is jealousy a sin,(yes, I know it is) but what great experiences you guys are having. I know some are more difficult than other but God is with you in all of them. You all look great. Love Ya Barb