Special Birthday (Part 1)

Juvenile Elephants kicking up the dust and having fun - Samburu, Kenya

Thankfully, special birthdays only tend to come around every 10 years and these days seem to be celebrated by a special holiday. It’s a while since my last one and our annual September trip to France was sufficient celebration. OK, I embellished it by riding my bike up the Col du Tourmalet and being met at the top by friends with a bottle of champagne. Meanwhile Rose was engaged in her own battle cycling up the other side of the Col.

This year it was Rose’s turn for the special celebration and the long held plan to spend it in New Zealand was suddenly changed by the desire to visit Kenya once more. It was our third visit inside two years, but the special nature of this trip was that it wasn’t confined to the Mara. This time we started out in Samburu for three nights, followed by three more nights in Solio, before we returned to our favourite Maasai Mara.

Our first game drive in Samburu wasn’t very special and we wondered if we had chosen wisely. But all worries were dispelled next morning, when our first sighting shortly after leaving camp was four Cheetahs, a mother and her three sub-adult cubs. While we were viewing them, a quick look on the other side of the vehicle showed three exceptionally confiding Bat-eared Foxes. An hour and threequarters with them flew by.

Moving on, our next sighting was of a lone Grevy’s Zebra, a species with absolutely beautiful markings. It was soon time for breakfast in the bush and our chosen spot yielded the vividly coloured Agama Lizard. After breakfast the next delight and a first for us was a Gerenuk, also known as a Giraffe-necked or Long-necked Antelope. This first was rapidly followed by another, as we saw a pair of Reticulated Giraffe. It was time to return to the lodge for lunch.

We were soon out again in the afternoon, which was dominated by a large herd of Elephants, which contained a number of entertaining youngsters. There was also a Grey-headed Kingfisher that was determined to be photographed. Final sighting of the day was a Leopard in a tree that kept us captivated for fully 45 minutes. Perhaps our initial impression of Samburu had been a little hasty.

Next morning we headed straight to the Bat-eared Foxes and inevitably the Cheetahs were close at hand too. Two and a half hours soon passed, before we moved on to do some birds (White-throated Bee-eaters and Pygmy Falcon) finishing up with more young Elephant antics. After lunch at the lodge, we spent some time on the balcony of our tent photographing the White-headed Mousebirds.

The afternoon was mainly given over to birds, before we headed back to the previous day’s Leopard site where this time we found not only the adult, but two cubs as well.

Our final morning in Samburu started with a drive straight back to the Leopards where we weren’t disappointed. We stayed with them for about 20 minutes before they did what Leopards do and melted into the undergrowth. We did more bird shots, but the time was fast approaching when we had to return to the lodge for breakfast. However, our luck was in on the drive back where we had another encounter with the four Cheetahs, this time with a kill, followed by our first Lions of the trip.

After breakfast we had a fairly long road transfer to Solio where the main interest was Rhino. On the way we crossed the Equator and had to stop to witness the way water drains away through a small aperture in both hemispheres.

Solio was a little different in so far as the lodge is outside of the reserve. Arriving for a late lunch, we soon were in the reserve and Lions were the first sighting. Given that our main focus here was Rhino, we were soon on to them and there were White Rhino everywhere. Where these animals are persecuted and poached so readily, it was wonderful to see them in this environment where they have a good degree of protection. Our first impression here was so different to that in Samburu.

Day two started out with birds and Buffalo before we found a family of very industrious Coypu and soon it was lunchtime. Reticulated Giraffe, White Rhino and Waterbuck, together with one of my favourite birds, the Grey Crowned Crane took up most of the afternoon and was rounded off with our sole sighting of a Black Rhino. Finding our way back to the gate, we again came across a pride of Lions that filled the final 35 minutes of our day.

Our final day in Solio was rather quiet and consisted mainly of birds, Vervet Monkeys and Hartebeest. And that was our new part of the adventure over. Next morning was an early start to catch our flight into the Mara, but I’ll save that for next time.