This morning game drive focused on the marshy region of the park. Fewer large animals, but a very large number of birds. We saw our first wild hunt - a great white heron that stole a plover chick, and slowly managed to swallow it while being harassed by the two plover parents. It took several minutes for the heron to swallow its meal.
The evening game drive showed off the Amboseli plains, with Mt Kilamanjaro (which finally shed its shroud) serving as the backdrop. A number of larger animals chose to be photogenic. We also saw a herd of 34+ elephants, including a mother with 2-month-old twins (twins are very rare), and big sister helping them along. We were fortunate to see a wide variety of behaviors - nursing infants, wrestling between adolescent males, and protective behavior toward the babies. Observation of their interactions at close-range for a longer period was a real treat.
After, on the way back to the lodge, Eldorit posed for us in front of the mountain.
Oh - and there are a couple of lions trapped in the compound (on the wrong side of the electric fence). Perhaps the self-guided nature walk Jana and I took after lunch was not such a great idea.
After dinner, our guide Aaron arranged a private lecture over drinks with Norah Njiraini, the lead researcher at Amboseli Trust for Elephants. She took an evening out of her very busy schedule to meet with us to describe the mission of the Trust, and about the elephants. Community support has been critical, because the elephants' range far exceeds the size of the park, and extends into neighboring Tanzania (as she stated, elephants don't use passports). By increasing protections within the park, and with the support of the locals outside of the park to report poaching activities, the elephant population over the past 30 years has more than doubled, to over 1000.
Nearly all of the elephants have names, according to family lines (names of family members all start with the same letter, from AA to ZZ), and can be identified by ear-shape (and Norah was able to identify El Dorit by photo). Families within the park are tracked and observed, to study behavior and well-being. She discussed with us the lifecycle of the elephants, diets, ranges, communications, family structure and interactions, social behaviors, and much, much more. She is infectiously passionate about her work, and extremely generous by spending her evening with us (she squeezed us in between a day of meeting with government officials this day, and training a group on preparation for an aerial census the next). We were truly blessed.
Morning Drive:
Grey Heron
Crested Cranes
Baboon mother with infant
Egyptian Geese with chicks
Yellow-billed Stork marching in formation and feeding
An old, and grouchy cape-buffalo that charged right after I took this photo. Our driver quickly got us out of range.
Spoon-bills
White-faced duck
Red African Jacunda (and chicks hiding in the grass). Big, big feet.
Sacred Ibis
Greater Egrets (with Spoonbills)
Stilt
Blacksmith Plover
Great White Heron with plover chick. First photo right after capture. Second several minutes later just before completing its meal.
Flamingos
Hippo and baby (there were a few hippos, but they spent most of their time submerged, and rarely showed themselves at the same time)
Elephant bull wishing us a good breakfast at the end of the morning drive.
Post-lunch nature-walk. The fastest and most colorful caterpillar I have ever seen.
Nature walk - giant cactus tree (euphorbia candelabra - Candelabra Tree) in front of an acacia.
Afternoon drive:
Troop of 39+ baboons.
Reedbuck in distance
African plains
Herd of elephants below Mt K, peeking out from behind clouds
Mom (Paru), twins, and big sister
Crossing the road, right in front of us.
Adolescent males fighting
A galloping ostrich under Mt K.
El Dorit posing under Mt. K. He insisted on both side- and front- poses.
Elephant silhouette at sunset
Mt K framed by acacia trees.
Silhouette of a Christopher at sunset at the end of an evening game drive.
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