This morning, we bid farewell to Amboseli with a final drive to the airstrip. A monkey bid us farewell from the sign of our lodge as we departed. We also had a cape buffalo give one last pose in front of the mountain.
After flying to Nairobi, we flew to Samburu Buffalo airport for an early afternoon game-drive to the lodge. The area here is much more lush and hilly, making the game-search more challenging, especially for smaller animals and those that don't wish to be seen. Giraffes, elephants and Grant's gazelles were prolific.
The lodge at Larsen's camp has 'luxury tents,' meaning that the walls and ceilings are canvas, but we have electricity, beds, showers, and internet. When we leave the room, we have to lock the zippers, or the monkeys get in. Our tent opens to the Ewaso Ng'iro river (Brown River), which serves as the lifeline for the area year-round. It is also the home to crocodiles and other wildlife. No one in the history of the lodge has been eaten (yet). Monkeys abound. And they are cheeky. After lunch, dozens came into the dining tent searching for goodies. The camp has a professional Monkey Chaser to keep them at bay (with a slingshot).
The highlight of the afternoon game-drive was the spotting of the elusive leopard (we have now seen 4 of the "Big-5," with only the rhino remaining. I saw it hiding in the bush about 150-200 feet away and asked the driver and guide to stop. After our guide confirmed the beast (I had also earlier spotted some termite mounds), the leopard leapt onto the nearby rock to check us out before turning and disappearing into the brush.
The terrain here is beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the area West of Tucson in spring, with dense ground-cover, rocky terrain, and hills and mountains surrounding the area.
Vervet monkey sending us off from our Amboseli lodge.
Cape Buffalo below Mt K as we departed
Crowned Crane with fuzzy-headed chick
Arrival at Samburu on our way to the lodge:
Reticulated giraffe (as opposed to Maasai giraffe in Amboseli). The shape-patterns on the body are more geometrical.
Many elephants here
Vulturine guinea fowl
Our 'tent,' looking in
Our 'tent,' looking out
Christopher, emerging from the tent and into the world
Grey hornbill
Afternoon game drive:
Tree full of weaver-bird nests
A dik dik - this place is full of them.
Gerenuk, a long-necked antelope that will stand on its hind legs to reach higher branches. We observed this once, but it dropped to the ground before we could photograph it in the act.
Leopard initial sighting as we were driving past (max zoom on camera) - the head is the center shadow in the photo.
After it came out onto the rock to check us out.
Becoming bored with us.
Turning to leave and disappear into the brush
Grant's gazelle
Desert warthogs
Mountain view
Male gerenuk
White-headed buffalo weaver bird in flight
Grevy's zebra - very endangered. It can be differentiated from the common zebra in that it's stripes are more vertical, and do not end before the belly.
Antelope herd with zebra in background
Giraffe with ox-pecker bird on neck (it had a number of them)
Doum palms. These palms have trunks that branch. The fruit is sought after by elephants (which will shake the trees to get the fruit to fall) and baboons (which will climb to reach them).
A secretary bird just after sunset
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