A Walk and a Float 2025: Samburu to Sweetwaters

June 24, 2018

As we left Samburu, and were on our way out of the park, one of the elusive lions that we had chased the previous day popped out of the brush - and walked straight at, and then around, our parked car. She was clearly on a mission and in full hunting-mode. We also got our closest look at a secretary bird with its pencils sticking straight up from its head.

As we arrived at our Sweetwaters 'tent' resort for a one-night stay, in front of a large watering-hole, we were not disappointed to learn that there had been an error, and would we be willing to accept an upgrade. A small palace with canvas walls - with front glass doors. As we approached our new residence, a pair of rhinoceroses approached the water-hole - completing our search for the Big-5 at 11:56 AM on June 24, 2018.

After lunch we visited a chimpanzee sanctuary - a large multi-acre facility that houses chimpanzees that have been rescued from poachers, hunters, and war-torn areas in Africa where baby chimps had been taken as pets and had been kept in small cages. Chimpanzees are not native to Kenya, but the facility, that Jane Goodall helped to set up, takes them in and ensures they receive a good diet and treatment, can socialize with others and can again learn to be chimpanzees. They would not be able to be reintroduced back into the wild - they would not be able to complete with wild chimps or against predators. This preserve is the best option. There were about 35 chimps there, and we were able to see three of them close-up near the perimeter. They did not look happy, and they behave so much like humans it was difficult to watch. I do not know what better alternative there might be.

After, we went and visited the 'blind rhino,' Baraka. Baraka is a black rhino that lost one eye in a territorial dispute and his second shortly after due to an infection. Normally, the reserve would allow nature to take its course, but because black rhinos are so endangered, they moved him to a large pen. He also deals well with people, so it is a safe environment for people to see and interact with a rhinoceros at close range. Before visiting Baraka, we visited the educational center for an introduction just as a thunderstorm struck with a huge downpour. The temperature dropped, probably below 60 degrees F. Of course, this was a mild nuisance for Christopher, Jana and myself, but for the ranger at the interpretive center, it was a near apocalyptic event - he thought we were crazy for still wanting to see Baraka in his pen in the freezing rain. When he realized we were there to stay, he got his rubber boots, rain jacket and umbrellas (it took a while - we learned later that he wanted to confirm with our guide Aaron [at the van] whether we were really ok in this weather). We headed for the pen as the weather broke. After he was able to coax Baraka to the front of the pen (he becomes a more stubborn and 'naughty' in the rain), we were able to feed him by hand, and stroke the skin on his face (surprisingly warm). Unlike the chimps, Baraka seemed very much at ease in his pen. A good ambassador for rhino preservation (In the 1970s, the black rhino population was over 2000, and dropped below 400 in the 1980s due to poaching; it began to rebound after serious anti-poaching programs, but started dropping again after 2010 with the rebirth of poaching activity with demand coming from China and Viet Nam for rhino horn).

The drive back stopped at the pen where the last two living Northern White Rhinos are kept (the male, Sudan, died last year; his daughter and grand-daughter are the last of the species). Neither of them are able to conceive. They are attempting to find a way to harvest eggs from one of these two, and with sperm preserved from Sudan, find a way to implant an embryo into a Southern White Rhino to recover the species.

The rest of the evening was a difficult drive back to the lodge. Low visibility, driving rain, lightning, muddy single-lane roads with two-way traffic, fishtailing, and a traffic jam where a lion had been spotted. The rain let up as we approached the lodge, allowing us to pose in front of the sign signifying that we were standing at the equator. As you can tell from the picture at the bottom, I was much colder than Christopher and Jana (it was Summer for them, and Winter for me).

Samburu
Lioness on the hunt - yawning as it walked toward our vehicle