East African Safari

As we had stayed last night with Jane, our daughter, in England after flying from Barcelona yesterday, she took us to Heathrow Airport and saw us through Check-in and waved us through Security. We took off at 10.10pm, had dinner around midnight, filled in Immigration Entry Cards and managed to have about four hours of fitful sleep. The plane landed at Jomo Kenyatta Air Airport in Nairobi at 8.05am local time. We seemed to walk for miles through the arrivals, had our visas checked and finally we were out. The scene that greeted us was quite overwhelming, there were taxi drivers galore, some holding placards with client’s names on and others touting for a fare. I kept saying, “Thank you for offering but we are waiting for friends to collect us”. Elsie and Joe Emmett, our hosts and base for the time were in East Africa, were a bit late arriving due to traffic hold-ups.

At 5.25am I was awoken by the telephone ringing. It was an alarm call which we had not ordered, being polite I said, “Thank you” the reply was “You are welcome”. I lay there worrying whether we should get up or not, reason prevailed and I stayed where I was because Edward said yesterday evening “I will see you in Reception at 8.00am”. After breakfast we went to tell them about the call and after consulting the list decided it was No. 46, which was not written distinctly, should have had the call.

After arranging for some washing to be done we met Edward at the appointed hour and we drove down into the Crater where we spent the next nine hours. On the way down we spotted a Masai with a herd of cattle and goats, it was a precipitous walk for man and beast. It seems that once upon a time the Masai used to live down in the crater until the Government moved them out for conservation purposes and now they are only allowed to take their animals down to take water from the lakes once a day. The first thing we saw was a male lion with a kill, further along an enormous herd of Buffalo and later when we returned to the kill the vultures were there with hyenas waiting for the pickings. Today we have seen Kongoni or Hartebeest for the first time, the other animals jackals, zebra, wildebeest, elephant, ostriches, hippos in the pool on their sides because the water is spring fed and not so deep. We were looking forward to seeing Pink Flamingos in the Soda Lakes but there were very few, we did see some in flight but it was not the same spectacle as we would have seen in Kenya. The most impressive thing was the hundreds of Zebra and Wildebeest gathered on the bank of the Mumbe River. The animals would wade for a drink, something would frighten them they would all rapidly climb out repeating the exercise with frequency. Before we went off for to eat picnic lunch by a lake we came across a gathering of safari vehicles with a Ranger. We learned that a rhino with a four day old baby was lying down in the grass and it should be getting up soon as it was around the time to feed the baby. We waited and waited but it wasn’t going to oblige so we left. As with all the picnic lunches provided by the lodges it was more than adequate and enough to feed two people. Running around on the bank were Guinea Fowl practised at eliciting food from the tourists. We then returned to the place where the mother and baby were but they had moved on.

We came across an extraordinary sight, where the male ostrich, his neck was pink indicating he was in season doing his best to gain the attention of the female in order to mate. With outstretched wings and head bowed he was going a mating dance, after some time the female began the same behaviour and it was obvious it was going to take some time so we abandoned the courtship. Earlier in the day we had seen a group of five ostriches, two male and three female one of whom was showing, unluckily for her the males were not interested. Edward then glimpsed through binoculars a lioness with two cubs but not visible to the naked eye. John expressed an interest in seeing some black rhino, we drove around for ages without sighting one and then at 6.00pm Edward announced “That’s it, the end of the safari”. We started the return journey passing a large rock mound which served as a den for a hyena family with two cubs peeping out. The journey up the track out of the crater seemed a lot steeper than when we ascended this morning.

On arrival back at the Lodge we went for a short walk up the drive as we had seen a plaque on the way in from the Land Cruiser. We learned from it that the Aga Khan had built the lodge and he had opened it two years before. It was built sympathetically to blend in with the terrain, unlike the other lodges that could be seen from the crater floor, it was literally covered with bit grey pebbles. John took a photograph of the plaque and a Masai asked him if he would like to take a photograph of him but as we already had one we declined his offer. It was probably not appreciated as everyone is looking for a dollar,

Before dinner we remembered we had put out laundry to be done whilst we were out for the day and needed clean clothes so we phoned internally and it was delivered. Whilst having a drink before dinner Edward came and sat with us, we asked him would he like a drink, he asked for a Coca Cola. We have noticed most Africans prefer not drink alcohol, but in conversation we got the impression he used to drink once. We were informed that we would be leaving at 8.00am the following morning for the Mobile Camp.

John Leigh, my husband was born in Tanga, Tanganyika (Tanzania), 23rd July, 1931, during a small earth tremor, where he lived until he was seven years of age. John’s parents separated and his mother took him to England in 1938. Up until 1946, he had no contact with his father. John was put into a boarding school in Felixstowe soon after his arrival in England, but after suffering from a mastoid was removed. He hadn’t been at all well cared for.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 John and his mother went to live in Somerset where John attended a primary school until the age of 11 years. He then won a scholarship to Taunton School which he attended as a day boy for two years and then became a boarder. After gaining his School Certificate John’s father arranged for him to fly to Nairobi with Airwork Airways on a Viscount. It was one of the first airlines to operate to East Africa after the war.

John was then apprenticed to the East African Telecommunications, based in Nairobi where he worked for a short time, he wasn’t enamoured with it and left. He then helped his father to farm before he joined the Kenya Survey Department. He was then seconded to work with Americans on Primary Triangulation work in Kenya and North Western Tanzania. The work enabled John to see a vast area of the country living under canvas for long periods.

On return from U.K. leave, John was employed on a film set of the film Mogambo, starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Afterwards he ran his father’s farm growing maize, beans, pawpaw to be used as a meat tenderiser and castor oil plants. The farm was situated in Sanya ju in Tanzania near Moshi.

Then as the Emergency in Kenya had begun, volunteers were needed to join the Kenya Police Reserve where John was in charge of a temporary Police Station in the Embu region. Later as a volunteer from Tanzania, he was able to take up work on a projected rice irrigation scheme. This scheme employed hundreds of African detainees who were housed in an armed camp.

As John was suffering from recurring Malaria, first infected whilst out on a survey safari, he returned on leave to UK and remained until we moved to live in Catalunya in N.E., Spain in 1992.

After nearly 50 years John had the opportunity to revisit the land of his birth and was 14 months in the planning using the services of the internet and flights via Trailfinders.

Wake up call at 5.30am with a tray of tea. We then went out to the front of the lodge and met Richard and a Swiss couple and left for our last game drive at 6.30am. We visited the area where the cheetah and three small cubs were two days ago but she had moved as the cubs are now strong enough to move around. Great excitement as we came across a pride of lions with two fully grown males, one dominant, they are brothers and brothers do not fight one another, two lionesses with four cubs whose manes were just beginning to grow. We then came across a family of jackals, parents and three young who feed from their parents who regurgitate the food. In amongst the trees were two lots of giraffe and on the grassland two herds of impala, Grant gazelles and then it was time to return for breakfast, pack, go to reception to pay and it was time to leave.

We enjoyed the short experience of staying in the Mara Club Lodge where once again it was comfortable the staff attentive and always smiling. The food was incredible. For every meal apart from breakfast we were served soup at the table and then we chose from the buffet which seemed to groan with food and always delicious. At breakfast if one wanted eggs they were cooked for you as and when you were ready. It was all luxurious and the tents set in beautifully kept gardens and of course the hippos.

We were taken back to the airstrip, the plane landed and we were the only passengers to board.
The Air Hostess gave us our tickets for our onward journey to Manyara. The plane a DASH 7, 4 engine, took off, landed on three more airstrips for other lodges and then onto Wilson Airport where we were greeted with the question, “Are you the party going to Kilimanjaro”? We were rushed through immigration and customs and then loaded onto a small plane, Air Kenya with 24 seats when we arrived at Kilimanjaro we were met by a representative from Elite Travel with the itinerary for the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti. We were taken into the airport building where we had to pay $50 each for International Airport tax and $5 each for local airport tax. We then boarded a 19 seat Regional Airservice plane, the same type we had flown in from Zanzibar to Tanga. We dropped into Arusha Airport where a few passengers alighted then took off and arrived at Manyara Airport three quarters of an hour later.

Edward our driver/guide met us with his reasonably new land cruiser, he will be our guide for the rest of the safari. The road to begin with was brand new and once again the money came from the Japanese Government, unfortunately the road deteriorated after 5 kms and the time to reach the Ngorongoro Crater took two hours after 70 kms. We had to wait for a while for Edward to do whatever was necessary at the entrance to the Reserve. We went into a building selling cards and maps, there were all sorts of people around with vehicles in various states of repair also waiting to arrange the paper work to pass through.

On the way Edward had told us the story of the Mbulu people. In the 18th Century a tribe called Iraquwe from North Africa travelled down to Kenya to settle. This however was not possible because the land already belonged to the indigenous tribes so they kept walking into Tanganiyka, Tanzania today, where they had the same problem as the land belonged to the Masai people. A compromise was reached if they went over the mountain of Ngorongoro they could settle there. They are the grain growers in Tanzania and are the only people to grow grain in Tanzania, wheat grown for bread and barley for beer. In the same area there is a small tribe of Bushmen, they number 99 in all and it is possible to arrange a visit. It is believed the Mbulu originate from or near Ethiopia because some of their words are similar.

On the way to the lodge as we passed along the top of the Crater, Edward stopped at the Memorial and burial place of Bernard Grzimek . This man had spent years of his life working for the Serengeti and was responsible for it becoming a Reserve making it safer for the animals. He was also responsible for the film, “Serengeti Shall not Die”. He and his son, Michael, worked together on the film and sadly Michael when flying his plane over the Crater had an accident and died.
Eventually we arrived at the Serene Lodge overlooking the Crater. We were greeted at Reception with Mango Juice and then checked in. We were shown to our Room 41, immediately we went and slaked our thirst with a beer at the bar. We then went back and unpacked, showered and went to dinner. The food once again was excellent but this time we ordered from a menu and brought to the table by a waiter. We noticed the Africans had some extraordinary names from the name badges. On returning to our room we discovered we had central heating which was very necessary because as night approaches it becomes very cold.

We were up at 7.00am and sure enough we found the means to make tea outside on the terrace. Afterwards we had a long walk along the beach before breakfast. Breakfast was Chef Special, fish cakes and they were very good too. At 10’oclock we left with a resident taxi called John. He took us to Gedi to look at the ruins of an ancient Arab town 14-15th century. In the 17th century the town was abandoned, it is thought possibly because the sea had receded. Some of the buildings one could imagine how they used to look and there were some interesting things like a bathroom with washbasins and bidets, double toilets and in the Sultan’s Palace a bath that was filled through a hole from outside. The temple had no roof but had some walls. More than 50 years ago when John last visited this site there were Arab tombstones with Chinese porcelain set into them. It has all be removed and looted.

We then drove to a place that John called the Blue Lagoon and when the tide is out the small islands look like mushrooms. There we met some good natured Africans who thought it absolutely hilarious because John could still speak some Swahili. John and Joe Emmett camped here when they both worked for the Rice Irrigation Scheme more than half a century earlier.

Dinner tonight is to be a barbecue by the poolside. All the tables from the dining room were taken down there and arranged for various size parties. The hotel is called Driftwood Beach Club and the members can use the facilities whenever they want to. A lot of Europeans from long ago have retired to Malindi so tonight they have come to dinner and to meet with friends. Yesterday John noticed a gentleman and his wife having a drink before lunch, they then left, John was convinced he had been a District Officer and so it proved to be the case. After dinner we went and sat with them at the bar and talked to them for some time. When John told him that he had to go to England to live because of recurring malaria he was told that he hadn’t looked after himself had he? A full moon tonight.

On the opposite side of the road from the hotel was a large building I noticed yesterday with a flat rooftop. I had seen an African hanging out the washing and later a woman wearing a sari collecting it in. Now I realise it is a school for Indian or Asians only. Cars were arriving and an African girl stepped forward and collected each child then took them inside to a courtyard. The children arrived in all forms of transport including the back of a utility from where three of them were lifted out. I felt sorry for one mother who had walked her child to school, to then have a screaming child clinging to her removed. At 9.00am the children all gathered into a circle, holding hands they began to sing My Darling Clementine. It amused me as it was unexpected and because the children were very small.

We went down to the First Floor for breakfast and then John arranged for some washing to be done. As prearranged the taxi driver came for us at 10.20am. Our first port of call was Forex in order to change some money. We then headed out on the Malindi road to visit Haller Park. There has been a cement works in this area for years and as the works move on an unsightly scar is left on the landscape. The Cement Works funded Dr. Haller, a Swiss, to give nature a helping hand and introduce plants and animals. Firstly quick growing pines were planted and other species of trees and flora later. There are now lakes due to excavations down to below the water table. The first animals we saw were three Waterbuck standing in a lake chomping the water lilies, swimming around were varying sizes of Talapia and Catfish. In a compound, being viewed by a school party of small people with their teachers, were giraffe, oryx and eland. There were giant tortoises wandering around, for commerce there are large fish tanks containing Talapia, which are sold to the local people and restaurants for cash. In pits live 500 crocodiles of varying sizes from very small to very large. The eggs are incubated to control the sexes, 30ºC produces males and 28ºC females. Now the numbers are high enough to enable them to be sold for meat and skins for shoes and handbags. There are segregated snakes and their own accommodation with quite a few varieties. Living there also are three hippos, one a pair the other solitary as its partner died. The park is quiet and lush with many varieties of birds.

Afterwards, stopping on our return journey we called in to a place for a drink, inviting the taxi driver to have one also. Quite near the hotel we noticed that there were many people in a small park listening to a Speaker. On asking out driver what it was all about, he replied, “They are hearing about God”. We then had a small lunch that turned out to be a substantial lunch. It is always assumed, it seems that Europeans have enormous appetites. We then spent the rest of the afternoon reading. On going up to dinner we saw that Katherine was there again and already had a beer. Afterwards we sat out by the pool under the stars before retiring to bed.

During the night John heard a hyena howling and they were crashing against the side of the tent even though we had a lantern that was lit all night in front of the tent the washbasins were missing, presumably dragged off by hyena however they were retrieved later. At breakfast I asked Pius, the waiter to imitate the howl of a hyena, then I realised that I had heard it too.

After breakfast we set off with Edward on the whole day safari. Firstly we saw a Colubus monkey and a newly dug Aardvark den, next a group of lions that were moving towards a group of zebra and appeared to be looking for a kill, however nothing came of it, the zebra would live another day. Briefly we glimpsed a leopard walking into some grass then it lay down and all that was visible was the tips of its ears. We then visited the tree where we saw the leopard yesterday evening, it was still there. As the drivers have to stay on the tracks it is very difficult to get close enough to get a photograph of leopards in trees as they don’t show up in the final picture. Last night John made a list of the animals that he would like to see to photograph today. Impala, Thompson Gazelle, Baboon, Kanga, Dieker, Dik Dik, Warthog and leopard, we did see all these animals and thus John was able to take his photographs including Water Buck, not on the list. We drove down to the river to watch, a herd of Zebra drink near them was a crocodile and down river a bit were three hippos and two crocodiles. Driving along a track we spied a large amount of vultures so Edward went to investigate, there under a tree was a cheetah with a kill, a Thompson gazelle. The cheetah had eaten most of the flesh, only the head and entrails were left, it had a stomach like a football. The vultures stood patiently in groups, there were crested eagle, Rupells, white headed hooded Nubian, and Griffen vultures. On the horizon we spotted a loan spotted hyena. Gradually with some speed it went straight towards the cheetah, sized up the situation, circling it and the vultures. The cheetah went for the vultures and the hyena seized the opportunity to chase off the cheetah, grabbed the kill and relocated it at the same time another spotted hyena was coming at speed, it arrived, grabbed part of the Tommy and whilst all this was going on the vultures moved in but all they got was the blood, the cheetah ambled off to find a place to lie down to sleep off the meal. Hyenas have incredible teeth and jaws, the first one was crunching the ribs and ate the head before the second one arrived, we observed the whole cycle of who gets what in the event of a kill. In this way there is no waste and it is rare to see any bones around, the only exception being buffalo horns.

Then it was time for lunch time and we headed off towards the picnic area near the Seronea lodge airstrip. Edward produced picnic boxes brought from the camp, excellent and far too much. There was a building which serves as a customs house and collector of money for parking, permits for companies filming etc. There was a trail round the building leading up to a kopje, where we found a colony of hyrax which smelled very strongly of urine. There were illustrations and information boards all the way around and gave the route followed by the annual wildebeest migration always going in circular motion for pasture to graze, from south to north, from east to west. Then it rained heavily and we were soaked. The Kopjes provide homes for many species of animal including cheetah.

After lunch we set off again and kept coming across groups of male impala. It seems the boys stay together, usually not far from a herd of female impala with one male. Serving a group of females is arduous work and they lose weight and strength and once the loan males have built up their strength they can go and challenges for a herd of females. Late evening we saw a herd of elephant arrive at the river bank to drink they were all sizes the bull being the last to wade in, he proved to be quite destructive. Overhead branches of a tree were hanging over the river the bull reached up with his trunk, tore off a branch and munched it up. Then it was time to return to camp and walking along together were two lionesses, mother and daughter, mum looked quite old, as it was raining they sat down together each taking turns to lick the other, Mum went into hunting mode but we could see nothing in sight. On crossing back over the river we saw a family of baboons who crossed over the bridge and turned right in a purposeful manner one a mother with the baby slung underneath it

On return to camp and after a shower Pius had built a fire and brought out some chairs to sit and have a drink before dinner. We began to talk and found that Pius came from Kilimanjaro and had once worked on a Tanzanite mine as had his father before him. After a time he decided he didn’t like the work too much instead became a porter to climbers, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Now he works at the Seonea Lodge and is married, his wife expecting their first child at any minute. He was waiting for the phone call. He also told us that Africans in this area must be tested for HIV before they can get married. Sounds like a good system to me.