|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
After a restless night, following the nocturnal visits of the hyena, and another early call - then breakfast - it was time to pack up the tents and gear. We had really enjoyed the setting of this wild camp. We were back on the road again for 6.25 am. A nice sunrise, en route to another drive around Lake Nakuru National Park, with the likelihood of seeing more rhino, this time the Black Rhino, and of course some of the other big game that was abundant in this park. Less than half an hour after taking this photograph of the sunrise | |||||||||||||||||
| we had a superb sighting of a leopard. Unlike the last one we had seen in the Masai Mara, this one was out in the open, and posed quite readily ! We watched him for 7 minutes, during which time he stretched and scratched his claws down a tree. The markings of his coat were beautiful to see so close. For me however - the beauty of this superb beast is in its eyes. A truly magnificent animal. Within 5 minutes of leaving the leopard, Marcell picked up on the tracks of a rhino and we started following along the road. A short time later we met an opposing vehicle, which unfortunately obliterated the |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
remainder of the tracks we were following. At least we knew that the rhino were not too far away, though it was to be later that afternoon before we met up with them. It was all go however, hardly a minute to rest. (One of the benefits of digital photography, is that the time of each shot is recorded) - and within 3 minutes of our abortive tracking of the rhino, we came across a young lioness high amongst the bush She appeared to have some sort of prey, though we were not able to identify what she appeared to have had hidden amongst the grass. | |||||||||||||||||
|
We made our way to the shore of Lake Nakuru, home to thousands of flamingo. Despite their large numbers, little is known with regards to where these birds breed - and a new project has been commenced recently, with a view to establishing exactly where they go. A number of flamingo have been satellite-tagged, which will hopefully shed some light on the matter. Both lesser and greater flamingo are found here, along with pelican and numerous other water birds such as little stints. Having taken in this colourful spectacle, it was time to move once again. |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
Within a short time of leaving the
flamingo, we came across rhino once again - much closer than our
previous encounter. We had a female and her youngster, whom we watched
for 25 minutes, before they crossed the road immediately behind our
truck. We could not have imagined that we would get so close to rhino. At the end of the morning, we made our way to a nearby cliff-top for lunch. This gave an excellent view across the plains towards the bright band of pink around the lake shore. We wondered why this cliff-top site was called "Baboon Point." We were soon to find out. |
|||||||||||||||||
| On route to the cliff-top we paused to observe the antics of a young Vervet Monkey, as it scrambled around the branches of a dead tree with its mother - frequently getting trampled by other members of the group, and taking the odd tumble into the branches below. We moved on after a few minutes amusement, when the other monkeys began ....doing the sort of things that monkeys do! At least we had no inquisitive children on board to ask .... "What's that monkey doing??" ....... |
 |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
We arrived at the cliff-top, and as the crew set about preparing lunch, we sat around taking in the views. Suddenly Michelle shouted to me, "Baboon to your right." In an instant, a large male baboon was sat in front of me. Marcell had spotted the danger and shouted, "Watch the food!" In a flash, the baboon was off, up on to the camp kitchen table, and away into the bush - with a prize of a large sliced loaf. We all had a laugh about it, whilst Marcell armed himself with a catapult to deter the gathering troop. Around the cliffs we sighted Hyrax, a small mammal, closely related to the elephant, and a | |||||||||||||||||
| colourful Agama Lizard. Later that afternoon we had a short drive to our night stop at the private camp site at Kembu Farm Lodge. We were dining that evening in the Lodge's restaurant, which made a very pleasant change, and gave an opportunity for Dennis and Johannes to have a much-deserved breather. At dinner that evening, we had cause to celebrate once more. This time it was Sonia's birthday. Sonia, a retired nurse, originally from The Philippines, and now resident in London is a much-travelled lady. She was our senior traveller, whose tales of her previous travels |
 |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
made her company most welcome. Unlike Susie's celebrations, there was no musical "Jambo" chorus, but our hosts had baked a cake - bringing another pleasant end to the day. After dinner we went for a walk around the grounds of the lodge, where the proprietor showed us a variety of chameleon that were resident in the shrubs around the farm. A drink or two at the Lodge preceded yet another relatively early night, with another early start looming. The following day was to be the longest of the trip | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
,,, ,,,
*
*
*
,,, ,,,
,,
**
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
,,
**
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
,,
**
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
