Day 73 – the Ugly 5
We woke up and got dressed for our morning game drive. It was raining so it appeared to be cancelled. We got back into bed. Shortly after we heard our friends Amina and Abdi come out and decided we would get dressed to go out and meet them even though it was still dark and none of us had a guard. Amina called Debbie and was told that the game drive was not going forward due to the rain, so we headed back to our tents to go back to sleep. On the way we heard a lion roaring nearby and made a beeline for the tents.
A short time later, Debbie came by to tell us the game drive was back on, so we got dressed again and headed back to the Landcruiser. Yes, this was the third time we got dressed this morning. We headed off for our game drive. During our two game drives, we saw a hyena den with a large number of hyenas, including adults and babies. We saw one hyena consuming the skull of a wilderbeest and some hyena pups suckling on their mother. We again saw some lions, which is a regular occurrence here. If you want to see lions, we highly recommend you visit the Naboisho conservancy as they are abundant here. There are 4 different prides on the conservancy ruled by 7 male lions. We were later told that we had managed to see the ‘Ugly 5’, which includes the warthog, wilderbeest, hyena, vulture and the Marabou stork. We also saw more Egyptian geese. We managed to also see one of the ‘Little 5’, the leopard tortoise, but no leopards. We saw our first cape buffalo on this reserve. He was a ‘retired general’ living on his own and enjoying life. We spent a long time driving along a river which had some beautiful vistas and fighting vervet monkeys. Baboons were also hanging out nearby. On our way back to the lodge, we saw a massive solo bull elephant with enormous pure white tusks, which the guide estimated to be between 40 and 45 years old.
At one point, we chatted with our guide about what he would have done if one of the animals threatened us. He said he is a Maasai. Abdi joked that Mike wasn’t carrying his traditional spear, dagger and club. However, Mike stood up in the driver’s seat and lifted his shuka to reveal a machete in a scabbard on his person.
We had lunch and dinner with our friends, Amina and Abdi, and learned a lot about them. During our afternoon break, we got through a lot of admin and inadvertently found out that our flight to the Seychelles has been cancelled. Fortunately, Kenya Airways managed to rebook us on a flight connecting through Dubai, so instead of a 3-hour trip, we now have a 14-hour trip, but at least we still get to go to the Seychelles… we think. It turns out that Kenya Airways has suspended its flights to the Seychelles.
Dinner included a lovely potato and leek soup followed by osso bucco. We discovered we all appreciate hot sauce, including with soup and osso bucco.
We then called it a night after our usual drinks in the sitting room.
