Lions and Tigers and Bears…Not Really…This is a Safari.

(July 10-11) Welcome back to the blog and my random stories. Let me open this one by saying that I am thinking about many of you often, and I hope you are all well and enjoying life. I mention that this time, because I have had a lot of great thinking time while sitting in a quite safari jeep zipping across open plains.

Prior to visiting Tsavo National Park (which we found out is bigger than Israel) we had the pleasure of viewing the movie trailer for the 1990s flick titled, Ghosts in the Darkness starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer. This movie is based on a true story about the railroad being built across Kenya and lions attacking and killing the workers, thus slowing the progress. The movie takes place in Tsavo and has classic quotes like, “Control your fear!” and “Lions never had a lair like this before.” I hope to catch this classic movie in the near future, and I encourage you to at least look at the trailer for a chuckle or two.


As we arrived mid-day Saturday we were very lucky to be given the best safari jeep available and from what we saw the only one that was completely open on the sides (the other vehicles were all enclosed and had an opening in the top like a prom limo). It was Maki’s first safari and she was extremely excited and had the one ultimate goal of seeing a lion. We had two full game drives scheduled (2+ hours each) as well as a 1.5 hour ride in and out of the park where more animals could be spotted. Liz and I had gone on 3 jeep safaris last year in Botswana with our school trip, so we had some understanding of the process (aka what it is like to sit in a car for long amounts of time being patient and quiet looking for animals – don’t get me wrong it is a great activity, but it is much more enchanting in your imagination). (Huge shout out to all of my GIM South Africa friends! We missed you on this safari!)


Tsavo is a HUGE flat park with scattered trees and bushes, a couple of popular watering holes (elephants really loved them!), and mountains in the western background. There were reddish dirt roads and four or so tented safari lodges throughout the park. The weather was great for a safari; there was some pretty clouds and the temperature was mild allowing for a t-shirt during the day and warmer clothing when it was darker. We stayed at Satao Camp in Tsavo East in tent #17 which had a nice porch area facing the park and a tented area that housed our three beds and then led into a gorgeous large stone bathroom.


We had a great 1.5 hour ride into our lodging. Within the first few minutes we saw numerous elephants close to the road. We also eventually saw a black and white male ostrich, numerous antelopes, and some mini deer that looked like lawn ornaments (called dik-diks) and reminded me of our old family friend Danny lining up reindeer lights every Christmas. Later we saw a group of zebras by a watering hole. The most exciting moment came when an extremely large elephant began charging towards our jeep, because he had a baby elephant with him that he was protecting. I got a nice video clip of it, but for now a picture will have to do!


After arriving and dropping off our gear we had a delightfully heavy pasta lunch and Tusker beers as we watched about 30 elephants and numerous yellow baboons play nearby and three little vervet monkeys hang out at the tables around us (I listed the specific primates for my PhD pal Katie and added pics for her too – it was not nearly as cool as following the capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica with Katie while she researched though). It was nearly time for our evening safari, so despite being exhausted we had just enough time to get ready and load back on the jeep.


We jumped in the jeep with two older German women who sat in the first row. Maki and Liz were in the middle, and I stretched out in the back row alone. It was funny hearing about the animals in German and then in English. This 2 hour and 20 minute safari proved to be quite eventful despite not seeing any lions or cheetahs. We saw numerous elephants, impalas (similar to deer and boring after the first viewing), giraffe, small toucan birds (less crazy looking than cereal Toucan Sam), yellow baboons in a tree, and giraffe gazelle (bizarre gazelle with long necks). Oh yeah and there was a group of hippos chillin’ in a water area as well. We were able to see all of the animals very close up and Liz and I explained to Maki that we were extremely lucky to see so many animals so close, since we did not see nearly as many in Botswana. Once we returned to the lodge Liz and I headed up the lookout tower to watch the elephants and baboons playing. It was so great to be in the fresh air watching everything in the quiet open spaces.



Later we had a traditional Kenyan BBQ meal (known as mushkaki or kebabs) with lamb, steak, and chicken skewers grilled on a small charcoal grill at our table followed by crepes for dessert. We even saw a genet up in the rafters of the open restaurant. For you non-crazy National Geographic fanatics it is a slender spotted cat like animal that hangs out at night. As we headed to our tent we saw the southern sky including the Southern Cross Constellation and the Milky Way Galaxy was prominent as well. After sitting out on our porch in the dark watching the elephants play fight we finally got some sleep despite the elephants growling, yes they make growling noises that sound like other animals.

Our wake-up time the next morning was 5AM as we headed out for our 6-8AM safari. Given the sunrise time there were not nearly as many animals, although we did see warthogs (ugly), cape foxes, jackals, and an African civet (ugly skunk look-alike) for the first time and sadly there were no lions to be found. It was a nice relaxing ride outside which I enjoyed, but it was very sad that Maki did not see her lion. We came back to the lodge for a quick breakfast and then it was time to leave. No lion on the 1.5 hour ride out either – poor Maki ended up lion-less. No worries though she will have another chance next week as we head to Masai Mara for another safari. That is all from the safari time…until next time. Sarah