HYENAS HAVE FEELINGS TOO!
It wasn’t the way the hyena sauntered towards the jeep, his expression registering total disinterest, that struck the chord for this trip.
“I know you’re only here to see the black leopard,” his eyes mocked, as he turned 180° and continued, unhurried, up the track.
Well, he had a point. Our trip to Laikipia Wilderness was primarily to see the rare black leopard that lives there.
And she was impressive!
(Despite her unfortunate name!) She had been christened Giza by the locals and in my brain, I saw ‘Geezer’! which I really didn’t like. It reminded me of Dell Boy and his cronies.
I thought she should be a Carla or a Nyarla. However, when they explained that Giza is Swahili for darkness, and my brain began to spell it correctly, I softened.
However, it wasn’t THAT which struck the chord.
Nor was it our fabulous pilot, Kim, who felt like a member of the family by the end and who took us on scenic tours every time we changed location.
In these impressive Abadares Mountains, we felt we could almost dabble our hands in the waterfalls from where we were sitting in the plane.
It wasn’t even Albie, our amazing guide (though his bare, muddy feet were a close contenders when he tried to get us out of the mud into which our jeep had slid so gracefully and then refused to budge.)
You’d think it might be the tiniest baby dikdik we’d ever seen… (dikdik parents usually keep their young well hidden)…
or this genet that we stumbled across one evening… (never seen a genet before)
Perhaps it should be the amazing chameleon that Albie spotted in the total darkness…
The elephants we saw crossing the river while we were on foot…
or the cargo you don’t realise a rhino is carrying!
And then there were the stunning views at coffee or sundowner stops. And surprise breakfasts in the bush. Or lunch in one of the most amazing vegetable plots we’ve ever seen.
Sleeping under canvass at Laikipia Wilderness camp struck a chord, but not THE chord. It was no hardship. Though having to undo the zip to go through the flap for the bathroom, in the dead of night, was a bit annoying. Especially as the bathroom was open to the elements and always full of bugs! Having said that, there were fewer bugs in our tent than there were in the ensuing solid wall accommodations.
Fires in the rooms were welcome because early mornings and evenings were cold.
But, in the second picture, I’m more dressed for protection from the flying insects that were attracted to the jeeps headlights, than the cold.
One of the highlights was horse-riding! It’s a different feeling being on the ground with the wildlife and knowing they won’t run away. At Lewa Wildnerness I rode Spice and Mr T. It was magical and I regretted that I didn’t have the video ready as we forged streams and followed giraffe up hills. At Ol Malo, I rode… Malakia, and was careful to point out to Chyulu who ran the stables, that she might want to change his name if they ever have Greek guests.
And there are times when you really don’t want to be on the ground.
A mere 30 minutes after I had exchanged my seat in the saddle for one on the jeep, we came across this fella (and his brother who was asleep beside him) :
In Lewa, the grass was so long, lions became invisible when they lay down. In the foreground of the following, rather boring picture, there are eight lions! (Just to prove a point!)
Now you see her,
Now you don’t!
Of course, photographers are immune to the dangers.
Especially when it’s all about ‘getting the shot’.
To put your minds at rest, these were taken at a different time and the scouts assured us the lions had moved on.
Imagine the ‘shot’ I’d have got had they been wrong! Now, THAT might have been the one moment…
It would have competed with cake for tea,
tame zebra,
And even the adorable children who latched onto me and Shaun when we visited a truly local market. They wandered around with us quite happily for a good hour, to the amusement of all. I loved that they were so free and so trusting as they gently pinched, stroked, and tried to understand the lily white skin of our bare arms. I had a moment of doubt when one little boy kept rubbing his face on my arm. Was he… wiping his nose? But no, he was smelling me!
It could almost have been the comical look of surprise on Giza’s face when she saw me sitting on the TOP of the jeep…
But the truth is, the image that struck the chord was the parting, loaded glance the hyena shot us before he disappeared up the hill. With his eyes, he said:
“Hyenas have feelings too, you know!”
