ENJOYING ANOTHER DAY IN NABOISHA CONSERVANCY, BLOG 6, MARCH 14TH, 2020

Sometime in the night I awoke with a start to the roaring of a lion that I swear is next to our tent. My imagination began working overtime when I heard something rustling outside our tent. Paul was snoring, (not as loud as he can😊), but his snores are deep and raspy. I swear the rustling animal was reacting to Paul’s growl like snores! I thought about waking Paul up but know he would scoff at my silly reaction partly because the electric fence around the camp is there to keep the wild animals out and partly because my vivid imagination can get a little wild. Eventually I go back to sleep but I am still convinced that we had a lion near the tent.

My internal clock has adjusted to our early morning rising so I am awake before the alarm buzzes. After the usual early morning ritual, Paul calls on the 2-way radio for an escort. After a few minutes, the guard has arrived and he delivers us to Francis who warmly greets us. I forgot to mention that Asilia has hot water bottles in the vehicle for these early morning drives. In all the camps there are hot water bottles in our beds when we return from dinner, but this is the first time I recall having the warm jugs in our vehicle. I think all three of us put them to use for the first twenty or so minutes of our morning game drives.

It is another beautiful morning and we enjoy the diverse herds of grazers as we drive through the short grass areas of the conservancy. We haven’t been out very long when Francis gets a report of a pride of lions that are in the open and still awake. When we arrive at the site there are five lions, sitting or standing, and the sun is lighting up their tawny coats which is just breath taking. Francis points out that four of the lions are sub-adults.

After a few minutes another lioness appears from a stand of trees and walks up to the group. One of the youngsters goes to greet her but all he gets is a snarl from the grouchy lady. The upstart kid strikes out at the lioness and she returns the gesture causing their claws to become locked together for a brief moment, resulting in both of them snarling at one another. Francis quips that the old mama is unhappy that her pride has not provided any food and thus she reprimands rather than greets the youngster😊. I missed getting a photo of their altercation darn it.

The lioness’ that arrived is restless and after a few minutes she moves on and the rest of the group falls in behind her. Francis moves the vehicle ahead of the pride but because there are so many bushes around, we can’t directly stay with the big cats. There is a giraffe not far from the pride and the four half-grown cats decide to chase after it. We can only partially see what is going on but the adults stop walking and stare at the “kids” and I swear they are rolling their eyes. The four youngsters don’t chase the giraffe for long and soon return to where the adults are standing. Once the pride is reunited, they continue moving through the bushes until they disappear from our sight.

Francis decides to explore another part of the conservancy that is prime leopard country. Whoa, this place is thick with brush, tall grass and in places very marshy. At one point I am convinced we will never make it across the boggy soil but somehow our driver gets to the other side. It is apparent that no one has been driving in this area as there are no tracks or roads. Francis decides that we had best vacate this desolate place and move on. I vote yes on that decision!

Francis drives us to firmer ground so to speak and we stop and have our bush breakfast. After our relaxing meal we move on to another area where leopards have been found. We don’t find any but we do see an ancient warthog who doesn’t even bother to run from us, a very unusual behavior for a warthog. We also find an unusually dark colored giraffe that is huge.

As we enjoy our surroundings Paul inquires of Francis how he came to be a guide. Francis stops the vehicle and proceeds to tell us a heart-warming story about his path to becoming a guide. Francis tells us he was doing very well in school and was fascinated with electricity. He pursued this interest in secondary school but struggled with physics and decided that he wasn’t going to master this class. He was discouraged of course. A cousin, who was a guide, was visiting his family at home around this time and asked Francis to walk with him. During their walk and visit the cousin would point out trees and plants and tell Francis their scientific names and information about the vegetation.

Francis found himself intrigued with the information his cousin had shared and would pass this knowledge on to his friends whenever they were enjoying the outdoors. Several months later his cousin returned and again asked our guide to accompany him on a walk. When Francis began reciting names and facts that he had learned from his cousin the last time the relative was very impressed. He told Francis that maybe he should consider becoming a guide. After more talks and consideration Francis agrees to take up the challenge. Naturally we know the outcome but we didn’t realize how tough it is to get into the guiding school and how expensive it is. Francis did so well on his test/application for the guiding school that he was accepted on his first application and I believe it was Asilia that sponsored him helping with the tuition. I will say this, he is one of the most knowledgeable, personable, guides we have had in Africa. This is really high praise as we have had so many incredible guides while visiting this continent!

After lunch, a variety of pizza, Paul and I walk the paths around camp for about thirty minutes to get some much-needed exercise. It is hot this afternoon so the fan in our tent is put to use once our exercise is over. As I alternate between reading and watching the bush beyond the fence, I see a few baboons running through the grass directly in front of our tent. I guess a fence can’t keep baboons out.

As we are walking down to the vehicle pickup area for our afternoon game drive a young woman greets us as we pass by. We return the hello but after taking a few steps Paul stops and says, “was that Sarah”? I come to a halt and reflect for a second then exclaim, “that was Sarah”. We do an about face and catch up with our spotter from Enaidura camp. Paul greets Sarah and I give her a hug and an apology for not recognizing her.  We knew that Ping was bringing some clients to Encounter Mara today but didn’t realize Sarah was coming too.  We don’t linger for long as Jacob and Francis are waiting but as we are leaving Sarah remarks that they miss us at camp. What a nice thing to say.

Our first encounter this afternoon is with a group of elephants varying in size from huge adults down to youngsters. Francis pulls up beside them, stops the truck and turns off the key. With the engine turned off we can hear in addition to observing the pachyderms as they rip off wads of grass and insert it into their mouths. After enjoying the elephants, Francis starts the vehicle up and starts to drive away but our tires just spin. What the heck, we all look down and realize that the mat of grass we parked on is oozing with water and we are stuck. Oops. Luckily, another guide is close by and comes to pull us out. The problem is that the elephants are really close, so both guides are very careful when they step out of the vehicles to hitch up the tow ropes. It doesn’t take much to pull us free but Francis must carefully exit the truck again to undo the ropes. Once the two trucks are unhitched and driving away, one of the young elephants’ mock charges our rescuers’ vehicle. The rascal.

Francis drives us to a place in the conservancy that is new country for us, well I don’t think we have been here before. Full disclosure, all three of us are usually hopelessly lost and we are always surprised when suddenly we have arrived at the camps gate. In our defense, this camp is so well hidden in the natural growth you cannot see any of the tents until you begin walking on the paths. We are amazed how Francis and all the guides seem to know exactly where they are in this vast place. We even asked Francis how he seems to easily find his way around when we are off road. He smiles and points to his head proclaiming “google map” which makes us all laugh.

The grass is taller in this “new country” with large areas of bushes clumped together plus tree lined ravines. Ahead of us there is a depression where thick grass is growing and there is a lioness lying motionless amid the green blades. Because it is fairly hot and the big cat is laying in the full sun, I actually blurt out “is she dead”? Francis assures me that the lion is very much alive and as if on cue she stretches one leg into the air.

After some stretching and yawning the lioness gets to her feet and paying no attention to us begins to stroll away. Francis who is studying the feline decides to follow her and tells us he thinks she may be thinking about hunting. What? This lioness just woke up and Francis sees something in her posture signaling that she might be ready to hunt? Unbelievable.

We follow the lioness at a distance and Francis points out how she stops walking on occasion and peers into the distance. Finally, we see what the cat is looking at, there are impalas and zebras grazing perhaps a quarter of a mile away. Francis drives ahead of the stalking lion and positions us where we can watch the prey and the predator. The lioness comes into sight and hides under a clump of bushes checking out the animals that are still some distance away. Eventually our hunter moves out of our sight. After ten minutes or so Francis sees the lioness in front of us concealed in some trees and much closer to the animals who so far haven’t detected her. For some reason the lioness backtracks and disappears again. Not long after the lioness vacates her hiding place a wart hog and her piglets walk within a few feet of where the lioness had been hiding! The mother warthog must catch a whiff of lion because she begins twirling in a circle, looking in every direction. Once the warthog decides the danger is gone, she takes off on a fast trot, her little piglets in a line behind her. That hog is so lucky!

Francis is still confident the lioness is stalking the zebra; (the impalas have drifted away) so we continue to patiently wait. Suddenly the zebra half-heartedly run in our direction and stop near our vehicle. Francis says that the zebra must have caught the lion’s scent and have thwarted an attack. Well it was still a neat experience to watch the lion strategize and stalk the striped beasts.

Tonight, when we arrive at the dining tent for dinner, Ping is standing near the fire pit and gives us each a hug and a hearty greeting. We visit a bit and then I ask the inevitable question, “did you find the leopard after we left”? I was sure what the answer was going to be and wasn’t one bit surprised when Ping laughed and said that indeed he and his new clients found the leopard by the river the very day we left the Mara. I just shook my head, said “I knew it” and joined in his laughter.

Paul and I sit across from Ping’s guests at dinner where we learn that not only did they find the female leopard but she was being pursued by an amorous male. The female wanted nothing to do with the male and the first-time safari goers watched as the male chased the female up and down trees in his futile pursuit. Are you kidding me!

Ping keeps us all entertained through much of the meal with a few tales of his adventures as a guide. At one point in our dinner conversation, one of the female staffers speaks up and informs us that a lion found its way under the fence last night and was prowling around camp. My jaw literally drops and I exclaim that I just knew I heard a lion roaring close to our tent. The young woman looks at me and says the lion was very close! I wonder what the guards did with a lion visiting the camp? I wished I would have thought to ask.

Paul and I excuse ourselves earlier than we want too, but it is getting late and we have to get our things organized because we are leaving this wonderful place tomorrow. Nancy