Meru to Lakipia part 6 2016

Meru to Lakipia part 6

Paul and I decided yesterday that we would not take an early morning game drive since our plane will be coming for us at eleven a.m. When we informed Dominic of our plans at the conclusion of our afternoon outing, he told us in Kenya they call getting up late having a lions’ sleep. Well, Paul and I did sleep in this morning. Instead of getting up at 5:20 we lazed in bed until 6:30 :). Our tea-tray was delivered around this time and we enjoyed tea and cookies on the tent veranda while watching a troop of vervet monkeys climb and jump around in the trees below our tent.

Delicate blue flowers

These look a bit like petunias

Once we have finished tea, I decide to explore more of the camp and walk the paths to the other tents. I enjoy my walk in the cool morning air, checking out the other tent sites and conclude that the tent Paul and I have is situated in the best location and we sure have the best view. I also take photos of some of the many interesting and colorful flowers that I found growing throughout the camp grounds. When I return to the tent Paul decides to go for a stroll and upon his return, Paul too thinks we have the best camp site.

These flowers were strange looking

A butterfly that kept still long enough for a photo

Our breakfast is scheduled for eight o’clock so we walk to the mess tent for our first hot breakfast since coming to Meru. We have scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal and fruit which is quite tasty but I still prefer our bush breakfasts. However, the troop of vervet monkeys is sitting on the logs that are laid around the campfire area so we still have wildlife to observe while we eat.

Our breakfast entertainment

Vervet monkey

Craig shows up when we are nearly finished with breakfast and hands us the bag containing our money that he has kept in the safe. Yesterday we had asked Craig what he recommended for us to tip the guide and staff. His recommendation was fifty percent more than what the suggested guidelines were from our tour company! Paul and I aren’t sure that we have brought enough cash money to cover all the camps at this rate esp. since we have already used some of our cash on entrance visas and tipping at the Nairobi camp. Once we count our cash and Kenya shillings it is obvious that we will not have much left over once the tips are accounted for. However, I am one who believes in hiding some money here and there just in case cash is misplaced or stolen and once we count up what I have squirreled away there is no need to worry about a lack of funds :).

At 9:30 Paul and I make our way to the dirt lot to be picked up for the last time. Dominic is waiting for us and Craig comes to say goodbye. We tell the young manager how much we enjoyed our stay here and Paul promises to encourage safari goers to come to Meru when he reviews Offbeat Meru camp, the reserve, and Meru Park on Trip advisor and Safari Talk. We hand the tip money for the staff to Craig so he can disperse it to the twenty some people who work here! Our luggage is placed in the Cruiser, Paul and I climb into the truck and we wave goodbye.

I forgot to mention the herd of cape buffalo we saw this morning on the way to the airport

We don’t have to be at the airstrip until eleven so we can take our time to enjoy the animals we find. A dwarf mongoose runs across the red dirt road into the safety of a thorny bush. We watch a small crocodile trying to sneak up on some Laughing doves that want to drink from the Mirera river (more like a large creek really). Although the croc is barely visible the doves sense his presence and don’t make the mistake of taking a drink. I would bet that the stealthy croc has been successful at grabbing a meal at this spot before.

Baby Leopard Tortoise

Dominic is getting ready to carry the little tortoise across the road to safety

Dominic stops the Cruiser, hops out and picks up a tiny tortoise that was in the road. Dominic places the reptile on the door ledge and identifies it as a leopard tortoise. Of course the baby tortoise has pulled his head and legs inside his decorative shell but it is still beautiful. Dominic earns a gold star from me when he carries the vulnerable tortoise across the road and places it in the bush. At home, I always stop on our gravel roads and carry a turtle that is crossing the road to the other side. As we drive on we catch a fleeting glimpse of a bush buck and a red-headed agama Lizard is sunning itself on a rotten log.

Red-headed Agama Lizard. His head looks orange to me.

Dominic delivers us to the airstrip minutes before the four seat airplane lands. Paul and I tell our delightful guide how much we have enjoyed the time we have spent with him. Paul hands Dominic an envelope containing cash and a hand written thank you note. Dominic shakes our hands and tells us that he too, has enjoyed being our guide and that we were a lot of fun to be with. Dominic will be a tough act to follow for our guides in the camps to come. I will add here that Dominic told us this morning that the authorities still haven’t found the rustled herd of cattle.

The pilot of the small green plane walks over to greet us and helps us load our luggage. The pleasant young man, with a unique name I can’t recall, puts Paul in the seat next to him and I sit in the back. Our pilot gives us a quick safety lesson and tells us to put the headphones on to muffle the noise of the plane, plus there are mics attached to the headphones if we want to talk with each other or to him. Soon we are taxing down the bumpy airstrip and waving goodbye to Dominic who is standing on the edge of the runway waving in return.

Our plane landing on Meru airstrip

Our ride to Sosian Ranch Lodge

As the plane lifts off the isolated runway, climbing slowly into the sky, I keep my eyes on the ground below and am able to pick out a herd of elephants, a few giraffe, and what I think are impalas. Paul lets out a yelp and slaps at his ankle shortly after we have lifted off. A tsetse fly has bitten Paul through his pant leg and sock! We did not see one of these nasty insects while on the ground in Meru but the hitchhiking fly pays for its misbehavior as the smack Paul gave the fly puts an end to its life.

Before long we are flying over farm country with villages scattered around the landscape. We do ask various questions of our congenial pilot but the flight is so calm that I begin to feel sleepy and nearly doze off. The smooth flight ends after an hour and our pilot lands the puddle jumper on a grassy/muddy strip where thorn bushes and trees crowd in on all sides (unfortunately neither of us snapped a photo of the rugged airstrip). There is a man sitting in a vehicle on the edge of the runway as the plane bumps its way to the end of the strip and comes to a stop.

Our pilot kills the engine, steps out and comes around to open our doors. We step out into the warm, humid air of Sosian situated in the Lakipia plateau region. The driver of the Toyota Cruiser comes forward to greet us and introduces himself as Misheck. We retrieve our luggage and pile it into the Cruiser. Paul and I then thank our bush pilot who crawls back into the small plane and taxies to the far end. We sit in the Cruiser and watch as the bush plane speeds by us then it lifts off into a brilliant blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds.

Some of the bulls and steers that were not part of the bovine road block

On the short drive to the lodge we travel down well-packed red dirt roads although due to heavy rains there are plenty of rough spots to traverse. The land is thick with all sizes of bushes and trees, most of which are full of thorns, but there are grassy areas too. Misheck has to come to a stop when a herd of the ranch’s’ Boran bulls and steers are blocking the road. The complacent bovines are in no hurry to give us the right of way despite the herdsman’s’ verbal and physical efforts to move the lazy cattle off the road.

The herdsman after he got the cattle off the dirt road

We drive across a bridge over a fast flowing river and in less than a mile we arrive at the entrance to the lodge. Wow, what an eye-opener this place is, as dry stone walls built with colorful stones run in all directions. Naturally, Paul is nearly beside himself with delight at seeing all these rock fences surrounding the gorgeous grounds. There also is a huge leopard tortoise walking across a side road and Misheck says the tortoises come here to graze on the lawn. Cool.

Notice how they built the wall and incorporated the leaning tree into it.

This is what that little tortoise we saw in Meru will grow into!

As Misheck brings the truck to a stop next to the office of Sosian Ranch Lodge a pretty blonde woman and an outdoorsy looking man are there to greet us with smiles, welcomes, and a glass of fruit juice. The couple introduces themselves as Rosie and Simon, and they tell us they are the managers of the lodge. They look like college kids for heaven sakes! Once we finish our drink, Rosie shows us around the ranch house that was restored back in the 1940’s but it has obviously been redecorated since then. The house is gorgeous with big airy rooms, a beautiful wrap around veranda, and two black dogs padding around the premises to complete the look of what I imagine an African ranch house should look like. The yard is full of stately trees, some of which are blooming in a variety of colors. The only thing that doesn’t quite fit my mental image is the small group of donkeys that are roaming freely in the yard.

Tea and before dinner drinks served here

More of the Ranch house

Rosie shows us where breakfast is served, (on the veranda), where tea and before dinner drinks are served (inside next to a huge fireplace), dinner is served, (a narrow dining room with wonderful paintings of African wildlife), and then she takes us to our cottage. Rosie tells us all the relevant things about the cottage such as the hours when the electricity is on, where to place our dirty clothes to be laundered, etc. We are staying in the Italian cottage which sits a few yards to the north (I think) of the main house. All the other guest houses are situated to the south of the house. The cottage is delightful. The bedroom has a king-sized bed draped in white mosquito netting, along with a rocking chair, end tables and a desk. There is a hallway between the bedroom and bathroom with ample shelving and closets for clothes and luggage. The bathroom is quite unique in that a fainting couch has been placed in the middle of the large room, and plush bathrobes are hanging on the door. Also the two rooms are round, no corners in this cottage! There are lounge chairs sitting under a shade tree just in front of the cottage. Rosie leaves us to settle into this comfortable cottage and tells us to come to the pool area at one o’clock for lunch.

The bedroom. Paul’s photo

The bathroom. Paul’s photo

Our cottage. Paul’s photo

To get to the pool we walk the cobblestone path which takes us by the other guest cottages. There is a large three-sided dining and lounge area next to the pool. The open side looks out over the pool. A sandy-haired British soldier with Hollywood good looks is dining with us too, but he will be leaving after lunch. The British have troops stationed in Nanyuki; about two hours from here and the soldiers also train on land near Sosian. We also meet dark-haired Daisy, a Brit, who is working at Sosian. Our lunch is buffet style and I don’t have a clue what was served but like I said before, all our meals were delicious. We enjoy hearing about Sosian, the ranch and lodge, and how Simon and Rosie became the managers. Both had worked here, Simon as a guide but I don’t remember what Rosie did. When the prior managers left the two were hired to manage Sosian at the age of 21 and 22! This was three years ago so I was right, they nearly are college kids. The three “kids” are all very extroverted, full of life, and they make us feel like we belong here.

Pool and dining hall and lounge where we always ate lunch

Paul and I take advantage of the Wi-Fi which can only be accessed near the office to check emails and send one out to family and friends saying that we are doing fine. There was obviously no Wi-Fi in isolated Meru which was fine by us. We return to the room and relax for a bit before going to the main house for tea and cake at four.

A poor photo of Vulturine guinea fowl

Foraging elephant hidden by trees and bushes

After tea Simon and Misheck take Paul and I on our first game drive in Sosian. We learn that they are having an unusual abundance of rain which explains why everything is so lush plus water is running everywhere. It is also obvious that finding game here may not be easy because with all the cover animals will be hard to spot. We do find some vulturine guinea fowl that have deep blue feathers on their necks and chests making them quite striking birds. An elephant is stripping leaves from a small tree not far from the headquarters. We turn onto a public road that runs through the ranch and Simon stops the Cruiser scanning the big rocks that protrude from the nearby hills for a leopardess and her cub that are occasionally seen sunning on the boulders. The cats aren’t here today unfortunately. Simon is ready to drive on when he suddenly says “what is that”? I try to follow his gaze as he looks towards a rough road that forks off from the public road but I see nothing. Simon lifts his binoculars to have a closer look and quietly but excitedly exclaims that it is a cheetah. Paul and I quickly scope the area with our binoculars and sure enough there is a cheetah sitting on a small red mound staring right at us. Misheck, who is standing on the seat behind Paul and I tells us that we are very lucky. Paul and I look at each other and just shake our heads. We have been out for less than thirty minutes and of all the animals Paul and I thought we might see in this landscape a cheetah was not one of them!

It is a Cheetah!

Hiding in the grass

Simon quietly tells us that he will drive closer and then stop in hopes we can get a decent photo before the slender cat makes a getaway. Simon’s plan works as the spotted cat sits tight on his little mound of dirt for at least a “proof we saw a cheetah” photo. However, when Simon tries to inch closer to the cheetah we violate his comfort zone and he stands up and walks into the bush. Simon drives near the spot where the young male cheetah disappeared and Misheck spots him sitting in some tall grass. The two men expect the cheetah to move again since we are so near the lanky feline and he does. The cheetah comes out onto the road glances at us and begins walking in the roadbed away from us. Occasionally the cheetah stops and glances over his shoulder to keep an eye on us. Simon lets the truck creep after the strolling cat leaving plenty of room between us and the cheetah. Eventually the cheetah walks back into the bush and we lose sight of him. Simon stops the cruiser and listens, for what we don’t know. Pretty soon he points to his ear and asks if we hear the birds scolding up ahead. Yes we do. Simon identifies the tattle tales as rattling cisticolas and tells us that they are a good indication that the cheetah is nearby. Simon and Misheck continue to track the cat by driving to where the birds are scolding the perceived menace, the men then glass the area for the cheetah. We continue this listen to the scolding birds, move on when more cisticolas begin chattering further away, and scan the bush for the cheetah. Because this is private property we can drive off-road in pursuit of the cheetah. Eventually the little birds do lead us to the cheetah who is sitting behind a large termite mound with only his head visible to us. We have time to snap a couple of photos before the cat loses his patience and moves on.

Walking to the road

Keeping an eye on us

Thanks to the Cisticolas we find the Cheetah again

Our last look at the cheetah

The cisticolas have ceased their scolding so Simon and Misheck confer on where they think the cheetah might be headed. The two agree on an area where the cheetah might be hiding so Simon navigates the Cruiser around rocks and bushes, then crawls up onto the frame of the truck, barefooted, and scouts the bush with his binoculars. The stealthy cat is nowhere to be found but our guides have seen a herd of impalas on a ridge and surmise the cheetah might be moving in the antelope’s direction.

Simon standing on the roof frame looking for the cheetah.

We drive a few miles to the impalas and I ask how long it would take the cheetah to travel this distance. Simon answers not that long because they can cover ground quickly even at a walk plus the cat would be traveling a more direct route than we did. While keeping one eye on the impalas we also take note of other wildlife in the area. We are on a plateau which is more open and grassy and the high point allows us to see a long ways.

On the next hillside there are several elephants foraging on the trees. A waterbuck appears below our hilltop perch running at full speed. Could the cheetah be down there? There are zebra grazing across the way too. Suddenly the impalas bunch up and stare in the general direction we have come from. We all use our binoculars trying to see what the nervous antelope are looking at but we find nothing. The impalas relax after a bit and scatter out to graze. Simon and Misheck decide the cheetah is not coming after all.

Elephant taking a dirt bath

We drive on and find an elephant vigorously dusting himself. Paul gets a great video of the elephant kicking dust into his trunk and then tossing it on his head and back. It is getting late so Simon drives to a tank (pond to us) and we enjoy our first sundowner, with tuskers and chips, in Sosian. Since it is cloudy now we don’t get to see the sunset but we enjoy the moment all the same. I still can’t believe we saw a cheetah!!

A cloudy sundowner to end the day

Dinner is rather formal; the wait staffs are wearing white coats and take their job very seriously. The food is delicious and we enjoy hearing stories from the three youngsters:). Simon is very funny, Daisy is very animated when she relates anything, and Rosie is just a pleasant, very nice person. We retire shortly after dinner absolutely delighted with our first afternoon here.

A full day in Sosian coming soon, Nancy

Meru part 5 2016

Feb14

Meru part 5

Paul and I had another restful night in the wilds of Meru. I did hear hyena giggling and whooping plus a baboon barking sharply but I fell right back to sleep. As usual we are climbing into the Cruiser at 6 a.m. as Dominic greets us with that sunny smile and a cheerful good morning.

Giraffe looking us over in the dusky morning light. Can you see the streaks in the sky? Those are 1000’s of quelea flying around.

Guinea hens and blurry chicks

This morning we find more giraffe that give us the usual curious once over. Three helmeted guinea hen with a half-dozen chicks run ahead of our vehicle for a ways before reluctantly leaving the road and scrambling into the tall grass. I don’t blame the fowl for not wanting to take their little ones into the tangle of forage. There is a faint piece of rainbow in the dusky sky which is very lovely. Dominic suddenly speeds up and we are driving rather fast, well faster than we normally do, down the road. Paul and I look at each other because this behavior from a guide usually means there is something special to see.

This is one reason to get up early!

The sun is beginning to peak above the horizon and the sky is vivid with various shades of orange. Dominic brings the Cruiser to a halt and then grins as Paul and I both “ooh” at what we see. The sun is rising behind a clump of doum palms, those unique trees whose upper branches remind me of giant wishbones. Dominic tells us that “now you see why I was driving fast”. We watch as the brilliant sun reaches the point where it is mostly framed in the vee of the doum palm branches. Paul and I both snap photos of the iconic scene then marvel again at how fast the sun rises above the tree tops. What a gorgeous start to the morning this is.

Elephant lightening the load as he walks.

As we continue on our drive we admire a lone elephant that is walking along with his trunk draped over his tusk to lighten the load. There are clouds gathering and we have a brief shower of light rain but we hardly get damp. We see several Cape buffalo grazing in a marshy meadow accompanied by their buddies the cattle egrets. A grand specimen of a male Somali Ostrich struts proudly across the road in front of us, so close that we can see the flies crawling on his head and neck. He seems in no hurry to go anywhere and strikes a few poses for us. A herd of common waterbuck turn their heads to look at us as we stop to watch them. Suddenly our leisurely drive changes when Dominic does a three point turn and begins driving back in the direction we came. Paul noticed that just before this sudden turn around, Dominic had picked up his phone and looked at it. One thing is for sure we aren’t speeding down the road to catch a sunrise this time!

Cape buffalo and cattle egrets. It is sprinkling so this isn’t in good light.

Proud Somali Ostrich

Look at the flies

Dominic turns onto a well-traveled road that I’m pretty sure we have never driven down before. We meet another vehicle, the same people we saw on our first day in Meru, and Dominic stops to chat with the driver. The safarists are smiling broadly and when we part company, I say to the couple as we pass each other that they look very happy. They nod their heads in agreement but give us no hint to what has delighted them.

Lion couple laying next to the road

Occasionally the male gives us that “look straight through you” stare

In a few minutes we discover the reason for our altered route and the delight of the safarists we met. Lying next to the road in the red dirt is a lion and lioness. The lioness is lying flat on her side while the large male is lying on his belly. Dominic tells us that the pair are mating so that is why they are here by themselves. We sit and watch the recumbent animals mostly sleep although the handsome male does occasionally look at us or shifts around for a more comfortable sleeping position. We are distracted while we observe the lions by a black-headed heron that flies by with a black snake dangling from its long beak. The lanky heron lands in the distance and we watch through our binoculars as the bird swallows the foot or so long snake. Once the bird is finished eating its scaly breakfast the heron lands in a nearby tree offering a nice pose for my camera.

Black-headed Heron

Lazy lions

We turn our attention back to the lion couple, the lioness has shifted to lying on her tummy. The male stands up and takes a step towards his mate and licks her ear. This leads to the female rising to her feet and then the two walk into the tall grass that borders their resting place. The grass swallows them from sight and I assume that our time with the lion couple is over. Oh yes, another vehicle arrived a few minutes after we did so we are sharing this lion encounter. However, Dominic backs the Cruiser up a few yards and there are the two lions in the act of mating! The two lions look a bit surprised at our appearance, and I feel a little guilty about our intruding into the pair’s private business. Although our presence seems a bit rude it certainly doesn’t deter the felines from proceeding with their intimacy. Paul points out that they aren’t too worried about spectators or they would have chosen a more remote place to mate rather than right by the road!

Whispering sweet nothings in her ear?

Just before the lions disappear into the brush and grass

The mating session ends quickly and with a snarl from both parties, although no snapping jaws or slashing of claws are part of the finale as often happens with mating cats. However, I noticed some fresh scratch or bite marks on the lioness that would indicate that some of their prior mating sessions weren’t as benign. The lioness falls back on her side looking quite satisfied, while the male scent marks with urine near where the lioness is resting. Eventually the dark maned male lies down beside his mate and they fall back to sleep. Dominic tells us that the two will probably sleep for quite some time now so we drive away with the same happy look on our faces as the people we met on our way to the lions.

Witnessing the mating act. The snarl isn’t for us by the way

A satisfied lioness

Lion marking territory with his urine

Seeing the lions this morning means that we have accounted for the big five in Meru. The big five consists of Elephant, Cape buffalo, Rhino, Leopard, and Lion. The big five is very hard to acquire anymore due to the demise of the rhino and we know we are very lucky to have achieved this coup.

Our morning fun isn’t finished however as we find two gerenuk that are feeding! You might think big deal, but gerenuk mostly feed standing up on their hind legs so they can reach upper leaves on small trees and bushes. Watching the gerenuk through our binoculars we marvel at the rather odd looking antelope balancing on their hind legs while they stretch out their long necks to reach the most desirable leaves. In the background of the dining gerenuks is an elephant with red dust swirling around it due to the pachyderm picking up the dirt and throwing the dust on itself. Too bad we aren’t closer to the animals as this comparison of the delicate gerenuk and the enormous dust bathing elephant would have made for a great video or photo.

Gerenuk balancing on its back legs to forage

Dust bathing elephant in the distance

Dominic turns onto a rough track that meanders through a small valley where we see another baobab tree. All of us smell the odor of rotting flesh but as carefully as we look we can’t find the source of the stench. There are no vultures or any other carrion eaters around that would help us find the carcass which seems a bit odd. If the carcass has been placed in a tree by a leopard we aren’t able to spot it. We see a few zebra, Oryx and impala as we drive through the little valley so maybe one of their herd mates met its demise last night.

Baobab tree we saw while driving through the small valley

Zebra and Oryx

After leaving the quiet valley Dominic drives us back near the rhino sanctuary. There is some wire fence not far from the road that must have been part of the sanctuary at one time but it isn’t electrified anymore. A big bull elephant is standing behind the irrelevant fence feeding on the white flowers that are growing profusely here. The pachyderm has plastered himself with red mud and his eyelashes are stuck together so you can hardly see his tiny eyes. Dominic points out that the elephants tusks have been sawn off and tells us that the big guy is a trouble maker. The ornery fellow enjoys knocking down the rhino sanctuary fence, electrified or not.

Elephant plastered with red mud

Moving on we find a troop of baboon moving through the tall grass which makes them very hard to see. One baboon is on the other side of the road perched atop a small tree and occasionally he lets out a soft whoop. I’m not sure what that sound means but soon the group of baboons is crossing the road behind us, glancing at us nervously as they pass by. Several baboon cross to a lone doum palm and scamper up the trunk of the leaning tree. One of the tree climbers must have violated the pecking order because a larger baboon grabs and bites the poor thing causing it to shriek in fear or pain.

Some of the baboon troop that crossed the road

Baboons climbing up the doum palm

We have also been watching a bull elephant near the palm tree that the baboons climbed that has all the tale tell signs of being in musth. Musth is when an adult male elephant reaches a state of having extremely high levels of testosterone. The elephant has been checking us out plus just acting as though he doesn’t know what to do with himself. At one point prior to the baboons crossing the road, he places his head against the very palm tree the baboons are now in and shook it vigorously, then checked the ground in hopes that some nuts had fallen out. Getting back to the shrieking baboon, this seems to really irritate the elephant and he starts walking towards the tree with his trunk raised in the air while also shaking his head. This terrifies the baboons and they race back down the tree howling and screeching with fright and disappear into the waving grass.

Bull in musth checking us out

Bull elephant shaking the palm tree

The big bully continues to the doum palm where he backs up to the trunk and begins scratching his behind. Once he has satisfied the itch, he again places his large head against the tree trunk and pushes causing the top of the tree to vigorously shake. There are no nuts in the tree so his search for fallen nuts is futile. The elephant leaves the palm tree and advances towards us but changes his mind (thank goodness) and walks to a small water hole. At first it appears he is going to lie down in the muddy pool but ends up digging at the mud with his tusks. We finally decide to leave the mixed up elephant and continue on our way back to camp.

Scratching an itch

Taking a mud bath

Digging in the mud

Two incidents happened on this morning’s game drive that had nothing to do with African wildlife. When we were near the rhino sanctuary a private car was speedily approaching us. Dominic slowed down and came to a stop to offer the normal bush greeting. The white car never even slowed down, enveloping us in a cloud of dust as it sped by. Dominic stares after the car and raises his hands, palms up, in a questioning gesture. He shakes his head in disgust and drives on. Obviously not stopping to visit is considered bad etiquette in the African bush.

As we near the camp two rangers are parked in their official vehicle on the side of the road. Dominic slows and calls out “Jumbo” and the rangers return the greeting. As Dominic prepares to stop the Cruiser but the rangers shake their heads no and gesture that we must move on. We haven’t driven far when we meet two police trucks filled with determined looking policemen. Bringing up the rear of the convoy is a private truck containing two men. Dominic states the obvious that the authorities are after somebody and it must be serious since the police and rangers are working together. Interesting.

At lunch we meet a couple that has arrived from the UK and find out that they have stayed at Offbeat Meru camp before. It doesn’t take long to figure out that things will be lively with this very extroverted and humorous couple! They are here for four nights and will follow us to Laikipia where we will meet up again. They tell us that on their way from the airstrip to the camp they saw three cheetahs in the distance, standing on the road. The supple cats melted into the grass before they could get much closer. No way, the odds of seeing cheetah in this tall grass or bushy terrain would be nearly impossible. They know how lucky they were and take this as a sign of good things to come.

Colorful bird near camp. I thought it was a yellow bishop but it doesn’t look like the picture in my bird book??

After lunch I exercise up and down the various paths. Last night I paced back and forth in the tent for fifteen minutes to get a little more exercise but that gets old in a hurry. I feel better plus I believe it is loosening my back sprain somewhat. Paul reads and both of us take a nap.

We opt for the five o’clock leave time for our afternoon game drive. Dominic tells us that the police convoy we met this morning were looking for one hundred head of cattle that were stolen last night and that the people following them were the owners of the cattle. The police and rangers suspect that the rustlers have brought the cattle into the Park or the Reserve. Holy Smokes, how do you rustle that many cattle and then make them disappear like that? Remember no big semis are around to load the cattle on in this wild country.

Male Queleas and completed nests

We stop and check out the queleas again and are astounded at how many nests are complete. We laugh to see a few males who have completed their nests lift one wing in the air to attract the attention of the females. It is fascinating to watch a female approach the wing waving male, hop into his nest then, (at least in the ones we witnessed), the home shopper would leave the begging male and go inspect more nests. I guess it is wise not to settle for the first abode you look at even in the bird world.

Look at all the quelea nests!

We turn onto another road and our mouths just drop at the high density of quelea nests in the trees and bushes. Paul and I also notice an aroma that smells like curing hay, and it takes us few minutes to realize the aroma is coming from the thousands of quelea nests where the green grass is curing just like cut hay. There are tens of thousands of quelea flying in their undulating columns behind, over and in front of us and it truly looks like a biblical plague. Dominic tells us that crop farmers despise these birds because if they decide to feed in a field of ripening grain the queleas can literally strip the field clean in short order. You don’t need any imagination to see that this would be the case.

We meet up with another bull elephant in musth (pronounced must) that immediately comes towards our Cruiser although at a walk. Dominic drives on but stops down the road so we can watch some hartebeest. The elephant has continued to plod after us, and once he gets too close for comfort we continue on our game drive. A mud covered buffalo, more giraffe and impala are on the agenda.

The bull who kept following us at a plodding walk

Family of Common Waterbuck

Cape buffalo after wallowing in the mud

Dominic finds a beautiful site for us to enjoy our last sundowners in Meru. We are sad to be leaving this lush, game-filled park and reserve, but we are also excited to experience a new place.

Our last sundowner in Meru

Tonight we are served beef and due to poor experiences with beef in Africa on past safaris, we are surprised to find this beef tender, flavorful and delicious. There is a lot of laughter at the table due to our personable British companions. Paul and I decide that we have an English version of Mista Tembo as “B” isn’t afraid to state what he thinks plus he loves Tusker beer! We say our so longs tonight as we won’t see each other in the morning but we tell our new friends we look forward to seeing them in Sosian.

From Meru to Laikipia

Meru part 4 2016

Feb10

More Meru, part 4

Sunrise in Meru

Except for waking up sometime in the night and hearing a lion roaring in the distance,( I loved that), I slept wonderfully. It is amazing what a thin piece of canvas can do for your peace of mind :).

The morning begins the same as yesterday. The alarm rings at 5:20, a few minutes later a voice cheerfully calls good morning to us and today we immediately retrieve the tea-tray. Once we finish the tea and cookies we put on our binoculars, our jackets, grab the day pack and cameras then go sit on the chairs on our porch. Paul figured out yesterday that we can hear the Cruiser door slam when Dominic is leaving the guides living quarters and if we start walking up to where Dominic picks us up after hearing the door slam, we arrive there at approximately the same time he does.

This morning there is another dramatic African sunrise which we dutifully take photos of. A giraffe is walking between us and the sun which makes for an indelible image. I love this time of the day.

Giraffe at sunrise

Yesterday in our conversations with Dominic we talked about the wildlife we had seen in Nairobi National Park. When we mentioned the two sunni we had seen, Dominic seemed a bit skeptical. I guess we read him right as this morning he asks if we have a photo of the sunni. It takes me awhile to scroll through all my photos but I finally locate the picture of the half-obscured antelope and I hand the camera to Dominic. He looks at the photo and declares, “Yes, that is a sunni” and then wistfully adds, “I have never seen a sunni”. I guess we did not realize how fortunate we were to see that small antelope.

This morning we find a troop of baboons near a small stream not far from the road. We watch as three baby baboons play ring around the rosy on the trunk of a yellow fever tree. It makes us laugh out loud to watch the antics of the playful trio. Many adults are sitting on limbs of various trees soaking up the early morning sun. One baboon has situated himself on the narrow stub of a broken off tree and for the life of me I can’t see how this perch can be in the least bit comfortable. When we have our fill of studying the baboons that appear to be studying us, we move on down the road.

Warming up in the early morning sun

This seat does not look comfortable

Dominic turns off on one of the minimal track roads where thick-bladed grass and white flowers, (are they hibiscus?) are thriving. A handsome bull elephant is feasting on the grass quite close to the road. The gigantic elephant doesn’t pay much attention to us as he is too busy ripping off large clumps of grass and stuffing it in his mouth.

Elephant feasting on grass

A bit farther down the dirt track we see a…car!! This is only the second tourist-carrying vehicle we have met in Meru so far. We met another cruiser with tourists yesterday as we were leaving the mass of elephants. Can you believe that? As is normal on safari it is only good manners to stop and exchange greetings when you meet another vehicle and Dominic follows the protocol. The people are stopped next to a tower of giraffes and for some reason when our truck pulls up the giraffes take off running. They run into a brushy area and stop. Soon there are giraffe heads peeking at us over the tops of the vegetation which strikes me as very funny. O.k. I’m easily amused.

The shy giraffes peeking at us over the vegetation

This morning Dominic is taking us to the Rhino sanctuary and we arrive at the gate shortly after we leave the shy giraffe. The sanctuary’s 27 square kilometers is ringed by a high voltage electric fence, but once inside you drive away from the wire fence and don’t notice it. Dominic navigates the Cruiser down a hill over a rough road which leads us into a beautiful valley where small mountains can be seen in the distance. I doubt we have driven a half mile when we find four white rhino grazing within a few feet of the road. Amazing. The rhino completely ignore us as they crop the grass with their wide muzzles. We spend quite some time watching the clunky beasts as they contentedly feed in the safety (hopefully) of the sanctuary. Oh yes, we spot another pair of tourist in a Cruiser on their way out of the sanctuary.

The vista across the valley and one of the four rhino

Two of the four white rhino we saw within minutes

As we continue on our search for more rhino, Dominic must stop the car as a few Plains zebra want to cross the road. Dominic had hoped that grevy zebra would be traveling with them as they often are, but no grevy are with this group. I believe there are only seven grevy zebra in Meru so the odds are not great that we will see the rare zebra.

A few of the plains zebra that crossed in front of us

We continue along the edge of the sweeping valley for a while before we drive uphill and wend our way through a forested area. An old bull rhino is standing, rather listlessly, in a forest opening with a few scraggly bushes scattered about. Dominic brings the Cruiser to a halt and I snap a few photos of the motionless rhino. The white rhino doesn’t move a muscle for the time we spend with him and we wonder if the beast is ill or just really old. We continue on in our search for more rhino and grevy zebra but come up empty.

The lone rhino that was so listless.

As we descend into the valley on our way back to the gate, Dominic sees three grevy zebra half way across the verdant valley. Paul and I must use our binoculars as we can barely make out the shapes of the zebra with our bare eyes, let alone tell that they are grevys. How in the heck did our guide recognize them as grevys at this distance! As we are studying the heavy-set grevys, a giraffe floats in that dream like walk they have towards the three zebra. When the giraffe reaches the zebra the tall mammal bends its long neck down towards one of the grevys, The zebra lifts its head up and the two very different species touch noses. How interesting.

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu sitting near the exit to the sanctuary.

When we reach the gate to exit the sanctuary, a man comes to open the gate for us. Before he can open the electrified gate a husky Kenyan walks up to exchange greetings with Dominic who introduces the man to Paul and me. When Benjamin finds out we are Americans he immediately begins to talk about Americas presidential candidates. Are you kidding me, we are in the middle of nowhere and here we are listening to a man who works at the rhino sanctuary giving us his opinion on every candidate that is running for president. To say Benjamin is not afraid to tell us what he thinks of some of the candidates is an understatement. Paul and I find ourselves roaring with laughter at some of Benjamin’s statements, (some are ludicrous stories he has read on the internet) but again we marvel at how much interest Kenyans have in politics. He ends his rather one-sided visit with us by telling us about a past Argentinian president that had a three-legged dog for his security detail and drove a Volkswagen and this proved he was truly a man of the people. Whaaat? I need to check that story out because I have never heard that one. As Benjamin is walking away he tugs at his shorts that look like the American flag and tells us how much he loves America. The poor man who has waited patiently to let us out of the sanctuary finally can open the wire gate and let us drive through.

We are driving along just enjoying the fresh air and our surroundings when Dominic stops the car. Dominic tells us that there is a naked mole rat in the road. Say that again? As Paul and I poke our heads out the windows of the Cruiser to take a look at this creature with the strange name it doesn’t take long to see that it is aptly labeled! That is one ugly rodent and Paul likens it to Gollum from The Hobbit. These are the critters that make the miniature dirt hills in or along the roads we have been seeing and often there is dirt being thrown out of these mounds making them resemble miniature volcanos. The naked mole rat is nearly blind and when this unfortunate looking animal decides he wants to return to the den, he falls on his side and moves his head around to locate the den hole. When he finds the opening to the den the hairless mole rat stands up and crawls down into his den, mooning us unintentionally (I think). We stay for a little while and we can clearly hear the buck toothed rodent gnawing at the hard ground which is the way they excavate their dens, but no fine dirt is thrown into the air as I had hoped for. I would have liked to have had a photo of that although it would have been hard to capture in a photo anyway.

Naked Mole Rat. Yes he is supposed to look like that.

Mooned by a naked mole rat, not a pretty sight.

This is not the work of the naked mole rat we saw but these are the dirt piles they make and often plumes of dirt are being kicked out of the hole.

When we have our breakfast this morning out in the bush, Paul tells Dominic his Swahili name that was given to him by Mrefu. Mapumbo doesn’t compute with Dominic who tells Paul that this word is not familiar to him. After hearing the story of why Paul was given this name it does make him laugh though. He tells Paul the name for testicles in Swahili in Kenya is different but it is also very derogatory. Paul had already introduced me as Mama Ndege which Dominic even uses at times when he speaks to me. Paul then tells him a few other Swahili names Mrefu has given some of our safari friends such as Mista Tembo and Mama Mbuzi, explaining to Dominic how the safarists earned these names. However the Swahili name that causes Dominic to literally grab his belly as the laughter bubbles out of him is Mama Mavi (I think I spelled that right). We tell Dominic that our friend was given this name due to her interest in all kinds of animal scat. He admits that it is an appropriate name and then lapses into more peals of laughter.

Our breakfast spot for today. Paul’s photo

After breakfast we leisurely make our way back to camp. There are more giraffe to enjoy and a large male Somali Ostrich with his striking grey/blue neck. We come upon an elephant who has placed his large trunk over his lone tusk (the other tusk is just a stub), has rested that tusk on a low branch in the tree he is standing under and then rested the rest of his trunk in the v where the tree trunk divides, giving him further relief from the weight of his heavy appendage I guess. There is another young elephant standing nearby the old bull. Eventually, the lazy elephant withdraws his trunk and walks towards us. Now we see the reason for this rather bizarre posture, the bull is in musth which is evident by the white secretions oozing from the glands on the side of his head and the fact that he is continually dribbling urine. Bulls in musth are unpredictable and Dominic watches the big guy closely but although he approaches the vehicle he makes no aggressive movements towards us.

Bull resting his trunk on his tusk and the tree

An easier image to see the elephants trunk over his tusk and coming out the other side of the tree

The bull comes in for a closer look at us

Not far from camp we stop to watch red-billed quelea in a nesting frenzy. We have driven through this area every day where these sparrow sized birds are residing, but it has been early in the morning and we only heard the singing of the queleas as they were beginning to wake up. At other times of the day we have witnessed the huge columns of the numerous birds that look like dark plumes of smoke as they fly overhead. This morning we stop to have a closer look at the bustling birds that are starting to weave nests in every bush and tree around. I’m not talking one or two nests in each selected site but nests being constructed so close together that I don’t see how the birds know which one is theirs! We need to return to camp for lunch but we vow to take more time this afternoon to sit and watch these avian home builders.

A red-billed quelea just beginning to weave a nest

After lunch and another interesting visit with Craig, Paul and I return to our tent. It is quite warm inside so we decide to return to the open sided lounge to see if it is more comfy. It is cooler here as there is some air flowing through the lounge but Paul, who is sockless and wearing his flip-flops has his ankles come under attack by mosquitos so we retreat to our stuffy tent. I decide to go back out and walk the circuit from our tent to the mess tent to the load up area, because we are not getting any exercise! I can tell my waist band is already fitting tighter and we have only been in Africa for five days! I walk about a half mile before I have to quit due to the heat. We both do take a nap despite the warm interior of the tent.

The pool at the camp

Path leading down to where we sat around the fire before dinner. The small river is close by this area

We leave a half hour later than usual on our afternoon game drive due to the heat. We stay true to our word about quelea watching so when we come to the quelea nesting area, Dominic parks alongside the road and we just sit and observe the intense avian activity. There are a lot of raptors sitting in the trees watching the busy birds too, such as Tawny Eagles and Long-Crested Eagles. The birds of prey seem to be hypnotized by the huge numbers of quelea flying all around them. We never see the raptors even attempt to pick one of the little birds off for a meal so we figure they have already eaten their fill or they simply can’t focus on a single bird due to the constant motion and the close proximity in which the birds fly.

A Tawny Eagle watching the quelea

Dominic drives us a bit farther down the road where we see large groups of quelea dropping out of the sky into grassy areas and then taking off again. The nest-building birds are gathering grass, which is the material they use to weave their nests. It is amazing to see how the healthy stand of grass is mostly stubble once the birds vacate these spots. When the foragers take to flight again you can see long pieces of grass streaming out behind them and occasionally another bird will grab the free end and pull part of that stem of grass away for himself. It is only males that are gathering and weaving the nests according to Dominic. He tells us the males will work swiftly to construct the nest and then try to entice a female to choose his nest. When the female does select a nest along with its builder, the two will mate and then the male leaves the female on her own to incubate and raise the chicks.

Red-billed Queleas pulling grass to weave their nests with. The birds are just a blur of motion so you can see why the raptors seem confused

One other amusing incident we witness is a fork-tailed drongo harassing a Long Crested Eagle that is perched in a tree. The drongo picks his moment and dives down on the eagle delivering a nasty peck on top of the eagle’s head, causing the black bird to flinch. The eagle will watch the drongo intently for a while but as soon as the eagle diverts his gaze elsewhere, the drongo hones in like a missile and drops his beak bomb on the inattentive eagle. All three of us have a laugh at the Long-Crested Eagles expense and the drongo is still causing havoc for the eagle when we drive away.

The Long-Crested Eagle that the Drongo kept pecking on the head. I wasn’t fast enough to photo an actual attack.

We enjoy our Tusker beer while watching a large herd of Cape buffalo in the distance. On our way back to camp we see eyes glowing in the road far ahead but the creature runs into the bush before we can reach it. Dominic uses a spotlight to light up the side of the road and I use my headlamp too. Suddenly there are eyes glowing where I am shining my headlamp. Dominic backs up and we are able to see an African Wildcat which looks a lot like a domestic cat in size and shape. Cool! Paul and I have never seen this small cat on our past safaris.

As we drive on enjoying the cool evening air, Paul asks Dominic if there are bush babies here. Dominic answers in the affirmative and before long he has pulled the Cruiser off the road next to a couple of trees. He shines his spot light into the tree canopy and we can see two sets of shining eyes staring down at us. We get a good look at the big-eyed critters through our binoculars.

After returning to camp, Paul and I walk to the tent to shed ourselves of our binoculars, cameras, and daypack and to freshen up. We than flash our headlamps outside the tent for our escort to return and walk us to the camp fire. We have a new guard tonight who is carrying a rifle that is nearly as big as he is! We also have a new bartender. Craig tells us some of the staff have taken the night off. Paul, who discovered that they have Amarulla in the bar, opts for this African liquor that he loves. I have a small glass of Tusker to go along with the snacks that are served to us.

Here is a real tusker to compliment my Tusker beer.

The dinner topic with Craig tonight turns to his family’s business which is growing roses. Craig talks about the various aspects of rose farming but the most interesting part to me is that the roses are shipped to Holland and sold in an auction to be dispersed throughout Europe. I would put a photo of Craig here but Paul and I failed to take a picture of the man.

When we are ready to return to our tent, our little guard marches along in his worn, oversized boots and we dutifully follow. When we reach the tent I see that the canvas on the front is still rolled up. I suppose the person who let the canvas down last night isn’t here. We tell the guard that we want to unroll the canvas and Paul begins to unhook the fasteners. Our serious escort, (he surely was a park ranger or in the army at one time), tries to help but he has a flashlight in one hand and his rifle in the other, plus he can hardly reach the hooks anyway. Paul ends up letting the canvas down mostly on his own and once we are safely inside the tent the little man turns and marches away.

One more full day in Meru. Nancy

Giraffe portrait

The Somali Ostrich we saw today

A vervet monkey

Meru part 3

Feb8

Meru day two, part 3

Paul and I settle in for our first night in Offbeat Meru camp. We have been escorted back to our tent after dinner by one of the staff. When we are safely inside the tent our escort says goodnight and walks away. I have taken my shoes off and Paul is over by the wooden shelving used for our clothes, when he tells me to come over and look at this. I peer down to where he is pointing and see a scorpion! Real nice. Paul, who still has his shoes on, stomps on the beige, rubbery-looking arachnid, lifts his shoe and unbelievably the creepy thing scuttles away hoping to crawl under the wardrobe. Paul lands another blow on the escaping scorpion but when he lifts his shoe this time there is no sign of the scorpion. We use our headlamps and shine them behind and under the shelving but we can’t see the creepy crawler. I grab the can of “doom” spray and liberally douse the area behind and under the white wardrobe. Paul has walked away and when I get back on my feet, I had to kneel to spray under the shelves; I see the scorpion just a few inches from where I was kneeling. Yikes, it makes me jump but the good news is that the creature is dead. Paul and I figure that it was stuck to the bottom of Paul’s shoe and when he walked away it fell off. Yesch! Paul picks it up with some toilet paper and flushes the dead invader down the toilet.

No scorpion photo. How about a pleasant giraffe instead!

When we retire to our tent for the night, even before the scorpion is discovered, I notice right away that the canvas has not been lowered on the front of our tent and only the tight mesh netting separates us from the outside. I ask Paul if he thinks they forgot to lower the canvas but we agree this isn’t the case since the canvas on the sides and back have been let down. Hmm, I don’t recall ever staying in any tent, mobile or permanent like these, where the canvas isn’t put down for the night no matter how hot it is.

I’m not sure what time I wake up with a jolt but the reason for my eyes flying open is a bad dream, well a nightmare. I will have these bad dreams/nightmares occasionally throughout this safari and I don’t know if the Malarone is to blame, or the rich food we consume a couple of hours before we go to bed. The hyenas are chattering wildly and it sounds like they are very close to the camp. Normally, I would relish lying in bed listening to the laughing and whooping of the hyena but with the dream fresh in my mind their maniacal sounds just add to my discomfort. There is enough moonlight that I can make out the outlines of trees through the mesh screen and I see other shapes that I’m not sure what they are. I immediately think, “If I can see things outside of the tent then wild animals can easily see inside the tent”.

This Superb Starling looks as though it has had a few nightmares too!

“Paul, wake up, we need to put the canvas down on the tent”. Paul does wake up but insists that we are perfectly safe and that he really doesn’t want to go outside the tent. He turns over to go back to sleep and I lay there with my eyes open wide. After a few minutes I hear a deep grunt which is repeated a few times. “Paul do you hear that”? “Yes, Paul answers, “but it is a long ways away”. I continue to lay there listening and looking and when the sound comes again I sit straight up in bed. Paul sighs and says ” I see we are not going to get any sleep until the canvas is down” and he crawls out of bed, gets his headlamp and after flashing the light around the front of the tent to make sure nothing is out there, he steps outside and has the canvas rolled down in a couple of minutes. Paul informs me that the canvas has not been rolled down for ages and again thinks I’m being silly. That could be but I know that once I can’t see out I drift off to sleep within minutes.

The alarm goes off at 5:20 and at 5:30 a friendly voice calls good morning from outside our tent, then he is gone. It takes Paul and I a few minutes to figure out the man has left the tea tray on the table that is on the “porch” of the tent. Paul brings it inside and we enjoy the tea and cookies before walking up to the dirt lot where Dominic is waiting in a Land Cruiser for us although it isn’t the truck that caused us trouble yesterday. Dominic greets us with a smile and good morning and we are off on our morning game drive. Driving through the park, we watch a beautiful sunrise that begins with a hint of color on the horizon to watching the bright yellow orb rise over the tree tops. Gorgeous.

Beautiful sunrise. Paul’s photo

Dominic takes the road that runs next to Leopard Rock, which he laughingly tells us the guides call No Leopard Rock because they have only found a leopard there once. This makes us chuckle but we enjoy looking at the kopje, leopard or no leopard, which is made up of a jumble of red rocks with a few trees and bushes managing to find a place to grow among the colorful rocks. This morning a small group of reticulated giraffe are browsing at the base of Leopard Rock, the early morning sun making both giraffe and rock glow. The giraffe evidently don’t like the fact that we have intruded into their space and as they begin to walk away I marvel at how they appear to be almost floating over the ground. I do love to watch giraffe in motion.

Reticulated giraffe strolling next to Leopard Rock

Two of the giraffe that are walking away from us

I have discovered that due to the muscle pull in my back that I can’t stand up for any extended time while the vehicle is moving. I hate this because one can see so much farther when you are standing on the seat and looking out the top of the vehicle. Oh well, I will just have to rely on Paul, who does stand up most of the time, and the sharp eye of Dominic to spot whatever is out there!

As we drive into open grassland we begin to see elephant on the horizon. Not just a few elephants but lines and lines of elephants. As we get closer to this memory of elephants, (the couple from the UK gave us this neat name for a herd of elephants), the reality of just how many of the pachyderms there are is almost hard to comprehend. Dominic continues down the road until we are in the middle of this mass of mammals. When he stops the vehicle we are literally surrounded by elephants. Dominic says a lot of different families of elephants, for what reason he can’t say, are converging with one another. For the most part the elephants are more interested in each other than we humans. The young males are scuffling with each other; the little ones are checking each other out and engaging in some play, many of the elephants are greeting one another. This is a fascinating thing to watch as two elephants will entwine their trunks, sometimes draping their appendage over each other’s tusks and often placing the tip of their trunk into the other elephants mouth. We do have one half grown elephant step into the road, fan its ears and shake its head at us but then it continues across the road. One huge bull approaches the vehicle from the side where Paul is sitting, his ears fanned, and he walks to within a few feet of the truck. Dominic is not concerned at all, but still, seeing the head of an elephant that large staring at you through the window is a bit disconcerting.

Some of the elephants when we first catch sight of them

greeting one another

Paul and a friend.

The memory of elephants is traveling in the same direction as we are, so as they move on Dominic drives very slowly staying within their midst and we just enjoy being part of the parade. At one point I count the elephants that I can see to the left, center, and right of us and come up with a rough count of 100. I know I didn’t see all the babies that are swallowed up by the tall grass and I am sure I missed others. I didn’t even try to count the elephants that are behind us. Paul and I figured there were nearly as many elephants trailing us. Since there are a reported 500 elephants in Meru just think how incredible it is that we saw over a third of the elephants together in one sprawled out group.

Paul took this panoramic photo and still only got a small percentage of the big herd.

Surrounded by elephants

This Elie definitely has the right of way

After spending an hour with these interesting creatures we continue on our exploration of Meru. Truthfully, I’m never sure if we are in the conservancy or the National Park so when I say Meru I really am referring to both places. Dominic stops so we can watch a few Cape buffalo and the ever present cattle egrets that accompany the bovines. One of the buffalo has three white egrets trying to hitch a ride on his back but they are too far away for a decent photo. We hear an elephant trumpeting behind us in the distance and we turn in the direction of the sound to see what the fuss is about. On the horizon we watch an elephant chasing another one and Paul and I assume the one running away has been defeated in a fight, (victorious bulls or cows always chase the loser after a fight). Dominic is laughing and we soon understand why as the elephant running away suddenly stops, backs up to the pursuer and we witness elephants mating from afar. I’ll be darned; this is another first for Paul and me in seeing Elephant Cowabunga!

Hopefully in 20 plus months the Elephant Cowabunga will result in a baby as cute as this one.

Dominic takes us to a hilltop that overlooks a wide valley fringed in the distance by hazy hills. I’m fairly certain that Elsa’s’ Kopje, of the movie Born Free fame, is the jutting, lone hillock we can see from across the valley. Below us we see our first Oryx, a herd of impala, wart hogs and a few zebra. Dominic unpacks our breakfast and lays the fare out on the hood of the Cruiser. There are sausages, boiled eggs, sandwiches that contain thin slices of tomatoes cucumbers, cheese and bacon (I loved these sandwiches), cereals, including a granola the chef made from scratch (delicious), juice and tea/coffee. We enjoy our open air breakfast while watching the mix of animals in the valley. At one point an impala begins running and bucking out of sheer joy I guess. The enthusiastic play by the impala induces another impala to join in the fun. It left us chortling with delight to watch their exuberant behavior. After over eating, something that will be the norm on this safari, Dominic loads up the leftover food and dishes and we continue on our drive.

Dominic our wonderful guide and our breakfast laid out on the Cruisers’ hood.

This was our view while eating breakfast

The morning is heating up and the track we are traveling is fairly devoid of animal life although there are birds to be seen and lovely flowers sprinkled throughout the landscape. I’m feeling a bit sleepy due to a full tummy and the warm sun. Dominic suddenly points to a tree and tells us to “look at the tree”. We look at the huge acacia tree whose twisted trunk and limbs are quite vertical to the ground and we agree that it is a lovely tree. Dominic keeps excitedly repeating for us to look at the tree. O.k., it is a really nice tree but our guides enthusiasm seems a bit overdone. Dominic has stopped the Cruiser and finally manages to make us understand that there is a leopard in the tree!! Upon finally seeing the sleeping leopard, my mouth literally falls open as I gasp in delight. I’m pretty sure Paul’s reaction is very similar to mine. Good grief, poor Dominic probably thinks these two Kansans are a bit slow on the uptake.

This is a photo of the leopard from the better vantage point without using any zoom. Dominic spotted the cat looking through the foliage on the left side of the tree! It is a beautiful tree tho:)

From this angle the leopard is fairly obscured by foliage so Dominic drives us into a better position for viewing this handsome cat. I ask Dominic how he managed to see the leopard from the road and he replies that they always check this tree out because lions like to lie on the thick, vertical limbs. He certainly was not expecting to spot a leopard in it. Dominic suggests we take our photos quickly because the leopards in Meru are very shy and he expects the feline will melt away into the understory before long. I don’t know if it is because we are quite a distance from the leopards lounging place but he is not concerned in the least with our presence.

What a beautiful leopard! I couldn’t do a thing about the limb that was obscuring part of him however!

The young male, I think Dominic identified the leopard as a male, cooperates for our photos by raising his head occasionally and looking curiously in our direction. Mostly the content cat just lays sprawled out on the tree limb and dozes. The three of us watch the big cat in awe, reveling in our luck at having seen this leopard, and the fact that we alone are here to enjoy this beautiful animal is just icing on the cake!

As you can see the leopard is quite relaxed.

Oh why not. One more photo of this lucky sighting

It takes quite some time for the buzz of seeing the leopard to wear off but a half hour after we leave the big cat dozing in the tree we come upon a mix of animals a few hundred yards from the road. There are Oryx, impala, waterbuck, an ostrich, zebra, Grants gazelle and gerenuk. It is quite warm by now and many of the animals are standing in the shade of the trees.

Despite the heat these Oryx are standing in the open and bunched together

There is a variety of behavior among this menagerie so we spend some time watching the animals. A male Oryx is doggedly following a female that must be coming into estrus. Occasionally the tired female will stand still, but as soon as the bull rests his head on her back, she begins plodding along rebuffing the males overtures. Dominic points out to us how gaunt both animals are and surmises that they likely have been moving like this for hours.

Look how gaunt these two courting Oryx are.

The lone ostrich is busy dusting himself, stirring the dirt into a cloud that envelopes the big bird. Sometimes his head disappears; I can’t tell if he has tucked his head under his body or it is just placed on the ground where I can’t see it. At times there appears to be a headless, legless, ball of black feathers quivering in the dirt. This sight is a bit weird to say the least.

The dusting ostrich

The gerenuk, an animal Paul particularly wanted to see again, is not feeding but has elevated its front feet on a nearby mound of dirt. Another gerenuk is hiding behind a tree but before we leave this hive of activity it walks past an impala giving us a better look.

Not a great photo but a gerenuk nevertheless

The second gerenuk walking by an impala.

There are two waterbuck posturing and soon they are in fierce combat, kicking up the fine dirt as they push and shove at each other. We watch the fighting bucks waging their battle until the slightly smaller one breaks away and begins to flee with the winner in hot pursuit putting an exclamation point on his victory.

We return to camp elated with this incredible morning drive! Paul and I walk back to our tent through the myriad of butterflies that are fluttering around us. The butterflies are quite lovely, white with delicate, lacy designs of black etched on their wings. It gives the camp ground a fairy tale feeling with the butterflies floating in the air all around us. I could never get photos of them as they would alight on a flower for a nanosecond and then flit away.

Here are some yellow butterflies that we often saw on our game drives. That is a Martial Eagle standing by the water. It has two legs Brian!

Paul and I freshen up then walk to the mess tent to have lunch with Craig. Craig inquires how are morning went although I bet he can guess that it went well by our wide grins and our faces might even be glowing! After we recount all our experiences to him, I declare that if we see nothing else after this morning we wouldn’t complain! I do question Craig about leaving the front of the tent open at night and the young manager affirms that this is a common practice here. I ask if they would lower ours while we are dining tonight as I just feel more comfortable with the canvas down. He replies that it will be no problem to do this.

Paul and I “chill” out in the warm tent, the canvas has been rolled back up, but it is still a bit stuffy. I have borrowed a book from the camp library that someone has left behind and begin to read it once I have gone through my photos and recorded some more items in my journal. Paul too, has brought a book from the lounge area that is actually one of many African related books that belongs to Offbeat camp. We both drift off to sleep and have a nice long nap.

Four o’clock rolls around quickly, of course it was nearly one o’clock before our morning game drive concluded. They serve tea or whatever drink you want plus a snack but I don’t remember if we even consumed anything as we are still full from lunch. At 4:30 we walk up to the loading area where we find Dominic who is flashing his beaming smile at us. Paul and I crawl into the Cruiser and we are off to see what we can see. The sun is still quite intense and the animals seem to be in short supply this afternoon. There are plenty of birds to observe though which is another reason it pays to enjoy birdlife! Dominic has stopped the vehicle where a Rosy-patched Bush Shrike is sitting and just as I click the shutter of my camera the bird launches into the air. I don’t see it but I feel the Shrike brush my leg as it flies into the vehicle and then flies back out. Paul and Dominic are both open-mouthed and so am I. We wonder if the Shrike spotted an insect sitting on my leg and decided to grab it. Dominic says he has never witnessed this before. It was pretty cool no matter what the reason.

The Rosy-patched Bush Shrike that flew into the vehicle

Paul spots a bull giraffe that has multiple lumps on both sides of his jaw. The abscesses are old and you can see the scars where they ruptured. The big fellow looks very healthy although I’m sure that when he was fighting the infection that attacked his jaw tissue that he probably had a rough time of it. We get a similar or maybe the same thing in cattle that we call lump jaw. A foreign object, perhaps thorns in the giraffe’s case, gets stuck in the flesh often inside the mouth. An infection sets in and eventually is walled off forming a lump. The abscess eventually bursts and drains, but as seen on this giraffe, the animal will have a large, hard lump for the rest of their life.

Look at all those lumps.

Here is a clearer view of one side showing the healed abscess

We enjoy tuskers as we watch dusk fall over the beautiful Meru landscape and then return to camp ready for that hot bucket shower. I know we have another wonderful dinner but I didn’t write down what was served, food just isn’t why we come to Africa. We enjoy Craig’s company at dinner again and one of the questions we ask is why there seem to be so many fussy elephants. He tells us that part of the reason for recalcitrant elephants are that elephants and farmers have conflicts on the edges of the park over the farmer’s crops. The pachyderms don’t forget the negative encounter with humans. Another reason is that problem elephants from more heavily visited Parks are often relocated here, (Dominic may have given us this info)! After dinner we are escorted back to our tent and I am happy to see the canvas has been lowered as I requested!

Dusk settling over Meru.

More Meru soon, Nancy

Two Red billed Hornbills having great fun dusting themselves.

Paul took this photo of the giraffe with the interesting rock in the background

Bisanada National Reserve and Meru National Park, part 2

Feb4

The Giraffe sculpture that greets you at the entrance of Nairobi National Park

Bisanadi National Reserve and Meru National Park, part 2

Paul and I are up shortly after five a.m. dressing and packing what we weren’t able to put away last night. Still half asleep, I pull my money belt, wallet, and passport holder from the pocket of my shirt and lay them on the bed. I place the wallet in my pants pocket and hook the passport holder to my belt and then wander off to attend to other things. Passing back by the bed I notice a money belt laying there and ask Paul if that is mine or his. Of course it is mine, I just laid it there! Paul suddenly realizes that he doesn’t have his money belt on and asks me where it is. I reply that I have no idea because I gave it to him last night.

Paul says he has no recollection of me giving him the money belt, (we had them locked in our suitcase for the day rather than wear them on our game drives). I insist that I did and remember that I laid them on the bed, and then I took my things and zipped them into the pocket of my shirt but I have no idea what he did with his. Paul checks his backpack first and comes up empty. We rifle through the suitcase and tote. Nothing. We unroll the clothes that we rolled up in plastic packing bags last night. Nope. I have crossed the line into panic a while ago but I can see my normal steady as a rock husband is beginning to join me in that realm. We both know that the money belt has to be here somewhere but where in the world is it!

Our nerves are about as prickly as this whistling thorn bush!

A staff member has arrived with our tea tray and we unzip the tent so he can bring it in. I hope we thanked him but to say we are somewhat distracted is an understatement. Once the young man has left we continue searching for the missing belt. We are down to turning over rugs, taking the sheets off the bed, looking under pillows, and even checking inside the duvet. It looks like a hurricane has hit our tent. I am at a complete loss to where to search now, when Paul suddenly returns to the backpack that he first checked and pulls out the missing money belt! Paul remembered getting the tip money for the staff and Andrew out of his money belt last night which prompted him to recall where he had stashed this rather important item. Paul had put it in the plastic folder with our trip documents. Whew, my nerves didn’t need this first thing in the morning.

We hastily drink our juice, eat some toast and a little of the cereal we requested but neither of us have much of an appetite. We brush our teeth and pile our luggage near the tent entrance just before some of the staff arrives to escort us to the main area. The young man that is lighting our way with a flashlight, well we both have our headlamps too, asks us if we mind using a different path. There is a cape buffalo that has bedded down next to the path we normally use and he thinks it is wise not to disturb him. Um, I believe that is a good idea and we gladly traverse the alternate, grassy path to the headquarters.

Just a reminder why it is best to let sleeping buffalo lay! This of course isn’t the bull that keeps us from using the normal pathway

Paul stuffs some money into the tip box for the staff and then we walk out to the vehicle where Andrew is waiting for us. Our luggage is stashed into the Toyota Land Cruiser, we give our thanks to the staff and wave goodbye. Other than a couple of hare, we spot nothing else in the headlights on our way to the Park gates. Andrew has been on the phone with the person that is supposed to pick us up but it seems that he is stuck in traffic and isn’t going to make it in time to pick us up. Luckily, Andrew has no clients to take on a game drive this morning or this could have been a big problem. Therefore, Andrew will drive us to Wilson Airport.

Once on the main highway we can see why one must allow so much time to reach your destination. Andrew is quite pleased though as the traffic is actually moving, albeit slowly, instead of sitting at a standstill. In the hour it takes to get to Wilson (which is only 9 miles away), much quicker than the expected time of three hours, our conversation runs the gambit of Andrews family, the Chinese who are building roads, including one that took some acreage out of the Nairobi Park, (the government via the Chinese are trying to build a railroad through the middle of Nairobi National Park sadly enough), Kenya politics and yes, American politics (groan). Andrew helps us get our luggage into the small airport and makes sure we are listed among the passengers. Once he is satisfied all is well, we bid him goodbye and Paul hands Andrew an envelope which includes a tip and a private note Paul has written to him. Andrew was a great guide and an interesting man.

An aerial photo of the highway being built that took a chunk out of the edge of the Park

A note to those reading this that might be going to Africa via Nairobi. Paul and I both agree that it is well worth your time to spend a day and night or two in this unique park. Hopefully it will survive the pressures of a burgeoning Nairobi.

We have a couple hours before we board an Air Kenya plane to fly us to Meru. We take advantage of the Wi-Fi here to check emails and send an email to let relatives and friends know that we indeed made it to Kenya. Our plane arrives and we hand the yellow plastic boarding ticket to a young man who leads us out to the small plane. There are another half dozen people on this flight which will make three stops, Meru being the first one.

869 After an hour or so in the air our plane touches down on a dirt airstrip and taxis to a halt. Paul and I are the only passengers to exit the plane along with the pilot and copilot. The pilot retrieves our suitcase from the cargo hold and hands it over to us. There is no vehicle waiting alongside the “tarmac” so the young woman who is the copilot walks over with us to a shoddy building where a lone employee is standing in the “office”. The man is very unfriendly, hardly acknowledging us, but he makes a phone call to the Offbeat Meru camp. After an exchange between the co-pilot and the grumpy guy, the pretty young lady says that someone from Offbeat will be here in a few minutes and says this man will stay with us until our ride arrives. We nod in agreement and the plane is soon lifting off the ground to fade away in the distance.

Paul and I make use of the restroom which is in a bit of disrepair but surprisingly fairly clean. We then watch a giraffe glide across a patch of open area before disappearing into the trees. A troop of baboons scamper across the road not far from the airstrip, and a cape buffalo is grazing a few hundred yards on the far side of the runway. The mid-morning sun is beating down with some intensity so I pull my hat out of the suitcase to get a little relief from the humid heat.

A Toyota Land Cruiser pulls up driven by a young man in full Masai regalia along with a couple of safarists that by the looks of their cameras are serious photographers. The guide smiles at us, says “hi guys”, and introduces himself as Stanley. He tells us that he and his clients were eating breakfast not far away when they saw our plane approaching. Stanley knew that the camp wasn’t expecting our flight yet so he decided to come and assure us that someone would be here soon. The couple generously offers us some of their bottled water but we decline as we have our own. They begin to drive off but come to a halt and return to where we are rather forlornly standing. It seems the manager has called Stanley and told him to load our luggage and us and bring us to camp. Paul and I feel like we are intruding on this couples game drive but they insist that it is fine.

As I begin to climb into the vehicle, I slip on the metal step, catch myself but instantly feel a pain in my back. Crap. When I sit down there is no doubt I have pulled a muscle midway down my back. All of us introduce ourselves and we again thank the British couple for sharing their vehicle with us. Soon we are off on our first game drive in Meru National Park and the Bisanadi Conservancy where Offbeat Meru Camp is situated.

My first impression of the park on this sunlit morning is that everything is so lush! The verdant grass is waist high, there are flowers in a variety of colors scattered through the grass and bushes, the foliage of the trees are thick, and there seems to be water everywhere. The dirt roads are rough in spots and we bounce over ruts and ditches that recent heavy rains have left in their wake. When the Toyota traverses the washouts the bouncing vehicle leaves me wincing due to my recently strained back muscle. Lovely.

Reticulated Giraffe

It is hot and humid so we are pleasantly surprised with the number of wildlife we encounter this late in the morning. We see reticulated giraffe which I find more attractive with their bold geometric designs than the Masai giraffe which populated Nairobi Park. There are four Cape buffalo wallowing in a mud hole, baboons, and lots of common waterbuck including a cute baby. We stop to watch a small herd of elephant drinking water from a ditch near the road. The herd crosses the road in front of us when they have quenched their thirst. One big matriarch approaches the front of the vehicle with her ears fanned wide, probably on the defensive because there are some little ones in the herd. Two young bulls are fighting, their tusks clanking together sounding like two swordsmen dueling, although the sound is hollower than that of metal on metal. The elephants aren’t play fighting either and they continue their duel as we move on down the road.

The matriarch that stood in front of our vehicle with her ears fanned.

These young elephant fought all the time we were watching the rest of the herd

There really were four Cape buffalo here. I cut the fourth out so I could get the giraffe in the photo

Common Water Buck and baby

A dazzle of zebra are near the road and we stop to take photos mainly due to the cute baby in their midst. One of the zebra walks over to a tree and seems to strike a pose just for us. All of us dutifully respond as our camera shutters click away. Traveling on down the road in this animal filled venue, Paul calls out for Stanley to stop and back up. Paul thought he had seen a waterbuck but then realized that this animal had thin stripes. When we reach the spot where Paul saw the antelope we just catch a glimpse of a lesser kudu before it melts away into the understory, kudus’ are good at vanishing like that. Stanley finds a Nile monitor resting among tree roots as we cross the small Mirera River.

An adorable baby zebra

Striking a pose

Nile Monitor

Craig the manager of Offbeat Meru Camp is there to meet us when we arrive at the camp; gosh he looks so young, and apologizes for the mix up this morning, reiterating that the airline gave them the wrong landing time. We assure him it is fine and then we are shown to our tent. It is a family tent with a king sized bed along with two twin beds that are situated in a side “room”, a flush toilet, bucket shower, and a chair with an end table in one corner. There is a place to hang up clothes and also shelves for luggage and clothes. There is a sink but no tap, water is provided in a glass jug for washing hands, face, and underwear. There is a front porch so to speak with two chairs and a table, plus a clothes line to hang womens’ undergarments. The camp will do all of our other laundry but not these unmentionables! Our tent looks down towards the river and it is really a nice view. We are quite tickled with our accommodation!

A really poor but only photo of our tent

The view from our tent. The water isn’t visible but is where the trees are lined up.

Once we have things organized in the tent, we wander down to the mess tent/lounge area and give Craig the bag that he supplied to us for our valuables, so he can place them in his safe. It is time for lunch and we are served thinly sliced ham, potato salad, and a salad mix of raw fresh vegetables which we decline. When we see that our UK companions are eating the vegetables with gusto, I inquire if they think this is safe. They assure us at Offbeat camps you need not worry about eating anything as the food is handled safely. Paul and I take them at their word and help ourselves to the vegetables. The vegetable salad tastes as good as it looks. As we exchange information with our dining companions, they reveal that they too are safari talk readers and contributors! That news livens up the conversation between Paul and the Brits as they talk about various members of the website and how Safari talk helped Paul put together our trip. I think it was a factor in this couple coming here too.

The lounge area next to the mess tent. They had lots of old books on Africa and Meru and other books that people left there.

Paul and I retire to our tent after lunch and wait out the heat of the day going through our photos, writing notes in our journal and taking a nap. At four we walk to the public area for tea but I opt for water. There is also a snack offered but I don’t remember if it was cookies, cake or some other sweet treat. At 4:30 we walk up to where the vehicles come to pick visitors up. Here we meet our guide for the rest of our stay, Dominic. Dominic is also garbed in a bright red Masai outfit, adorned with strands of beads. He has an infectious smile and like Craig and Stanley he looks very young! Dominic asks what interests us and we reply “everything” plus we tell him we want to take our time and sit and watch the behavior of the animals and birds.

Dominic takes us at our word and he stops the vehicle for nearly every bird and animal we encounter. This is great for us but after several stops the engine begins to hesitate when Dominic turns the key. Paul and I are sure the Toyota isn’t going to fire back up a couple of different times as the starter groans and turns over reluctantly. We voice our fears out loud telling Dominic that this does not sound good at all, that his battery or starter is giving out. He doesn’t seem worried but our fears come true after stopping to look at one of the brightly colored birds of Meru. When Dominic turns the key the engine tries to start but then nothing happens. Well at least we weren’t stopped by a herd of Cape buffalo or some cantankerous elephants!

I’m pretty sure these White-throated Bee Eaters are what we were looking at when the truck wouldn’t start.

Dominic hops out of the truck and lifts the hood, then calls someone on the phone. Paul asks if he needs some help to which Dominic asks if he knows anything about mechanics. Paul admits that he doesn’t know very much. Dominic obviously doesn’t know much either and seems at a loss at what to do. Paul gets out of the Land Cruiser and tells Dominic to turn his headlights on. They are shining brightly so we know the battery is fine. Paul then suggests that he and Dominic push the vehicle while he volunteers me to steer the broken down truck and to pop the clutch once the two of them get up a little speed. I question Paul on whether his knee is up to this (he hurt his knee a couple of weeks before we came to Africa, but that is another story) and he insists his joint will be fine. Dominic jumps at this suggestion and puts the Cruiser in second gear and I climb into the drivers seat. The guys start pushing and when they get the truck rolling at a decent speed, Paul yells at me to pop the clutch and give the truck some gas. The engine sputters to a start; I put it in neutral and give it some gas to make sure it doesn’t die. We are all laughing partly in relief and partly because it is just funny! We tell Dominic he mustn’t turn the engine off after this!

It seems that this day of unexpected events isn’t over as shortly after our car trouble we encounter a group of elephant that are not friendly. The herd is in front of us and on both sides and all of them are trumpeting, shaking their heads, fanning their ears and swaying from side to side. Frankly the worked up elephants scare the heck out of me. Dominic assures us that they always act like this but never follow through with any action. I am more than happy when the angry pachyderms give us enough room to get the heck out of there!

I’m not moving the camera, these elephants are swaying, trumpeting and shaking their heads at us. Scary

Another big momma fanning her ears at us.

Just before dusk we encounter between forty to fifty reticulated giraffe of all sizes. The towering animals are just beautiful as they stroll across the plains or browse on the scattered trees. It dawns on me how much I enjoy just watching these graceful, peaceful mammals. We end our game drive enjoying a tusker beer and chips, while watching some elephants in the distance, as the sun sinks below the horizon. Yes we listen to the idling motor during our sundowners:).

Just what the doctor ordered after the fussy elephants. Graceful and peaceful giraffe.

We return to camp after dark and on the way Dominic spies an owlet perched in a bush next to the road. I have no idea how this young man saw the owl in the dark! Once we are in our tent, hot water is brought for Paul and me so we can shower before dinner. When we go down for dinner (escorted of course) we are first taken to an area near the river where a fire is burning. There is an array of liquor bottles set on a table and Nura asks us what we want to drink. Paul orders a gin and tonic and I have a small glass of tusker beer. The Brits are also here and we visit about what we have encountered on our afternoon drive. Everyone has a laugh about our vehicle problem and the solution.

I don’t recall what we had for dinner but since all the food was superb throughout our safari I can tell you that it was delicious. We enjoy visiting with our UK companions who have a great sense of humor. They are leaving Meru in the morning and we will have left on our morning game drive before they get up. We say our goodbyes tonight and wish each other good luck on our remaining days in Africa.

Another great day in the wilds of Africa despite a few glitches which just make for good stories!

More Meru coming soon. Nancy

Interesting flower actually in Nairobi National Park

European Roller

The only Baobab tree we saw.

Nairobi National Park, Part one 2016

Feb1

Kenya Nairobi National Park, January 2016, part 1

Paul and I leave for Kenya tomorrow, (January 10th) and a quick explanation how this trip came about is warranted. Two months ago, Paul and I were picking up a stock trailer for the ranch in Waterville, Ks. It just happened that the owners had recently returned from Kenya and they had their photos of the safari looping on their computer. Needless to say an enthusiastic exchange took place between the four of us on the wonders of Africa, while enjoying the wonderful photos the couple had taken during their adventure in Kenya.

The Titan trailer Paul and I were picking up when he popped the Kenya question.

As we are driving home with the Titan trailer in tow, Paul asks what I think about returning to Africa. I ask when and Paul replies in January after which I incredulously ask, this coming January? When the answer is yes, I point out to my husband that January is only 2 months away and ask him how in the world you put a trip together in that short time span? Well, it seems Paul has been extensively researching safaris in Kenya through Safari talk and Trip advisor for some time now and knows where he wants to go. He just needs to find someone to put the safari together for us. Paul spends a lot of time reading trip reports on the Safari Talk website, but I had no idea that all those evenings when he was browsing the site he was actually doing research for a safari to Kenya! After our encounter with the elated safarists, Paul said he figured it was a great time to tell me of his plans! I am still a bit skeptical on the time constraints but also because we have another international trip already booked for August. However, it doesn’t take me long to reply “Sure, why not”.

We have always gone to Africa with Cowabunga safaris and Brian, so the idea of using another company feels a bit like a betrayal to our friend and safari leader. Paul calls Mzungu Mrefu (Brian) who immediately gives us his blessing, we knew he would, but it still feels strange going to Africa without Brian leading us. Paul contacts four different companies that people on safari talk have used and gives them the information about the area of Kenya he wants to travel to. In the end, Expert Africa, based in the UK, is the company we use due to their promptness in replying to us, meeting our budget and coming up with the best itinerary that took us into the conservancies that Paul was interested in. Thanks Ellie.

The places in Kenya Paul had researched to visit and where we went on safari

So there you have it, Paul and I leave for Kenya tomorrow and now all we have to do is hope that the wintry weather that is causing some problems at the Chicago airport today will be sorted out by tomorrow evening!

This frosty morning was a couple of weeks before we left for Kenya

It is with relief that our flight is good to go on this cold Kansas morning (4 degrees, brr), and we arrive at KCI three hours before departure. Another first for us is that we are not checking through any luggage, we are carrying everything on the plane! We have marveled at other fellow safarists that have managed with only carry-on luggage on past safaris. We decided to try it ourselves partly due to the fact that we arrive in Nairobi late in the evening and how nice it will be not to wait and worry about checked luggage.

This is all the luggage Paul and I took to Kenya for 16 days. We had all we needed. Taz snuck into the photo:)

Our flight arrives in Chicago on time and we board our plane for London on time. We land in London as scheduled and board our plane for Nairobi as scheduled. What a relief this is because to me the most stressful part of a trip is wondering if all your flights will go smoothly. We arrive in Nairobi about 9 p.m.; get loaded like sardines on a bus that takes us to the arrivals area. We stand in line to get our visa for an hour, hand over our 50 dollars per person for that visa, and since we have no luggage to wait for we head for the exit. How great it is to see a smiling man holding a sign with our name on it!

We follow Dennis out into the street that is congested with people and cars. We end up waiting a long time for the car to arrive as the driver is stuck in the jam of autos trying to reach their customers that have disembarked from planes. Our transportation finally arrives and we are on our way to Nairobi tented camp that is situated inside Nairobi National Park. The park is literally on the outskirts of Nairobi.

On the short drive to the park, Dennis grills us on American politics, particularly all the candidates running for president. Honestly the man knows more about the candidates than I would guess 90% of Americans do! At the gates of Nairobi National Park, Andrew is waiting to take us on to Nairobi tented camp. We haven’t driven far on the dirt road when a pair of eyes is shining quite a ways ahead of us. I exclaim that it looks like a cat, and Andrew confirms that the fleeting shape crossing the road is a leopard. Wow, a great start to our African adventure. A big hyena is easily seen in the glare of the headlights, as it dashes off the road into the ditch and then disappears into the darkness.

When we arrive at the camp around midnight, the staff is waiting to greet us with the drinks and hot face towels that is a tradition in Africa. What we weren’t expecting is that they have a meal prepared for us, which Paul and I politely turn down while apologizing profusely for their trouble and for wasting the food. Still, we aren’t hungry and it is way too late to eat. All we want is a shower and to go to bed! We sleep well once we get over the blood curdling scream of some unknown creature just as we are going to bed. Since the screeching call is answered by a fellow screamer, we know that even though it sounds like some poor creature is in the throes of death this isn’t the case.

A portion of our tent in Nairobi tented camp.

The next morning we are up early and a young man calls good morning from outside the tent. He brings in a tray containing tea and a few cookies when we unzip the tent door for him. Andrew is taking us on a game drive this morning along with three men from California. We leave camp in predawn light anxious to see what Nairobi National Park has to offer.

As we drive over the rough, red, dirt track, all of us spy the tiny animal that ducks into the grass next to the road. What was that? Although not much larger than the African hares it definitely wasn’t a rabbit. Andrew informs us that it is a Sunni, one of the smallest antelope in Africa and seldom seen. That is a new mammal for Paul and me so our safari drive is off to a good start.

As we continue driving through the park we come upon three black Rhinoceros, a mother, a baby and a big male. Andrew points out that Black Rhino are normally solitary but lately they have been seeing family groups like this one. The trio isn’t excited about having an audience so they amble off into the grassy plains. What a treat to see Rhino again! The armor-plated appearing beasts have been decimated by trophy hunters in the past and poachers in the present and they are literally teetering on the edge of extinction.

When we encountered the Black Rhino family the light was still dim. The only photo that was useable and then it is barely adequate.

As Andrew drives us through the park we visit with the California men and learn that they have come to Nairobi national park for a little down time after having climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. They were all very positive about the adventure which took them a week. The men did say that it was so cold at the peak, (-40 I think) that the hoods of their parkas froze solid and they couldn’t budge them, all they could do was wait for their hoods to thaw when they moved down the mountain! The fact that they made it to the top seemed to alleviate the misery of the freezing weather.

As we slowly drive through this grass filled land we see giraffe, three are lying down, which Paul and I in all our African safaris have rarely seen. There are Cape Buffalos; heads held high peering in our direction, narrow headed Koch’s Hartebeest in large numbers, impalas, zebra, and a group of four White Rhinoceros, all of which are recumbent alongside of the road. Unlike the Black Rhino these huge mammals have no fear of their human admirers and show no signs that they will even rise to their feet. There are birds galore but Andrew warned us last night while quizzing us on what we hoped to see here (our answer, “everything”), that our three companions have little interest in birds so we make sure that we don’t linger for long with the avian life. We will have an afternoon game drive on our own so we can take our time with the birds then. When we spy a Kori Bustard though, even the mountain climbers admire the strutting, puffy necked bird.

Resting

three of the four White Rhino. They are not concerned about us at all.

I had problems getting sharp photos in this low light. This is a Kori Bustard

Andrew has a conversation with the driver of another safari vehicle and soon we are heading off in what seems to be a specific destination in mind. As we drive near a picturesque water hole and up an incline we soon see why Andrew is taking us here. Lions! Eight members of the Kingfisher Pride, three lioness and five half-grown cubs are sprawled out over the rocky ground. The lion’s stomachs appear to be full so very likely the satisfied felines are settled in for the day. For twenty minutes or so we have the Kingfisher Pride to ourselves as we snap photos of them sleeping, yawning, staring back at us, or occasionally standing up to walk a few steps before collapsing back down on the rough bed they have chosen. The light is not good as it is cloudy and we have even had a few sprinkles of rain but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the company of these magnificent animals. Eventually another vehicle arrives and soon we leave the premise to allow these safarists to enjoy the pride in solitude as we did.

How can you be this relaxed laying on hard rocks?

This 8 month old cub manages to sit up for a short time.

Maybe they are absorbing heat from the rocks? It is a bit chilly.

That look from a lion that goes right through you

One lioness tired of our prying eyes and opted for the cover of grass. This is why you don’t walk when grass is this thick and high!

This is Andrew our incredible guide.

On our way back to camp the four white rhino are on their feet and grazing. We spend some time watching the huge square mouths of the rhinos vacuuming up the lush green grass as the faint outline of a Nairobi high-rise can be seen as a backdrop. We also drive through a mixed group of Koch’s hartebeest, zebra and a lone ostrich.

Grazing White Rhino. Notice the faint outline of the Nairobi high rise in the background

Hartebeest, Zebra and a lone ostrich

We arrive back in camp more than ready for our breakfast. There is fruit, a variety of cereal, tea, and fruit juices laid out buffet style. After helping ourselves to this fare, we then order eggs, both of us order scrambled, which comes with bacon, sausage and toast. Paul and I both eat with gusto while visiting with the California trio and another couple from Australia. At one point during breakfast the screaming mystery critter lets loose with its ear-splitting yell and we inquire of the other diners if they know what in the world that animal is! They inform us that it is a tree hyrax, a small animal with a big voice. The man who is waiting on us says that this evening, between nine and ten o’clock the night air will be inundated with the tree hyraxes calls. For some reason they don’t scream too much after that time frame. Well that is something to be thankful for anyway.

The lounge tent in the background and the mess tent to the left

The California men are leaving for the airport after breakfast, returning to California, so we bid them goodbye and they wish us a great safari. The Australian couple is leaving too, so Paul and I will have the camp to ourselves this afternoon and evening. We return to our tent for a brief time before we leave for a visit to The Elephant Orphanage

139 We arrive at the orphanage just before eleven; ( it is located within the park), along with a myriad of other visitors from tourists to native Kenyans, which includes lots of families. Everyone lines up to wait for the gates to open and we file in, handing over the entry fee which I believe is the equivalent of five U.S. dollars. We visitors follow an employee and we walk through a cluster of buildings which I suppose are offices and housing for the help. Soon we arrive in an open area where a single rope cordons off a large circle where the baby elephants will soon make an appearance. In this elephant arena is a couple of man-made water holes, freshly cut tree branches, a soccer ball, and a wheelbarrow piled high with milk bottles.

That is a lot of milk bottles.

Soon the crowd of people, including us, sees a man in a blue-green coat walking towards us with a line of young elephants following him like he is the pied piper. Most of these elephants are under a year old (I think) but they are still good-sized. The cute rascals have been having great fun playing in the brick colored dirt because they tend to be more red than gray!

Bringing the orphan elephants to the audience

The handlers bring the elephants in small groups because it would be mayhem to try to feed all of this age group at the same time. Once the first ones are fed, another group is on its way. It is no different from bottle feeding a calf; the elephants greedily and noisily guzzle down the bottled milk given to them by the keepers. I must say that some of the little guys seem to spill a good portion of their milk out the side of their mouths onto the ground. All the while this is going on there is a man speaking over a microphone talking about each elephant and giving facts on the workers. The keepers literally stay with their assigned elephants through the night and feed them every three hours. That is dedication. The microphone man also relates how the orphans came to be here and I would say that the majority fell into “wells” often natural wells, not man-made ones, and then they could not get out and were left behind. One was swept away in flood waters and found on the river bank; one whose front leg is grotesquely swollen was rescued from a snare trap.

The orphans drink with enthusiasm and they lose a lot of the milk.

The smallest and youngest elephant in this group is full of beans and once it has finished nursing seems to go looking for trouble. It pretends to charge some of the handlers, kicks around the soccer ball, splashes in the water, attempts to go under the rope into the crowd, all to the delight of the audience. Occasionally an elephant misbehaves, trying to take over another elephants bottle, or getting physical with a group mate and one of the green-coated men will walk over and shake their finger in the misbehaving elephants face. Amazingly, this digit admonishment is all it takes for the miscreant to straighten up!

The smallest and orneriest elephant of the bunch.

Playing a little soccer.

Following his Handler.

Once everyone in this group is fed and the history of them recounted they are led away and an older group is brought into the arena. These orphans are much bigger, some already growing tusks. This group can hold their own bottles and they are given two bottles of milk each. I would estimate most of them suck down both bottles in a minute or two! Again the history of each elephant is given and we are told how eventually they will be introduced back into the wild with some of their group mates. It seems they tend to form groups over time at the orphanage and this basically substitutes for the family group that they have lost. It appears that the reintroduction is working and I admire the time, effort and dedication that the staff have for this work.

I can hold my own bottle, thank you very much.

Beginning to grow tusks

Even their tails are wrinkly!

As we leave the orphanage we come upon a man who is patrolling the edge of the brushy roadside with a slingshot. Andrew has a brief conversation with him which makes Andrew laugh heartily. It seems his friend left a window or door open in his house and a troop of baboons invaded his house and trashed it! Good grief. We haven’t driven far from the slingshot toting man when Andrew spots a second sunni hiding in the bushes. I manage to get a photo that at least shows some parts of the little antelope although the delicate animal is obscured to some degree by twigs and limbs.

An obscured shot of the second sunni we saw.

After lunch, Paul and I retire to our tent and take a much-needed nap. We really have hit the ground running and after such a short night of sleep we are feeling the effects. Feeling refreshed by late afternoon, we climb into the open top vehicle and begin our second game drive. Andrew has an amazing eye and we make up for not stopping to look at birds this morning. Andrew points out fire finch, red-cheeked cordon bleu, a beautiful pintailed whydah, kites, herons, crakes, plovers, and so much more. We watch a White-winged widowbird busy weaving its nest on the stalks of tall grass that grows along the edge of a small lake. It is amazing what this bird can do using its thick bill which is easily compared to a human pulling thread and needle through a cloth. In the background is a sacred ibis rookery that is in an uproar because an African fish eagle is perched right in the middle of the ibis’ nesting area, obviously looking for an easy meal.

We were amazed watching this Widowbird weaving this nest. Wow.

One of the most beautiful birds in Africa in my opinion. The Grey Crowned Crane.

This tortoise was walking along the side of the dirt road.

Andrew drives us to a small pond where hippo can be seen sometimes but they are absent today. There is a large crocodile sunning himself at the pools edge and by the looks of his abdomen the grinning reptile has had a sizeable meal lately. A yellow billed stork is pecking around on a small fish that is lying on the ground but seems unable or unwilling to eat the fish. Andrew identifies the fish as a tilapia. Occasionally a sacred ibis pecks at the lifeless fish only to be chased away by the stork.

Croc with a full Belly

The Yellow billed stork seems unsure what to do with the fish

Lots of water birds here

As we wend our way through the park admiring the flora and fauna, we come upon an old male black rhino. The big fellow crosses the road in front of us and walks calmly on his way. Andrew stops the vehicle so we can take some photos of our fourth black rhino of the day! The elderly rhino has stopped a short distance away and has turned to face us. As the rhino stares at us he suddenly gives a snort and begins running at us, his head down! I guess Andrew knew it was a mock charge as he doesn’t drive off. The cantankerous rhino stops short of the Cruiser but it takes a while for my heart to stop galloping! I do gather myself to take a photo of the beast staring in my window. Black Rhinos are known for their short tempers by the way.

Old male Rhino crossing the road.

The grumpy Rhino turns and stares at us

Why this is a silhouette I don’t know but the Rhino is staring right into my window from a few feet away after the mock charge!

As we leave the old stinker behind, we come upon a much more tranquil scene. Several giraffes can be seen on the horizon as the sun is sinking low in the Kenyan sky. Their graceful serenity is a welcome sight after the encounter with the rhino.

Ahh, the graceful and placid giraffe

An Eland that isn’t running from us.

Andrew drives back to where the lions were resting this morning to see if they are still there. They certainly are although they have managed to walk a few yards from their rock bed this morning and are sleeping in the grass now. The golden glow of the late day sun beautifully lights up the lions which makes for lovely photos. At one point all of the lions become very alert and stare off in the same direction. No matter how hard we try, we cannot see what has caught the Prides attention. Andrew surmises that the males of this pride could be close by and this is what the pride is looking at.

This looks much more comfortable

Time for some grooming.

Grooming is hard work.

bonding

What do they see?

Andrew drives towards camp and he keeps us enthralled with stories of his youth growing up in the Masai culture. It is nearly dusk when Paul spots a serval cat sitting in the road. No way. The beautiful cat seems willing to sit for us but by the time I get my camera out of the case, set it for low light conditions, slowly stand up to take a photo, the small cat scrambles into the tall grass. Blast it; all I get a photo of are some spots among the stalks of grass. Oh well, what a great way to end our day in the park.

Just to prove we did see a serval cat.

Andrew delivers us back to camp and we thank him profusely for a wonderful and enjoyable day. One member of the staff brings us hot water for our bucket shower. Feeling refreshed we wait for our escort to arrive to take us to the mess tent for supper. We are served a stuffed chicken breast, a delicious potato dish, and vegetables.

Clements the camp manager, a young woman, has received the info on our flight to Meru tomorrow. We must be there at 9:15 and because of traffic gridlock in Nairobi during morning rush-hour, we need to leave the camp by 6 a.m. We are flying out of Wilson airport which is only 5 km away! We are escorted back to our tent as the tree hyraxes are in full chorus. Good heavens, if the critters kept up that noise all night I don’t know how you could ever get any sleep. Once Paul and I fall into bed the night has become relatively still. I don’t know about Paul but I am still smiling as my head hits the pillow.

Coming soon (hopefully) Meru. Nancy

A Koch’s Hartebeest.

Cold eyes and a toothy grin.

Reality Ranching October(November) 2015

Nov11

Hello,

This photo shows the abundant, very dry grass. Every windy day makes us nervous.

October is slipping away (it’s gone now) and after so much rain throughout the summer, the spigot turned off at the end of August. A dry fall makes for good harvest weather which finds Randall and Erin’s corn and Rock Hill Ranches’ soybeans combined and trucked to the local co-op. Both of these dry land crops produced well with the Debler’s corn “shelling” out incredible bushels per acre! The rainless fall also makes for good calving conditions for our fall cows. The downside of the dry fall is the dust that settles on everything and hangs in the air. There is also the concern that tall, dormant grass in the pasture would burn quite readily due to a careless flick of a cigarette butt out a car window. I don’t even like writing that down!!

Most of our rain this summer came in the form of thunderstorms, which means wicked streaks of lightning shivering against the dark thunderheads. We, like many people in Wabaunsee County suffered damage from lightning hits close to our house. A bolt of lightning hit the cable that led from our satellite dish into our basement where thankfully a small ground box stopped it from traveling further. I shudder to even think what might have happened if that ground box hadn’t been there! Needless to say the cable was a melted blob of rubber and our receiver and dish were ruined. These things could all be easily replaced but we had two cows struck and killed by lightning in separate thunder storms and different pastures this summer and that was a tough loss to take. It would be nice if cows would not graze on hilltops during a thunderstorm but obviously they have no concept of the danger lightning poses to them.

Bull Troubles

The subject of this story.

Cattle can get an infection in their hooves called hoof rot and this malady seems to be worse when conditions are wet. If a bovine contracts this bacterial disease, the animal’s foot becomes swollen and sore to the point that they don’t want to walk on the infected foot. A shot of antibiotic will usually cure the inflammation and the suffering bovine will be back to normal in a few days.

This summer Randall and Paul treated several cows and calves for hoof rot with successful results. One day Paul found one of our new, high-priced herd bulls lying under a tree shirking his duties to the cows we had placed him with. When Paul rousted the bull into a standing position, the reason for the young bulls absence from the herd was obvious. The bull was in pain due to a swollen back right foot; hence he didn’t want to try to walk any more than he had too, let alone perform his duties to the cows. Paul treated the bull using a pole syringe filled with antibiotic and assumed that the lame bull would be on the mend in a couple of days.

Two days later the sore-footed bull was no better so Randall and Paul slowly herded the crippled bull into a lane next to the pasture and loaded him into the trailer. Since our veterinarian is gone for the week, Paul took the bull to the Kansas State University vet clinic to have the bull’s foot checked out by professionals. A veterinarian, surrounded by vet students, secured the Angus bull and took an x-ray of his foot. After reading the x-ray, the veterinarian explains to Paul that at some point the bull had a thorn, wire, or nail penetrate the foot. The wound healed over not allowing it to drain so the infection spread and is now in part of the bone just above the outside toe of the hoof. The good news is the veterinarian can remove the outside toe and a little of the bone to get rid of the infection. The bad news is that a breeding bull with one half of his hoof gone on a crucial back foot may not be able to breed a cow! The bull is left at the clinic under the veterinarians care. Two weeks later, Paul goes to Manhattan and after paying the hefty veterinarian bill, brings the young bull home. We place the black bull under a shed to keep the heavily bandaged foot clean and to keep the patient in a small area to restrict his movement.

I find it amazing how solidly the bull stands on one half of a hoof

The KSU vet has given instructions for us to remove the bandages in a week, keep the bull in as clean of a place as we can, and hope for the best. At first I have my doubts about the success of the operation because when we remove the bandages, the amputated area looks raw and sore. As time goes by the bull heals up and moves surprisingly well considering he is missing half of his hoof! The veterinarian at K-State says if we keep the young bull from putting on too much weight and confine him to a small lot the disfigured bull could probably breed a dozen cows this winter. I’m skeptical and want our veterinarian to look at the bull and give her opinion of a bull, with only one toe on his back foot, having the ability to service cows. Not to be crude but the bulls’ back feet have to hold most of a bulls weight when he mounts a cow. Our vet looks the bull over, proclaims that he is moving very well for an animal that has had a toe amputated and agrees with the KSU veterinarian.

A funny aside to this story concerns Randall and Erin’s oldest son Dalton. The eight year old doesn’t miss much that happens on the ranch and he actually was the one that first informed me that Paul and his Dad were considering keeping One-Toe and trying to use him on a few cows this winter. Anyway, a few weeks after the decision had been made to use the damaged bull; Dalton informed his dad and Paul that he didn’t want either of his cows put with the one-toed bull. Paul burst out laughing and asked Dalton if he thought the bull would sire calves with only one toe. Dalton replied to Paul in a matter of fact voice that he didn’t want to take the chance that the bull might not get his cows bred! That answer rather rocked Paul back on his heels but kids growing up on the farm or ranch learn the facts of life early! The men gave their word to the third grader that neither Flower nor Sunflower would be placed with old One-Toe:).

Flower, one of Dalton’s cows that is not to be placed with One Toe

Sunflower and her calf Buttercup. Also forbidden to be in One Toe’s herd.

One Toe seems to take exception to Dalton’s misgivings about his abilities

Calf Problems

Paul and I are checking Randall’s four groups of fall calving cows today as he has obligations elsewhere. Randall told us that 037 below his house calved yesterday but he was unable to find the baby calf. Randall knew the calf was alive because the mama cow had been nursed out. When Paul and I ride through this bunch of cows we find 037 away from the main herd but there is no calf with her. Paul and I both imitate a distressed baby calf which makes 037 raise her head high and advance in our direction. This gives us hope that we are near the hidden calf but 037 soon leads us off in the opposite direction. This game goes on for a few minutes and we realize that the cunning cow is not about to give up the location of her tucked away baby. Like Randall, we aren’t worried as 037 has definitely been nursed recently.

Cows and calves on Rock Hill Ranch

The following day Randall still doesn’t see the calf which is a little unusual although we do have cows that will successfully keep the whereabouts of their calves a secret for 2 or 3 days. On the fourth day, Randall calls on the two-way radio and tells us the good news is that he found 037’s calf; the bad news is that the baby calf has a broken back leg. Randall wants Paul to come up and help him get the cow and calf penned and then they will bring the pair to our house where the facilities are more adept at handling injured or sick cattle.

I don’t go with Paul and Randall as this shouldn’t be too hard, the guys will catch the calf, put it on the back of the pickup, one of the men will hold the calf near the edge of the pickup bed where 037 can see and smell the calf, and the cow should follow the truck/calf right to the pen. As far as I know this part of the operation went according to plan although 037 was pretty fussy by the time the human and bovine party had reached the pen. The fun began when the men returned to the pen to load the cow in the front compartment of the trailer while the broken legged calf would be put in the back compartment.

Well according to my source for this cow tale, 037 didn’t take to this idea at all and became infuriated to the point that she chased Randall up and over the pen fence to put an exclamation mark on her opinion of the matter. The men did get the cow and calf loaded separately in the trailer and brought the angry mama and injured calf home. In the mean time I contacted Dr. A who was working on a neighboring ranch and she assured me that she would come and attend the broken leg of the calf as soon as she was finished with her work there. Paul and Randall leave the hurt calf and 037, who Paul refers to as a man-eater, in the trailer until the vet shows up.

Heifer calf sporting her colorful splint.

When Dr. A arrives the men carry the baby calf out into the small pen where the vet checks out the dangling leg (ugh). Doc tells us that the break is in a good place, midway between the knee and the hip which makes her job of splinting the leg easier. Our vet injects some anesthetic into a vein in the calf’s tail and it isn’t long before the black baby is literally snoring softly! Dr. A places an aluminum frame around the calf’s broken leg, adjusts the frame to the right length, wires the tip of the hoof to the frame to keep the leg in place and then begins wrapping self-sticking purple bandages around the leg and splint. When Doc finishes with the splint the little calf is still sleeping so 037 will have to stay in the trailer for a while longer.

Half an hour or so later the baby calf is up and probably confused by the contraption that is attached to her back leg. We open the gate on the trailer, 037 rockets out and moos for her calf. When she catches sight of her calf, the agitated cow runs into the corner pen with her baby and we shut the gate on her. Gottcha! The protective mama paws the ground sending a shower of dirt and pebbles into the air and shakes her head menacingly at us. We walk away and leave the cow and calf in peace.

O37 telling us that she means business

For the weeks to come whenever we are near the pen that 037 and her calf occupy, she fills the air with dirt and slobber as she double dog dares us to set foot into the pen. The old bat does learn after a few days that two times a day I approach the pen to feed and water her. At feeding time Ms. Man-eater forgoes all the bluster and waits by the corner feed rack where I toss the brome and alfalfa hay. At first the little calf drags the large cast around when he walks but within a week the heifer calf is running and playing despite the extra bulk on her back leg.

After two weeks it is obvious the cast needs to be adjusted to the rapidly growing calf. Dr. A is coming out to semen test our herd bulls so she will refit the splint while she is here. Naturally the cow is going to have to be separated from the calf so Doc can safely do her work. Randall opens the pen gate from outside the pen and 037 sees the gap and runs out of the pen assuming her baby is right behind her. Randall has shut the gate before the little heifer can escape with mom so that went much easier than I expected it would.

The second cast

When Dr. A arrives; Paul and Randall chase the feisty heifer into a corner and lay the calf on her side. Our vet must put her to sleep again because there is no way she can work on a struggling patient. The cast is removed, lengthened to accommodate the fast growing calf, and then the splint is swathed in white ace bandages. We leave the snoring calf to her dreams and start testing bulls. By the time we have finished testing the four bulls the baby calf is trying to stand.

After four weeks of putting up with The Man-eater rearranging the dirt in the pen every time we walk by, our vet gives us the green light to remove the splint. The guys manage to separate the cow and calf and after a brief tussle put the little heifer on her side. Randall holds the calf down while Paul cuts the bandages and pulls the splint off. 037 is pacing the fence and hurling threats at us but we just ignore her. There are some raw spots where the hip hoop was pressing on the inside of her leg so it was definitely time to take the splint off.

O37 and calf back with the herd. The heifer calf is doing great

We reunite 037 and her calf and open the lane gate that leads to the brome field where the pair will at last be reunited with the herd. 037 runs the several hundred yards giving no thought to her baby who suddenly isn’t dragging a big splint around. Happily the Angus heifer calf is able to keep up with mom, although the formerly broken leg tends to kick out to the side a bit. Oh well, the good news is that the leg healed up and if the leg is a bit crooked so what. Later, Nancy

A cow babysitting calves on Rock Hill Ranch

Reality Ranching August 2015

Sep2

Reality Ranching, August 2015

Paul demostrating how tall the soybeans are in one of our fields.

I don’t know where this summer has gone but I don’t think I have written any ranch blogs since early spring! The drought that had Kansas in its grip for the past four years was broken this year. It began raining in mid-May and basically hasn’t stopped (well since I have taken so long to finish this blog, the rain has stopped!). The Flint Hills of Kansas are as lush and green in early August as you would expect them to be in June. The corn and soybeans look as though they will produce bin busting yields although a lot can happen between now and harvest. With the plentiful rains comes excessive humidity which is the downside of all the ample moisture, making it feel like we are in the middle of the jungle.

The summer of 2015 brought another phenomenon besides the abundant rain, and that was the appearance of the seventeen year cicada. Smaller than our normal locust, the red-eyed insects crawled out of the ground by the thousands and screeched all day long for several weeks. In our yard tree and bushes were covered with the bulging eyed insects, and if you walked under the trees disturbing the bugs into flight, often a few of the cicada would settle on you with their prickly legs.

Not the best photo but you can see the empty shells and the cicada

The plague of cicadas made for easy pickings for insect eaters. I saw two black snakes with cicada sized bumps running nearly the full length of the snakes sleek bodies and I couldn’t help but laugh at the funny sight. I was told by a friend that a neighbor’s dog ate so many of the cicadas that it became ill and the owner had to take the dog to the vet.

Dalton, our partners’ oldest son, showed me membranes on the belly of a cicada and informed me that this is how the cicadas make their ear-splitting noise. I informed Dalton that only the males sing and he exclaimed “so that is why some of them don’t have this on their belly”. We both learned something about the interesting cicada.

The cicada would crawl on anything to get dry once they emerged from their skins

Sure the cicadas were a bit annoying, especially their incessant, loud, so-called singing, which I read can reach 90 decibels per cicada (multiply that noise level by thousands)! However, after reading up on the life cycle of these amazing bugs I didn’t complain. I also pointed out to several people that most of us 60 and over will only experience this phenomenon one possibly two more time in our life or never again! That makes one think doesn’t it!

The front of the old truck. Does that mean it has 8 lives? I think it’s been through most of them

I was working at the computer, when Paul walked in the house and announced that he needed some help. Paul has been hauling hay debris that had built up around the hay rings in our winter lots to a wash out in our pasture and dumping it in the eroded ravine in hopes that this will stop future erosion. Paul told me that the old Ford dump truck was stuck in a ditch and I would have to help him pull the truck out.

I assumed we would be taking the 4 wheel drive pickup to rescue the 2 ton Ford but Paul, after grabbing a log chain, walked to the new tractor (well it’s used but new to us) , climbed into the driver’s seat while I settled into the buddy seat. As we drive into the small pasture, I am scanning the area for the stuck truck but I can’t see any sign of it. Paul drives to the wash out where the hay litter is being disposed and I exclaim out loud. That “ditch” Paul said the truck was stuck in is actually the water eroded ravine he was dumping the loads into. With my mouth agape, I listen as Paul explains how he backed up to the edge of the “ditch” to empty the truck’s load, (the last load of the day of course), and could feel the truck slipping off the edge. Paul had the good sense to turn the key off, exit the dump truck, and then he watched as the truck rolled backwards into the abyss. The front tires of the big old truck clutch at the edge of the small ravine like a dangling kitten hanging on for dear life to a tree limb, and the front grill of the old truck points mostly skyward. Holy smokes!

The “new/used” tractor we rescued the Ford with.

I am very skeptical that the tractor can extract the swallowed truck and point out to Paul that we might need a crane to deliver the Ford out of its grave! Paul has more faith in our ability to rescue the Ford, and he backs the Case tractor up to the semi-vertical truck, attaches the heavy log chain to the back of the tractor and to the front axle of the sun bleached Ford. He tells me to get in the truck, to which I immediately reply “no way am I getting in that truck. I have never driven the “new-used” tractor but I am about to get a crash course on the basics!

Paul gives me a quick lesson on the fundamentals of the tractor, not so different from our smaller tractors, and then he climbs into the truck. When I let my imagination go it appears Paul and the old Ford are preparing for a launch into space. Paul turns the key and the Fords engine fires right up and fortunately Paul and the truck stay earth-bound. I slowly drive the tractor forward until the chain is taut and I continue to ease the tractor forward. There is brief tug of war but the tractor, with some self-help from the old truck, begins to drag the Ford from the “ditch” little by little. Once it is horizontal again, Paul and I look the Ford over which appears to be none the worse for wear. Paul backs up to the washout, making sure he stays away from the edge this time, and finishes dumping the load out of the truck bed.

The Old Ford a few weeks after we rescued it, none the worse for wear

Later I inform Paul that this will make a good story for my reality ranching blog, in which he replies that he was afraid I would write about it. However, partly out of relief I suppose, we begin laughing about the whole episode and particularly the crazy position the truck was in when it hit the bottom of the ravine. If the “ditch” had been a couple of feet deeper we sure wouldn’t have been able to rescue the hapless truck. Paul now admits that it was too bad I didn’t have my camera with me. Believe me if Paul had been a little clearer about the “ditch” the truck was stuck in I would have had digital evidence of the predicament the truck found itself in!

Some of the cows and calves in the section pasture.

This summer we were able to rent a pasture that borders some of our pastures here at home. Anyone that farms or ranches knows that when the opportunity to rent ground right next to you comes up, you don’t pass that opportunity up. The problem for us was that we didn’t have any cattle to stock the section pasture with! We certainly didn’t want to buy cattle as we have a closed herd, (we raise all our own replacement females), and so we needed to find someone who needed pasture and had enough cows to fill the 640 acre pasture for the summer. By chance (maybe) a conversation with a young couple we were on safari with last summer, involved the problems they have finding summer grass for all the cows in their families operation. Remembering that conversation, Paul made a phone call to our safari friends and a deal was made to summer some of their family’s spring calving cows and their calves.

Paul and I are making our weekly check on the herd on a beautiful Sunday morning in June. We have a couple of prime square bales of alfalfa hay to scatter out for the cows in hopes of getting them lined up and thinned out to make it easier to count the cows and calves. Some of the cows begin greedily consuming the rich flakes of hay I toss on the ground as Paul slowly drives the Ranger along the edge of the herd. Other cows are unimpressed with our offering and don’t bother to walk the few steps to see what their herd mates are munching on. Since the cows are standing in lush bluestem grass with their bellies full of the native grass it is hardly surprising they ignore us. The baby calves have zero interest in what we humans are doing and like any youngsters they refuse to stand still and they run or walk all through the cows.

Some of the greedier cows looking for a treat. This photo taken on a different pasture check.

Once all the hay is scattered, Paul drives the Ranger on one side of the cows and I walk on the other side where we manage to get a correct count on the cows. However we notice that only two of the three bulls are with the cows. We reverse course and try to count the calves but come up a few short, so we try again. Paul comes up one calf short while I come up two short on the number of calves there should be. Darn it. The alfalfa has been consumed by now and the cows are beginning to drift away. Paul and I try counting the calves one last time and end up with what we feel is a pretty good count but both of us come up one calf short of 78. Well we know positively we are short one of the mature bulls so we will go look for him.

Paul drives to the corral in the southeast corner of the pasture to make sure the bull hasn’t managed to get himself trapped in one of the pens. I scan the pasture for any sign of the massive beast and spy what is the unmistakable form of a black bull walking along the western horizon. Paul and I know we have found the missing bull because there are no other bulls around this pasture. Even though we are looking at the wayward bull from nearly a mile away we are certain the rascal is in what we call the Brashe pasture with some of our fall calving cows.

A photo that shows some of the many tree lined ravines, many of them impossible to drive through.

It would be nice if we could drive a straight line through the pasture to the bull but a deep ravine between us and the bull won’t allow that. Instead we drive into the neighbors pasture and follow the fence line to a cross fence where a gate in the corner lets us get into the next pasture. The easy terrain we were driving over ends here and it is too rough to continue driving down the fence line. We are halfway to our destination so I decide to walk from here while Paul drives off in search of a crossing point for the ranger. I trudge down the hill in my mud boots, cross a stream flowing through the ravine, then climb a steep hill. As I crest the hill I see our cows with the runaway bull standing next to the gate that opens into the new pasture. How lucky is that? As I continue walking towards the cattle, I suddenly notice a young calf standing near our cows but the calf is in the pasture I am walking in. It has to be the missing calf because there are feeder steers in this pasture. Gee maybe I should buy a lottery ticket today!

The missing bull a couple of weeks after his wanderings

Paul has found his way through the ravine and is approaching rapidly from the south. I move his way and begin gesturing and pointing at the calf in hopes that Paul will understand, slow down and not spook the young calf into running away. Paul sees me and eases up on the Ranger’s gas pedal and when he spots the forlorn calf, he comes to a complete stop. I slowly walk to the gate, open it, retreat, and Paul eases up to the calf and herds him through the gate. Now we go after the bull which turns out to be no problem at all because as soon as we open the Brashe pasture gate, the big boy saunters through as though we perform this ritual every day. I guess he found out that the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence because these cows are already with calf and have no need of a bull!

We need to check the fence to see how this big fellow got into the Brashe pasture and we haven’t driven far when we find the source of entry for the trespasser. The fence is leaning over slightly and the top wire is broken. I find it amazing that a ton plus bull managed to jump over this still functional fence. We look closer and see that a battle took place next to the fence as the grass is trampled into mud and there are sliding hoof prints where the two gladiators have pushed each other in a test of strength. Obviously the vanquished bull turned tail and escaped over the fence into our pasture. Dang bulls anyway.

Paul fixes the fence and now we must try to take the calf to his mother as we are afraid he will end up with our cows if we just leave him by himself. Paul and I argue about how to do this. I want to take the bull and the calf along the fence, hoping the little fellow will want to stay with the bull while assuming that the bull will be anxious to return to the herd. Paul doesn’t think the calf will pay attention to the bull and wants to take the black calf down the road and around the big ravine. I argue if we do it my way at least we will have the fence to help haze the critters. I win the argument and we start Mutt and Jeff walking along the fence. The calf soon breaks away and runs back to where our cows are standing. Oh great. We try again and this time we get the mismatched pair down to the big ravine where the old bull finds the perfect tree limb to scratch his back on. When the herd bull stops to scratch his itch, the bull calf tries to reverse course so I wave my arms at the calf in an effort to keep him headed in the right direction. The calf panics and jumps through the tight fence right back into the pasture he was in when I first saw him. Good grief. I slip through the barbed wire fence with some difficulty as the calf is hightailing it back to our cows. As the calf is receding in the distance I proceed to tell him what a knucklehead he is (well I might not have used that word), and point out that he does not belong to that cow herd!

Cows, calves and bee balm.

Paul drives the Ranger back to open the gate (again) so we can at least put the silly calf back in the pasture he belongs in. I’m sure Paul is grumbling under his breath at my failed theory of using the fence to help guide the two bovines. The bolting calf is starting to veer away from the fence so Paul opens the gate, drives through it, and then circles around the speeding calf, bringing him back towards the gate with the Ranger. Once the calf sees the open gate he gladly runs back into the pasture he belongs in.

Paul and I agree that there is only one thing left that we can do to unite this lost calf with his mother, and that is to walk the entire herd to where the brain washed calf is standing. Paul sends the Ranger racing down the road that skirts around the deep ravine then he takes the machine off the road, points it uphill and we bump along over hidden rocks in the tall grass as we make our way back to the cow herd.

The black cows have ended up by the pens where Paul and I first saw the bull, some grazing while others are lying down, contentedly chewing their cud. Paul and I drive behind them making the resting cows get to their feet and we begin to haze the herd towards the lone calf. For a while Paul is able to drive back and forth behind the 160 head of cattle and keep them moving. Eventually the cattle begin to spread out and many decide they would rather graze grass than be forced to travel somewhere that they really don’t wish to go. At this point I exit the Ranger and cajole the cows on one end of the group to keep walking while Paul covers the rest of the herd.

As cattle, humans and machine move over the hilltop I fall into a reverie on this hilltop in the middle of the Flint Hills. Walking along I listen to a cow rip a mouthful of grass up before continuing to plod along, tails swish, hooves thud, birds sing, and I am content. A deer that was lying in the grass jumps up and runs over the edge of the hill to disappear into the trees lining one of many ravines in this pasture. Suddenly the vanquished bull appears striding with purpose towards the placid herd. The big fellow announces that he has returned by trumpeting loudly and then begins to bellow in low bursts. The conquering bull in the first battle immediately answers by snorting through his nose, then lowers his head turning it slightly sideways which shows the challenger his muscular neck. So much for our peaceful procession. The bulls lower their heads, walk towards each other, heads come together and the pushing match is on. Paul and I keep the rest of the herd moving and leave the dueling duo behind.

We almost always see deer when checking this pasture

We have reached the edge of the hill that leads down to the crossing and the road and the cows that have been so cooperative with this impromptu cattle drive suddenly decide they don’t want to walk downhill. Paul and I try to pressure the cows and calves off the hill-top but they simply refuse to start down the steep slope. The cattle begin to mill around and voice their disapproval by mooing loudly. The herd could easily turn and run from us but the bovines aren’t that ambitious. A few cows test both Paul and I as they try to sneak back in the direction from which we came but my waving arms or the ranger cutting them off, thwarts the half-hearted attempts. The good news is that all the caterwauling by the cows has alerted the misplaced calf and I see him begin to move in our direction. All we really need to do is keep the cows here long enough for the calf to arrive.

That is a big bird!

As I impede the escape path of one persistent cow, I notice the two bulls have called a truce long enough to catch back up with the stalled out herd. Unfortunately the peace is short-lived and the black bulls crash their massive heads together and begin fighting in earnest. I move away from the straining, grunting bulls and keep a wary eye on which way the momentum of their efforts is taking them. Suddenly one of the bulls gains an advantage and pushes the other bull into the midst of the cows. The stationary cows want nothing to do with the two battling bulls, and the bull-fight in their midst sends them cascading down the hillside. Once the cows reach the bottom of the hill they slow to a walk, a few look for their calves while others start grazing. The little bugger that caused us all this trouble in the first place has arrived and begins lowing for mom. The calf’s mom, who I scold for leaving her calf behind in the first place, answers her calf and soon the pair is united. The calf instantly begins to nurse and all is well with his world again. The vanquished bull ends up being bested again and submits to being the number two male. The bulls coexist for the rest of the summer with no further warfare between them that we were aware of.

The morning has nearly slipped away and Paul and I need to check two more pastures while we are here. We find no trouble in these pastures thank goodness. This story just goes to show what a simple pasture check can turn into! Later, Nancy

Just a pretty back yard photo early in the morning at our house

Romania final chapter

Jul20

Romania final chapter

Well pooh, I woke up in the night unable to breathe through my nose and knew the cold that had been sending subtle warnings to me the last couple of days had arrived in full force. I got up and fumbled through our medicine pouch until I found the Afrin spray, took half of a sleeping pill and went back to sleep. With just two days left of our European adventure I was hoping for once I wouldn’t get sick. Paul never gets sick on our travels and I always come down with some malady it seems.

I liked the pedestals they had attached to the wooden wheel to sit their flower pots on

This morning, Paul and I go down to the courtyard and sit on the bench in front of the main house. Paul is checking on emails and I am admiring the unique ways that Dorin and Ileana have planted flowers in old antiques. We go into breakfast at eight and Dorin serves cheese, bread along with an eggplant spread, juice and of course tea. Ileanna has already left for work so Dorin is in charge of our breakfast.

Paul checking out the garden behind the house

After we have eaten, the four of us go to the area behind the house and look at the large garden where various kinds of vegetables are being grown. There is a fence between the garden and a grassy area. Here Dorin keeps two sheep, two pigs and a small flock of chickens. Dorin turns the chickens and pigs out of their pens and the pigs happy to be free, go for a gallop around the grassy lot. The sheep are too busy eating grain to pay attention to us.

Breakfast time for the two sheep

Dorin turning the chickens and pigs out

This morning we are driving to a sheepfold to visit a family who are good friends of Daniels. We are cruising along enjoying the picturesque winding road when Daniel stops by a group of men that are taking a break from working on the road. After Daniel chats briefly with the men, he tells us that they have informed him the road is closed up ahead so we will have to backtrack and take a different route. Was there a road sign announcing “closed road”? Nope, Daniel just noticed that he wasn’t meeting any cars and found this unusual. Now that is observant because I never gave it a second thought!

The alternate route takes us through a village where an outside market is taking place and we stop to take a look. As we wander along the line of tents we find that nearly all of the vendors are selling shoes or clothing. Although we only look at the items for sale the vendors are doing a brisk business with the locals. We walk across the street to a small farmers market. There aren’t a lot of stalls but there is a wide variety of produce for sale. Vegetables, fruits, flowers, chickens, and what appear to be herbs, but the roots are still attached so I don’t know if they are to be used in cooking or to be replanted in one’s garden.

That is a lot of apples!

Filling a sack with strawberries that Daniel bought

Daniel looks the offerings over and decides to buy some items for the sheep herders. Daniel buys a sackful of cucumbers, some lovely plump strawberries, ripe tomatoes, apples, and we stop at a store to buy some bottles of beer. All of this is stashed in the trunk and we continue on our way.

Daniel and Paul seem to be discussing the cabbages

That is a big sack of cucumbers.

We are climbing in altitude and we reach the beautiful village of Jina (maybe we bought the beer here) where Daniel parks the car because we are going to walk to the sheepfold from here. That means all the produce Daniel purchased has to be carried to the family’s’ farm which Daniel assures us isn’t too far away. Paul places two bottles of beer in his daypack (they are 1 liter each) along with our water, plus he is able to put a couple other items that Daniel bought in the pack. That leaves Daniel carrying two heavily laden sacks while I am given responsibility for the bag of strawberries.

I had to take a photo of this gentleman and his hat as he was walking in Jina

The three of us walk down a street in Jina which leads out into the country. The dirt road with green meadows on either side is an uphill climb. As we trudge along I swear the weight of the sacks Daniel is carrying have lengthened his arms by an inch or so! There is strawberry juice beginning to accumulate in the bottom of the plastic sack that I am holding and I voice my concern that by the time we reach the shepherds place the ripe berries will be nothing but mush. I’m not sure how far we have walked but Paul offers to spell Daniel and take on the bulging bags of food, to which Daniel agrees. The two men continue to take turns in lugging the gift of produce for the remainder of our hike. I figured out that I can take some of the pressure off the strawberries by letting the sack sit on top of my camera bag, and although a bit awkward, this helps to prevent the crushing of the berries. The bad news is that I couldn’t take any photos of the human mules:).

The road we walked and the village of Jina in the background

Paul and I estimate we have walked about two miles as we approach the family abode. We turn left off the main road onto a less traveled track where the shepherds property is located. We happen to meet a neighbor at this point and he tells us the family has moved to their other property for the summer. Luckily the other place is across the road and not much farther to walk. It isn’t long before we reach the gate that leads into the sheepherder’s property and we walk through the pasture to the tiny cabin that the family calls home. Ileana (yep, the same name as the woman at the guesthouse) and Dinu welcome us and invite us into their one room house. The couple’s handsome teenage boys, Gabi and Nicu, appear at the door and look curiously at the foreigners who have come to visit. (I hope I have the names right but someone’s writing is a bit hard to make out).

What a view

This seems to be the only photo of the family’s place. The barn is to the right and the house to the left. What a backdrop! Paul’s photo

Gabi and Nicu checking out the Americans

After introductions, Daniel converses briefly with his friends and then pulls out some photos another client took of the family when he visited this gorgeous area. Oh yeah, Daniel was carrying the large envelope of photos on our trek here too! The prior visitor has taken some wonderful photos of the family and they are all quite taken with the pictures, often exclaiming out loud and smiling broadly as they study the photos. When they have finished looking at the photos, Paul digs our photo book out of his pack to show it to our hosts. The photo book proves to be a hit with the foursome and questions are asked and answered about various pictures in the book via Daniel.

Enjoying the photos that Daniel brought the family

Ileana and Gabi (I think) looking at our photo book. Paul’s photo

Ileana begins to prepare lunch, (after we have had some horinca of course) and since there are seven of us in the 8X12, (estimated by Paul); room there is no sense in trying to lend a hand as we would just be bumping into one another. It is amazing that four people live in this small space, particularly when two of them are fast growing teenagers! A small dining table sits at one end of the room, two narrow beds are opposite each other against the walls, a small table at the foot of one bed holds the three-burner portable gas stove that Ileana cooks on, and there is a cupboard sitting at the foot of the other bed. Talk about cozy!

Besides the neat old chair notice the stove in the background with the beer sitting In front of it.

Slicing bread. Why Black and white photos? Because the light coming in the windows was so harsh my color photos were not good. I let the computer change them to black and white to try and salvage them

Ileana places a pot of water on to boil and places the beef or pork links that Daniel also brought into the pan. Ileana begins slicing the loaf of bread and Paul takes a photo of her so Ileana jokingly brandishes the knife at Paul, which makes us all laugh. A large block of cheese is placed on the table along with a bowl filled with cucumbers and another dish full of tomatoes. When the meat has cooked the links are placed on the table along with a plate containing pieces of lard. There are only six places set at the table and Ileana watches as the rest of us help ourselves to the food. Paul is peeling a cucumber for the two of us and I am attempting to cut my meat up when one of the boys says something to Daniel. Daniel informs us that both of us are using the wrong edge of the small paring like knives. Well, that is embarrassing, but it really was hard to tell which side of the knives had the sharp edge.

Part of our lunch. Paul’s photo

Daniel waiting to begin the meal

Paul and I both notice that Dinu used his pocket knife to cut up his food and he also impales the food on his knife point using it as a fork when eating the meat. Paul said the boys also used their pocket knives though I did not notice that. I did notice that the three would nearly cut off a bite of bread or piece of lard with their knives before finishing by biting the piece off with their teeth. It was really fascinating to watch this way of eating. When the six of us are nearly finished eating, Ileana puts a large bowl of the strawberries we brought on the table. Paul and I play it safe and don’t eat them but the other diners certainly enjoy them. However, someone makes a comment to Daniel about the condition of the berries. Daniel tells Paul and I that he told them that I was given the responsibility of carrying the strawberries so the bruised and smushed strawberries were my fault! Ha! When the rest of us have finished eating, Ileana sits down and has her lunch. I felt bad that she didn’t eat with us and I don’t know if that is the custom or if there just wasn’t room at the table for her.

Ileana finally gets to eat as Dinu talks on his cell phone. The slices of lard can be seen in the foreground.

There was one more surprise during lunch, though by now Paul and I should expect this, and that was when Dinus’ cell phone rang. Shortly after Dinus’ phone call, Ileana’s phone rang and then after lunch we found the boys, laying in the grass either texting friends or playing games on their cell phones! I don’t think there is any place in the world anymore where cell phones can’t be found!

The boys using their cell phones. Paul’s photo

The boys going after the milk cows

Taking the cows to water

The two boys have to gather the four milk cows the family is keeping for another owner for the summer, and drive them to the community well for water. Paul, Daniel, and I decide to tag along. One boy walks in front of the cows while the other boy is trailing the docile beasts and we join the queue. The water source is perhaps a quarter-mile away where the system is housed in a tin building. A hollowed out log like those in Viscri is sitting outside the building for the shepherds to water their livestock. The cows drink a little water but they seem more intent in exploring their surroundings which sends one of the boys running downhill to corral the ring leader and herd the cows back to the water trough. When it is obvious that the cows have had their fill of water the youngsters begin herding the cows back home.

The cows drinking out of the hollowed log trough

The cows didn’t want to go back home.

Daniel, Paul and I decide to hike farther down the road to enjoy the countryside and the spectacular views no matter which direction you look. From one hilltop we can see Jina in the distance, the white church shining like a beacon, as it sits on the highest point of the village. At another place on our trek, Daniel shows us the general area where a monastery sits hidden by the trees far below us. Turning back, we walk a different road where a valley spreads out below us sprinkled with houses and numerous conical haystacks. This country is just stunning.

Paul and Daniel relaxing

Walking and enjoying the views

Paul makes use of his walking sticks while taking in the scenery

Upon our return to the sheepfold, Gabi and Nicu, are in a game of soccer with two other boys. Gabi and Nicu are playing in their rubber boots and it is amazing how they can manipulate the soccer ball despite the awkward footwear. Ileana is milking the one cow that has a calf, the other three cows are not far from calving. We go out to take a look and are surprised to see the baby calf is nursing one side while Ileana is milking out the other side of the cow. That certainly saves time.

Soccer game in progress

Ileana milks while the cow’s baby calf nurses.

Once Ileana is finished milking and has shooed the cow back with her herd mates, we all gather on the porch of the house. Daniel, Paul, and Dinu are sitting on the bench next to the house when they begin trying on each other’s hats, Gabi(I think) grabs Paul’s hat and joins the trio as I snap photos. Ileana not to be left out dons my hat and squeezes in among the guys and I laughingly take pictures.

A variety of hats!

Dinu rises to his feet and tells Daniel he must take the sheep to water and invites us along. I decline the invitation saying that I am walked out, reminding my companions that we leave this special place to drive back to the guesthouse. Paul and Daniel forego the invitation too, saying it is time that we head back to the guesthouse. We do walk to the gate to watch the flock of sheep being driven out of the pasture by the boys while Dinu walks in front of his flock. Once the wooly sheep are out in the road the boys go back to the house while Dinu leads the sheep to water by himself. Daniel hollers at Dinu who turns to face us and we wave goodbye. Ileana accompanies us down the road for a few minutes and then we say thank you and goodbye to this friendly woman. What delightful people and what a wonderful way to spend our last full day in Romania!

The family’s sheep across the road.

Dinu with his flock following him to water

One of the boys walking back to the house

This evening at supper we naturally begin the meal with a brandy glass full of horinca. I have seen Daniel look down at his arm after he has taken a drink of the liquor before and declare that he is watching to see if the hair on his arm is standing up. I don’t know if the hair rising on his arm is a test of the quality of the horinca but I figured he was pulling our leg about his arm hair reacting to the liquor anyway. Tonight I look at his arm too and I’ll be darned if the hair doesn’t lift up. Yikes, that should tell you about the potency of this stuff. I also realized at the sheepfold that after I had a couple sips of horinca that the symptoms of my cold had lessened. Tonight, much to Paul’s astonishment, I drink about half of my glass of white lightning, (slowly) in hopes that it will alleviate my stuffy nose and head. Daniel assures me that horinca is very medicinal. I don’t know if it is coincidence or not but this is the most short-lived and mildest cold I can remember having.

Dorin, a very funny story teller!

After supper, Dorin tells us some stories, the guy is really funny, and the one I remember the most is the tale of his baptism. According to his mom when he was dipped in the baptismal fount he created his own fountain which happened to baptize the baptismal book the minister was holding. Dorin tells the story while on his feet and he is very animated while reciting the tale which has us howling with laughter.

After supper, we meet the couple’s son for the first time and we visit with the young man briefly. Dorin brings out his hat and his father-in-laws hat and eventually everyone in the group has tried on the hats and posed for photos while wearing them. Despite the fun we are having the day’s activities are catching up with Paul and I and we bid a reluctant good night to everyone.

Paul and I hoisting our glasses of “medicinal” horinca

Ileana modeling one of the hats

There is no need to rush around this morning as we don’t have to be at the airport until mid-afternoon. After breakfast, Paul and Daniel work to get us checked in online using Daniels laptop as our tablet isn’t cooperating. After loading our luggage we say so long to our gracious and funny host Dorin and ask him to relay our thanks to his wife.

Paul had two “Eat Beef” hats left and these guys look good in them! Dorin really wanted Paul’s Setson but it was much to large for him. Paul’s photo

Daniel takes us to one last historical place, Alba Carolina fortress which was built in the 1700’s to defend against the Ottomans. Prior to the fortress this place was known as Alba Luila which was a military and economic center during the Roman occupation.

Playing the part at Alba Carolina

As we get ready to walk through what is known as the third gate a man dressed in a guard uniform of the 17th century is patrolling the entrance with his musket hoisted upon his shoulder and stops so I can take a photo of him. Once we enter the square we see several life sized bronzes depicting people from the 16th century scattered around e area. Many monuments have been built here over the years, including one of Michael the Brave sitting astride his steed. We visit two more cathedrals, one being the Romano Catholic Cathedral built in the 15th century. As usual the Cathedrals are beautiful inside and out.

Two bronze gentlemen conversing on the street

Michael the Brave and some of Alba Carolina

It is time to move on and the highway takes us through an area where sheer rock cliffs dot the landscape. Daniel stops at a restaurant/hotel for lunch where we look over the rugged landscape while we eat. Daniel treats us to a dessert called papanasi insisting we can’t leave Romania without eating this traditional dish. I can still taste the fried pastry that is filled with a sour cream and jam. Out of this world.

Our view while eating lunch.

Daniel delivers us to the airport and walks into the terminal to make sure our flight is on time. We say goodbye to Daniel and thank him for the excellent time we had touring Romania with him. Enough can’t be said for Daniels willingness to go the extra mile to do the extra things we asked of him. Both Daniel and Cornelia were a huge part of making our Romania adventure such a success!

Our flight from Romania to Luton airport in England went off without a hitch and our driver that is taking us to our hotel near Heathrow is waiting for us. We begin to see signs along the main highway about all the long delays on various routes to the airport but our driver is savvy enough to get off on side roads and a couple of hours later our driver pulls up at our hotel.

After a good night’s sleep, Paul and I are lounging in the room thinking our flight leaves in the middle of the afternoon. Paul decides to check to see if our flight is still on time and discovers that we fly out at 12:45! Holy Smokes, it is a good thing Paul checked when he did. We pack up, check out and go outside the hotel to wait for the free bus that will take us to our terminal. While standing at the bus stop, I hear someone singing the song “I had the time of my life” behind us. Turning around I discover that two teenage Muslim girls are the vocalists. Remember that this song was playing in the restaurant where we ate on our first day in Romania. Weird, and to make it weirder the crummy movie I watch on the way home from Europe ends with this song playing during the credits. Well I guess this was a good theme song for our travel to Europe.

Our flight out of London was delayed for more than two hours and Paul and I knew we weren’t going to make our connecting flight in Dallas. When we did land in Dallas the flight attendant told us that we were lucky to have made it here as our plane landed as one thunderstorm moved out and another one was getting ready to move in. The airline put us in a hotel for the night and luckily we were able to fly to Manhattan the next morning.

When we left Kansas we were wondering if we would have much hay to put up. When we arrived home Paul and I were amazed at the lush, green landscape where ponds that were worryingly low on water were now running out the trickle tubes. It is always good to come home but this time with the drought seemingly broken it was especially wonderful. Nancy

Dinu wearing Paul’s Stetson

This young man isn’t camera shy.

You can just make out the hat pin with the American flag and Kansas flag pinned to Gabi’s(I think) hat. Paul’s photo

Romania part 7

Jul14

Lonely church. Photo taken as we were driving

Romania part 7

Daniel drives us out of the peaceful village of Viscri and the next stop on our Romanian journey is the city of Sighisoara. More beautiful landscape lies between Viscri and Sighisoara. A flock of sheep is sprinkled like puffy marshmallows across a green knob of a hill. A colorful herd of cattle grazes above a lonely church whose only company is the cemetery studded with crosses.

Looking across Sighisoara from the clock tower

We arrive in the German Saxon city of Sighisoara where Daniel parks the car, pays the parking fee and we begin to climb many stairs that will take us to the Medieval Stronghold that is referred to as the Citadel. The Citadel is the historic center of Sighisoara. We tour the 13th century clock tower which houses a small but interesting museum of history. Once we have perused the items ranging from old clothes to beautiful furniture, we climb more stairs that lead to the guard walk where we enjoy a 360 degree view of Sighisoara from on high. The lofty perch doesn’t disappoint as we gaze over the clay-tiled roofs of the city. On the street directly below us the people look like miniature figures as they go about their business.

Looking down at the street where the people looked like miniature figures

Plaques showed the kilometers to various cities. I couldn’t find Alma so had to settle for New York

We return to ground level and Daniel takes us to a unique covered staircase built-in the 1600’s to shelter teachers and students from bad weather as they walked to school. The covered staircase, containing 172 steps, also leads us to the church on the hill and its cemetery. Arriving at the Church on the hill, slightly out of breath, we pay a small fee to enter the church and are told that no photos are allowed. The inside of the church is cavernous and as all churches we have visited quite beautiful. It occurs to me that Paul and I have been inside or near more churches in Romania and England on this trip than we have been in churches at home for the past ten years or more!

I loved the cobblestone streets

Leaving the church we walk through the shaded cemetery before entering the city again where Daniel leads us down narrow cobblestone streets that are lined with brightly colored houses. Upon reaching a small park the three of us decide to sit and relax on a wooden bench. After a bit I find the sunlit bench too warm so I move to a bench that is shaded by a tree. A woman is walking by and begins to speak to me in Romanian. I just smile and say, “American”. The woman gets completely flustered and puts her hand up to her cheek and says “sorry, so sorry”. I’m not sure if the lady meant she was sorry for thinking I was Romanian or that she felt sorry for me because I was an American:).

Paul and Daniel relaxing in the small park

Our next stop is Biertan, a small village that is famous for its enormous 16th century fortified church built by the German Saxons. This imposing structure has three defensive walls surrounding it and neither Paul nor I took a photo of the imposing structure!! When we arrive at the church entrance we find that we have arrived during the staff’s lunch hour and the church is closed! Well this is a bit disappointing but we are still able to walk the church grounds which are quite impressive and from atop this hill we are able to look over the quaint village of Biertan. We also visit with a young man who is working on restoring the frame of a window; in fact there is a lot of restoration work being done here. The craftsman speaks English quite well and we find out he also does some guiding for tourists too.

Young man that was repairing window panes.

This interesting structure was on the grounds of the Fortified Church in Biertan

Looking over Biertan from the hilltop where the church was

As we continue on our journey we make a quick stop at a roadside farm store which consists of tables full of wares along with items piled on the ground. The tables and the shirtless proprietor are shaded by a blue plastic tent top. The man has about everything a farmer might need by the looks of it. There are horseshoes, chains, buckets, bolts, tools, pitchforks, wooden handles and on and on. Paul had wanted to see a farm supply store in Romania, he just hadn’t figured on one that was moveable!

This store owner manning his moveable farm supply store

Farm supply store

Daniel, knowing how interested Paul and I are in agriculture and that we raise Angus cattle, has arranged for us to visit an Angus ranch, one of two (I think) in Romania. Again it takes us out of the preplanned route but Daniel seems to enjoy visiting places that he hasn’t been to and is ever gracious about taking these side tours. Mountains are visible again but these big boys have much more snow on them then the other mountains we were near. On our way to the ranch we see a deer walking in the distance through a field and I zoom in on the animal to get a photo that verifies our sighting!

Beautiful mountains

There really is a deer in this photo

Daniel has called ahead just prior to our arriving at the ranch and a young man, who doesn’t look all that pleased with having to entertain visitors, is waiting for us next to the house. The snowy mountains make quite a back drop to the ranch with the green pastures in the foreground. We spot a Black Angus cow among a mixed herd but the young man says that those are the neighbor’s cattle. The ranch hand takes us to the finishing shed where there are several red Angus bulls mixed in with crossbred bulls and a whole bunch of young water buffalo. These odd-looking critters try to compensate for their poor eyesight by pointing their noses into the air as the intently peer in our direction.

The Angus ranch we visited

Black Angus cow in neighbors pasture

Daniel is busy translating questions to and answers from our young guide as we curiously ask about the ranch. We are told that all the animals in this feeding floor are being raised to provide meat for the restaurants owned by the rancher. The rancher raises and fattens the beef, has a locker plant on the ranch to butcher the finished animals, and then sells the meat through his restaurants. There are absolutely no middle men in this ranch to plate operation. Eventually we run out of questions for the young fellow, who does manage one delightful smile during the whole time we are there, so we thank him for his time and leave the beautiful ranch behind.

Our guide around the ranch

Red Angus bull soon to be fare at the restaurant the ranch owns.

Daniel is taking us to Sibiu so we can walk through the city’s historical center and since the Angus ranch has a restaurant in Sibiu, we decide to eat dinner there. It is a little early for dinner when we arrive in Sibiu so Daniel takes us to an open air museum that has displays of different houses, machinery, and windmills etc. depicting ways of life in the past. The large park has a walkway that is tree-shaded and a small lake is situated in the middle of the park adding to the pleasant atmosphere. There is hardly anyone else in the park which is also a plus. Many of the historic houses have been locked up for the day although we are able to enter one or two. My favorite part of the open air museum was the different types of windmills we saw.

Windmills at the open air museum

After our visit to the Open Air Museum we are ready for dinner. We enter the restaurant which is called Hermania and the main room is airy and comfortable with its high ceiling, fireplace, and a bar in one corner. A few customers are dining in this room but Daniel takes us to a second area which is more casual. Most of the tables are full of locals who are chatting, eating and drinking. Paul and I decide to share a meal of sliced steak that is cooked in a cream sauce. The meal is very tasty although the meat is on the chewy side, which doesn’t surprise us as the bulls we saw were probably one and half years old. Also, if we understood correctly, the beef is not aged like our homegrown beef is. It was fun to follow-up our ranch visit by eating at the ranch’s restaurant. You have to admire such an enterprise.

The main dining room at Hermania restaurant. Paul’s photo

Daniel drives us to the old part of the city and we wander into a city square lined with historical buildings. People are strolling the square or sitting around enjoy each other’s company. As Daniel explains what the different buildings were in the past and what they are now, he points out some odd structures on the roofs of some of the buildings. I tell him the roof structures creep me out and Daniel laughs because evidently many people have this reaction to the weird roof fixtures. I can’t remember exactly what the air vents are called but they are likened to eyes that are watching you, and they do appear to be staring at you.

Creepy eyes on the roof of this house

We leave this lovely square and walk into an adjacent city square where even more people are promenading. There is a band playing lively music that makes the little children dance and jump to the tune. We stay for a couple of musical numbers and join in with the rest of the people in giving well deserved applause to the band members when they finish playing a song. Daniel takes us to a bridge that is humorously called the “bridge of lies” because many people become engaged and make promises to each other that most supposedly don’t keep. There are a lot of padlocks fastened to the bridge with the lover’s initials written on them. We saw this practice of padlocks cementing ones devotion to each other in Russia too.

One of Sibius’ city squares

We enjoyed listening to this band. They were really good.

Padlocks on the Bridge of Lies

We still have a ways to drive before we reach the guesthouse so we must leave Sibiu. I really liked this city as it had a small town feel to it similar to what we experienced in Cusco, Peru. It is late when we arrive at Ileana the guesthouse where we will spend our last two nights in Romania. Our host opens the gate for us and Daniel drives in and parks the car in front of the house. Dorin shows us to our rooms and invites us down for a nightcap. It is late and Paul and I are tired so at first we refuse the invitation but upon seeing a look of surprise on our hosts face at our refusal, we change our mind.

When we have deposited the luggage in our room we exit this wing of the guesthouse, walk back to where the car is parked where the entrance for the main house is. Dorin takes us into the dining room and a bottle of Horinca except in Transylvania the home-brewed liquor is called Palinea or Plinca, (I have both versions written down and I’m not sure if either is right), is set before us. Dorin’s wife Ileana and the girlfriend of their son are also joining us in the nightcap. We all raise our glasses, heartily say “Noroc”, and take a sip or in some peoples’ cases a gulp of the white lightning. I must be getting used to this alcohol because I don’t gasp quite as loudly and my eyes aren’t watering too badly. We visit with our friendly hosts and find that Dorin has quite a sense of humor. Dorin and the young woman (whose name I have forgotten) both speak English, Dorin fairly well and the young woman is fluent. We learn that she is a translator for a couple from Texas, who are ranchers that have purchased a house in Romania. The couple visited here a few years ago and fell in love with the culture and the country so they live here for part of the year. I can perfectly understand their decision to do this! Finally, we say goodnight and leave this pleasant company to retire for the night. Nancy

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