David’s Wild African Safari: Part 1: The Big Five

JAMBO!

JAMBO! Say jambo (Swahili for hello) in Kenya and you instantaneously receive a great big, happy smile from whomever you greet. It would become a joyful exchange throughout my visit to Kenya, even behind a face mask.

I had the privilege and opportunity of going on safari and would like to share with you the adventure of a lifetime. My wild Kenya African Safari was an 18-day journey exploring four incredible national reserves in search of “The Big Five” (more on that later).

It’s wintertime in Kenya; July is the coldest month with a temperature range of 55-73 degrees. At times we straddled the Equator, but spent most of our time below it in the Southern Hemisphere, many times at a mile above sea level.

Our friend, Steve Dexter, an experienced world traveler, led the well-organized and exciting itinerary, long in the planning, due to COVID. This was his 9^th trip to Kenya, and as he said, probably the best ever, after our incredible animal sightings.

Sergio was on Steve’s very first safari in 2005, hence, he chose to sit this one out, and encouraged me to travel solo … flying almost 12,000 air miles, via a long, hard slog: GDL-LAX-DXB-NOB. He wanted me to experience the thrill of it, as he had done. Lucky for me, I had two wonderful friends join in, Dianne and Sheridan, providing great, and fun companionship.

Our safari tour guide company provided the three safari vehicles/drivers for our group of 16 enthusiastic participants. Their amazing instincts gave us thrills beyond belief in our twice daily rides out into the game reserves across the vast country.

For me, it was like stepping into a LIVE National Geographic program or PBS’s “Nature” documentaries. The week prior to leaving, I got to watch the film “Out of Africa” again to get myself pumped up. Its opening line, “I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills,” became a reality, visiting Karen Blixen’s former home, now a museum.

Words cannot easily describe the experience roaming the wilds of Africa, so as it’s been said, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

THE BIG FIVE!

“The Big Five” are: Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard, and Rhinoceros. The term “Big Five” was named by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot and the degree of danger involved. It’s not the animal size that determined the five members.

The term is now used by tour groups to market safari packages with the promise that the visitor will see these animals on game drives. Game hunting is no longer legal, but these animals are still in danger from poachers and loss of habitat.

Fortunately, the “Big Five” are still roaming, Born Free and wild in Kenya and other parts of Africa.

LIONS!

The Lion King and lots of Leos spotted. Cause for celebration – the official estimate of the number of lions living in Kenya has increased 25% to 2,489. The King of the Jungle was seen almost daily on our rides, whether by scouting or just coming upon them (even seen from the air) … prides of them.

Each time they never ceased to get one’s blood pumping. And speaking of such … we experienced a climatic moment when a couple copulated right before us … completed all in the matter of seconds. Now that was worth the price of admission!

Close Encounters of the Lion Kind … a solitary male plopped himself down just beneath my opened window seat, and here I took my best shot and favorite photo of the trip.

With the window being wide open, and though the lion looked winded, panting heavily … one never knows. As my friend, Mike, wrote on my FB posting, “he looked at you and said, “brisket!” A juicy Jew. It was fantastic, unbelievable, and left my pulse racing.

A mother lioness and her cubs share a strong, vital bond. One mom came right up alongside us at the rear, with the vehicle providing its metal barrier between us.

I was seated in the backseat, and peered straight down, sharing eye-to-eye contact. A chill went down my spine, and half expected her to go all-out mamacita on me and charge up at my window to protect her babies.

Quick on the draw, I snapped a photo snap to capture the thrilling encounter. To think she was that close … here again, was another racing pulse moment.

We were privy to watch, with great interest and intensity, four lions slowly cross a dry riverbed (sadly, Kenya is also experiencing severe drought), and when settled on the riverbank, started a hunt after catching sight of a herd of antelopes grazing nearby. Of course, they flew off after a quick, fruitless chase.

Then along came Mr. Warthog. He stood motionless on the riverbank, sensing something was up. Hidden from his view, but not to us, was a lion, lying low to the ground on his haunches, preparing to pounce. Its other three mates were hidden in bushes. Then, suddenly, all four burst out charging, but again, the warthog outraced the four lions. Glad not to have witnessed a kill, but it was thrilling to watch it unfold before our eyes.

ELEPHANTS! 

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in Nairobi National Park, was our first outing and initial contact with the largest land mammal. Aka the Nairobi Nursey, it was founded in 1977 by wildlife conservationist and book author, Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, in honor of her late husband, and is now run by daughter, Angela. Mrs. Sheldrick was often referred to as “Mama Elephant” of Kenya. Check out her inspiring books … 

https://www.shakariconnection.com/daphne-sheldrick-books.html

Through the Orphanage Project, they rescue and rehabilitate orphaned infant elephants (most up to 3-4 years), and eventually are sent back out to live in the wild. There’s a daily feeding hour available by advanced booking. We arrived early, and lined up at the gate with pent-up excitement. At the stroke of 11, our group rushed our way through to gain an “on-the-rope” position to meet ‘n greet the herd up close and personal.

Adorable, lovable, and cuteness were the order of the day, and even getting to pat a baby’s back was pure joy.  

Sergio and I are now proud foster parents of a 22-month-old! His name is Taabu (“trouble” in Swahili). Please read all about our new baby boy … 

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/taabu

Back in the wild … we always seemed to come upon herds of elephants by happenstance (or sometimes singularly). As big a creature as they are, they’re silent hulks. Fortunately, we experienced many precious encounters to enjoy, always with our mouths agape.

Most memorably were mother cow and calf sightings. One in particular remains engrained in my mind – a mother slowly wandered out from the trees, heading in our direction, followed by her young ‘un.  

My friend, Sheridan, was standing up in the back of our vehicle videoing them. Mama elephant slowly approached us in the rear, and then suddenly stopped directly behind. Sheridan (a mother of two), and she, stared at one another, eye-to-eye, mom-to-mom for a long, breathless pause of utter enchantment. Sheridan stopped her video and just took in the pure beauty of this majestic animal. 

It was a spellbinding moment, and standing right behind Sheridan, I shared in witnessing and savoring it with her.

RHINOCEROS!

Rhinoceroses have always been my all-time favorite animal. Ever since my high school sculpture art class, I’ve had a special affinity with this prehistoric-looking mammal. One class project of mine was creating an 8” tall x 18” long rhino sculpture in metal. I’ll never forget it; it’s an image that remains with me all these years later.

Below is Baraka, the blind black rhino, ambassador to humans at the Ol Pejeta Conservatory. It’s another important place where good things are happening to preserve endangered species.

Approaching 28 yrs. old, he’s a happy camper when we feed him and pet the sweet giant. A true gentleman. You haven’t lived until you’ve stroked his mighty, magic horns.

Rhinos can’t see very well, which may explain why they’ll sometimes charge for no reason. However, they do have a strong sense of smell and hearing. This all came into play one day when it was my turn to sit in the “hot seat” again, aka the backseat.

We came upon two rhinos fairly close up as they grazed. Our vehicle stopped, and the engine was turned off so we could just take in the closeness of them and savor their beauty. Btw … did you know that rhinos can gallop up to 30mph? It didn’t take long to discover their great speed.

Perhaps these two smelled us or heard us and had woken up on the wrong side of the grass, and were feeling grouchy, because suddenly, they snorted, sneered and started kicking up some dust as they charged forward in our direction!

I saw this happening from my rearview and immediately had a fight or flight response and thought, “DUCK AND COVER!” Be ready for impact, David! I had visions of being stabbed by Ole Big Horn.

Fortunately, our fearless driver, James, was watching them in his rearview mirror, and quickly turned the engine on, got into gear and hit the pedal to the metal … sparing horn to metal contact. They came within spitting range.

And did you know that a group of rhinoceros is called a “crash?”  Well, a clash with a crash was narrowly avoided, as was a near heart attack!

CAPE BUFFALO! 

A bovine beauty, the Cape Buffalo has magnificent horns. Sorry, but not much else to say except, a face only a mother could love. These rather unattractive heavyweights gather in herds and stare you down with their bright, round beady eyes, as they go on about chewing their cud.

Like the rhino, they’ve got poor eyesight and hearing, but a well-developed sense of scent. Luckily, we didn’t get on the wrong side of the road with them; either we smelled good or kept quiet because these aggressors would lamely stare us down vs. the scary, running rhino incident.

LEOPARD!

Leopards. The mighty, elusive big cat. A solitary soul. They’re mostly nocturnal and can be challenging to see, even in daylight, with their well-camouflaged fur.

The leopard would be the jewel “catch” of all sightings. And it would take several days to spot the first.

They’re the strongest climber of all the big cats, and spend much of their time in trees even when stalking prey and for eating. Both lions and hyenas will take away a leopard’s food if they can.

This would be the case with our sightings, seeing a Thomson Gazelle draped down with its guts hanging out! Such is life in the wild.

The must-see list of the iconic “Big Five” large game animals of Africa: Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhino. Fait accompli ~ a thing accomplished.

There’s so much more to see. Coming up: giraffes, cheetahs, hippos, flamingos, wildebeests, warthogs, hyenas . . .