I think it was Pliny who said “ex Africa semper aliquid novi” - out of Africa always something new. Every day on safari we see something that we have never seen before. Some form of animal behaviour, a rare species of bird, a new plant. We never grow tired of being on safari.

Camping in Lake Nakuru Park recently we had what is officially the most peculiar spine tingling leopard experience of my life. We had just settled into our chairs by the fire, each with evening cocktail in hand, when my late friend and colleague, John, shone his flashlight over to the waterhole and spotted a leopard coming in to drink. The leopard was beautiful, perfect from tip to toe. Quietly, we all snuck up to the edge of the low brush for a better look. Leopards often pass through this camp but they tend to give us a wide berth of 20 yards or so. This young male leopard had a very different idea of what constitutes a wide berth. After drinking he turned and slowly slunk through the grass towards us. The tip of my nose got that funny twitch and tingle that indicates that something is not quite right and we quickly ordered a retreat back to the mess tent. Sean and I stayed put to keep an eye on the cat. The leopard kept coming closer and closer to us, settling about six feet away. He sat there for a while staring at us, blinking in that very slow house-cat way. Eventually he won the staring contest and as we backed up he followed us right to the mess tent. It was nerve wracking but he was at last persuaded to leave by a gentle tap on the nose by a cup. Adrenalin levels were high after such a close encounter and rather a lot of wine was drunk at dinner.

Later that same night I was woken by the loud clanging of metal. My first thought was that hyenas were going for the supplies. Annoyed that no one else was dealing with the situation, I groggily got up to see what was going on. Stepping out of my tent I was stopped short by a yell from Sean and John next door to “watch out”. Moving the beam of my torch up, I saw a pride of huge lions playing with a bag of tent poles in the middle of camp. I could live with the noise. A few hours later Lucas had to chase them out of the kitchen with a mop so that he could make tea and coffee for the morning wake up call. He was unanimously nominated man of the day!

These are no ordinary office adventures and I am constantly humbled by what my camp crew thinks of as just another day. Some of the missions that we send them on are difficult at the best of times, but throw into the mix flooding rivers, angry elephants, disappearing roads and trucks that sometimes break down and their feats become worthy of demigod status.

I have never seen the water level so high in Lake Nakuru and flamingoes flew in from all over Africa to take advantage. The constantly changing hues of pink were mesmerizing. One misty morning we watched two huge bull rhinos fighting in the shallow lake a hundred yards from shore, surrounded by flamingoes. It was a surreal sight made more so as they were perfectly reflected in the water. We drove into the lake to get closer - being on the water ourselves gave us a distorted sense of being in a mirror of water and sky.

I love “out of season safaris” as they show you a world you think you know in such a very different light and, more importantly, there are few if any other visitors. One such safari began in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, an immense area of dry thorn and sand, bisected by the Rufiji River. This is one of the largest protected areas in the world. If you love to walk, then the Selous is for you. We have had many thrilling hikes along the river, dodging hippos and weaving through herds of elephant and other game. The park is at its best during the dry season, when large herds of game are drawn in to drink at the receding water holes. December heralds the arrival of the rains which fill the watering holes and allow the animals to disperse away from the river to better grazing. On this safari we were there shortly after the rains began and already an emerald green flush was appearing, magically altering the landscape. It was fantastically beautiful and at that moment we were the only visitors in 45,000 square kilometers of wilderness. The wildlife had begun to disperse but we were lucky and had glimpses of all the local species. The highlight was a wonderful male leopard that we found resting in a clearing under the shade of a terminalia tree. He surprised us by being, for a leopard, so unfazed, and we got a great view of him as he strolled nonchalantly across the grass before disappearing in the shadows.

The water levels of the Rufiji rose while we were there, which opened up otherwise inaccessible channels of the river. We explored the watercourse in rickety aluminium boats powered by outboards. The birdlife was amazing along the lush banks. It was fun to edge up to within a few feet of nesting weaver birds, so bright and golden that it looked like they were lit from within. We saw half a dozen species of king-fishers and bee-eaters and watched skimmers flying inches above the river as they sliced through the water with their lower mandibles. Their skill was breathtaking.

Boating on the Rufiji when it is in spate is not for the faint-hearted. We dodged large pods of hippos, as well as crocodiles and floating logs. At one point we came across a kill on the shore. The smell had drawn a dozen huge crocodiles out of the water. The current was strong, so our little engine could not pass them very quickly. As we crawled our way upstream these huge reptiles the size of dragons, startled by the sound of the engine, came crashing through the undergrowth and into the water around us - it was heart-stopping.

So much of catching the great migration of wildebeest has to do with luck once the animals have left the confines of the Masai Mara and spread into the vast Serengeti and Ngorongoro conservation areas. Flying into Ndutu, we found we had the place to ourselves, and the endless plains were black with migrating wildebeest. We watched a painted snipe, and wildebeest crossing the lake, cheetahs hunting and lions reclining on the lake shore. From here we explored incredible country, with no road to follow, only winding trails cut by generations of migrating herds. We covered miles of territory, with never less than a thousand wildebeest in sight and at times tens of thousands. Granite outcrops known as kopjes rise like islands from the grassy plains and they make a good place to stop for lunch. On one drive we drove past the famous Gol Kopjes and then cut across-country to the Angata Kiti (“the little plain”) to Naserua, a giant granite monolith, hundreds of feet high, that stands at the mouth of the Angata Kiti valley like a sentinel. We saw big Serengeti lions, cheetah and revelled in the huge, huge spaces. The days were long, but incredibly fulfilling, touching a primordial core in all of us.

The short grass plains support a variety of flowers during the rains and each year the hue changes. We have seen banks of pink and yellow, but this year the predominant colour was white. There were acres of densely packed white heliotrop that looked like drifts of snow from the distance. The vision of zebras grazing in acres of white was spellbinding.

Last year, together with our community partners, we began the process of turning our 20,000 acre concession adjoining Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya into the Kitirua Wildlife Conservancy. The hard work by everyone involved is paying off and the wildlife story in Amboseli gets better and better. We are seeing increased numbers of elephant breeding herds, lesser kudu, lions and cheetah.

We were recently watching a herd of elephants on the edge of the Amboseli salt pans when it started to rain, true African rain. The storm came heavily and quickly, and the sheets of water left covering the pans were like vast mirrors. When the rain passed we watched the elephants do something extraordinary: they filed onto the wet pans and seemed to deliberately skate wherever the ground was slippery enough. It was hilarious.

Katavi National Park in southern Tanzania is a true wilderness with no people in it. Miles from anywhere, it is thought to have a greater density of mammals than any other Tanzanian reserve. Rivers groan with hippos and crocodiles, and massed on the plains are great herds of buffalo up to 1,000 strong. It is far off the beaten track and Chada camp, though rugged doesn’t lack any creature comforts. The dry season was just beginning to bite when we were there and the game was coming in from the surrounding areas to drink the last of the water in the Kapapa River. The receding pools were bulging with giant crocodiles and large pods of hippos. It was a spectacle, like some overdone stage show. In one of these pools we counted over 1,000 hippo, all squeezed together with not a spare inch between them.

Last year we became donors to Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy, situated on the northern foothills of Mt Kenya; this gained us the use of the wonderfully private Kifaru House. It is by far the most sumptuous place to stay on the Conservancy and we have had it all to ourselves whenever we have stayed there. Lewa has always been a great stop on our safaris. We have jogged past rhinos, strolled over ridges and stalked up to elephants on foot. The three enormous cheetah brothers are still in residence and reign supreme. They hunt anything from ostriches to fully grown Grevy’s zebra and so far no other male cheetah has managed to usurp them.

The most exciting thing this year has without doubt been the continuing return of the wild-dog population. I had never seen them on Lewa before last summer when we saw a pack of 16; seven adults and nine pups, all in perfect condition. They are strange creatures that generate huge amounts of excitement among old safari hands: many a “tough man” has been known to get a little misty eyed over them. They are incredibly social creatures, wiry but powerful, with huge ears, a variable pattern of black, yellow and white blotches and a strong musky smell. The adults we saw hunted each morning and evening, running for great distances after impala and dik dik. Hunting in thick bush and hilly terrain, they used their strong scent and bell like hoots to keep in touch. From a distance we could keep track of them from the flashing of their white tails. With the adults out hunting, we sat with the pups and waited for their return. The pups could hear them long before we could and started whickering excitedly. The reunion involved much joyous whining and rubbing of muzzles.

The Mara remains a firm and unbeatable favourite on any safari. This year we have been using a new campsite secreted deep in the reserve on the banks of the Mara River. It is set in thick forest with views across the river into Tanzania. The hippos do a fine job of keeping the grass golf-course short, and it feels lush and cool. It is also one of the noisiest camps that we have ever used. Every night we are treated to a loud chorus of honking hippos, giggling hyenas, the rasping saw like call of leopard and roaring lions - the most wonderful sound imaginable.

The camp site is within easy reach of the best game-viewing spots in the Mara. As a result, we have regularly seen rare game such as black rhino. This a wonderful and new experience for us, hinting at what it must have been like in Ninian’s father’s day Our proximity to the river has meant that we have often managed to beat the crowds and have occasionally had the pleasure of watching epic wildebeest crossings entirely on our own.

A particularly memorable morning was spent on the lower Rongai River watching a small female leopard. We found her crouching by the water in mid-hunt. She had chased a gazelle into the river and was waiting for it to run out so that she could pounce on it. From time to time she would get up and reposition herself on the water’s edge and the gazelle would move too, like a deadly game of chess. Eventually the gazelle’s nerve broke and the leopard struck, killing right in front of us.

We tend to think that the places where we can take a safari and truly get away from the crowds are diminishing. However, it is becoming clear that the opposite is true. As community conservation evolves and local people finally see the potential earnings that can be gained from tourism, many new wilderness areas are being opened up. We are excited by several of these, and look forward to exploring them with you.

I am currently planning Ninian’s annual tour of England and America, so please do let us know if you would like to meet him to discuss safari plans or know of anyone you think he should look up.
Best wishes,

Lara, Ninian, Jamey, Amelia and all of our safari crew
Nairobi, January 2008

If you are interested in past safari tales visit our archives:

January 2007
April 2006
April 2005
February 2005
August 2004
June 2004
May 2004
March 2004
January 2004
September 2003