Safari Notes - Kenya
I started
the safari by traveling to Lake Naivasha from Nairobi, the safari capital of
Africa. The spectacular setting for Lake Naivasha is the ancient gash in the
earth’s surface, the Rift Valley that stretches from Jordan in the Middle East
to Mozambique in southeast Africa. The
beauty of the lake and its diversity of wildlife enticed Hemingway’s fourth
wife, the American war correspondent and novelist, Martha Gellhorn to make
Naivasha her home. Her house rests
on the dry, remote slopes of Mount Longonot, an extinct volcano, where she wrote
her book “The Weather in Africa. Guests
can stay at her house, from which they can go for a day of horse riding among
the herds of plains game on Longonot Ranch or climb to Mount Longonot’s crater
rim and absorb the endless shimmering views of Lake Naivasha and the dramatic
landscape of the Gregory Rift Valley.
For access
to the lake, my company, Sporting Wilderness, has the exclusive use of Ol
Ngalau Lodge on the lakeshore and its specialised lake boats for the exploration
of this unique wetland eco-system. Lake
Naivasha’s environmental importance received world recognition, when its
wetlands, mammals and incredible 475 species of birds became Kenya’s second
Ramsar site.
I left
Naivasha for Kajiado District, a semi-arid area where Hemingway spent much time.
He hunted Kajiado’s game-rich plains and he was Honorary Game Warden there in
1953/54. This period was the subject of his last book, “True at First
Light”.
Hunting has
been banned in Kenya for nearly 25 years, and so the region has become in part,
the national parks of Amboseli and a fraction of Tsavo. The remainder
continues to be the vast tract of traditional Maasai ancestral lands, which they
have occupied for at least a millennium.
The Maasai
are a warrior pastoralist people who have held East Africa in thrall for
centuries. They still do so today as their semi-nomadic lifestyle is close to
their traditional culture and they share their extensive territory with the
greatest collections of wildlife on earth in Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorogoro
and Amboseli. They move their vast herds of cattle from one place to
another to find fresh water sources and to allow the grass to regenerate.
On the journey to Amboseli National park it was thrilling to watch the huge
herds being watered at Selengai, where wide, open “wells” had been dug up to
10 meters deep into the dry riverbank. Illuminated in the shafts of
brilliant sunshine, the boran cattle entered the wells on a series of soil ramps
accompanied by their Maasai herdsmen swathed in red shukas holding their spears.
Amboseli National Park, nestles under the enormous bulk of Mount Kilimanjaro, which dominates its scenery and the snows of Kilimanjaro feed its many springs. These attract a variety of species elephant, buffalo, lion, cheetah, leopard and plains game.
Whilst Hemingway was Honorary Game Warden he stayed at Kimana Camp, which was located scenically on the plains between the Kyulu Hills and Mount Kilimanjaro
The Kyulu
Hills are among the world’s youngest mountains, created by volcanic eruptions
not more than a few hundred years ago. This
high range of velvety green cones rising to altitude of 2,170 meters provides a
verdant, mountainous contrast to the surrounding arid African savannah.
Kyulu Hills are notable for oryx, eland, cheetah, leopard and lion.
Tsavo
National Park (divided into Tsavo East and Tsavo West) was established on 1
April 1948 and is Kenya’s largest national park, covering a vast 20,700 square
kilometers of classic African savannah. Mount
Kilimanjaro’s massive independent form rises above much of the park inspiring
wonder and passion on a clear day. It
was in the contemplation of this magnificent mountain that Hemingway entitled
his novel “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
Prior to
its gazettement it was a world-famous hunting ground, particularly for elephant
and Hemingway hunted there, as did many visiting royals and heads of state.
Today, the park is again notable for its herds of elephant and it also has the
remainder of the big five, buffalo, lion, leopard and rhino. About 60 mammals,
400 bird species and all of Kenya’s reptiles are represented in the park.
It is possible to take a five-day walking trip with an armed guide along
the banks of the Tsavo River, which attracts a variety of species to its
riverine forest.
Taita
borders Tsavo and was also originally a prime hunting block for elephant and
other big game when Hemingway hunted there, today it is a game ranch that
provides an extension of the elephants range outside the national park. During the dry season many of Tsavo’s elephants move into
Taita to use its water holes and tanks. The
ranch permits night driving and so it was a prized experience to sit alone in
the night and closely watch the vast shadowy shapes of the elephants gathering
around the waterhole. The night-driving- permits also enhance chances of seeing
nocturnal predators such as leopard, serval cat and aardvark. The ranch has a
variety of plains game and buffalo, lesser kudu, gerenuk, leopard and lion
whilst its bird life is abundant.
Taita, like
Tsavo was part of the hunting grounds of the Waliangulu (the elephant people of
Africa) and the Wakamba people. They
were fearless hunters with bow and arrows and later respected trackers.
Hemingway will have spent much time with members of their tribes on safari and
wrote about them. I spent time that was much too short with elders of the tribe
examining their hunting weapons and listening to their profound knowledge of the
bush.
The ravishing beauty of the Kenya coast, its Indian Ocean maritime trading history and Swahili culture make it a superb finale to a safari. Watamu, on the shores of Indian Ocean is currently considered to be the fourth most beautiful beach in the world. It is also famous for its Marine Park, big game fishing and Palaearctic migrant bird species.
Hemingway was a frequent visitor to Watamu and Malindi, where he proved to himself that not all big game was onshore. Big game fishing on the Kenya Coast is world class with huge varieties of fish: sailfish, Marlin (Blue, Striped and Black), Broadbill Swordfish, Hammerhead, Tiger and Mako Shark, Big Yellowfin Tuna, Giant Trevally, Barracuda, Wahoo and Kingfish. The main billfish season runs from November to Late March. Watamu is home to some of the country’s finest deep sea fishing boats.
Africa’s first marine national parks were established at Malindi and Watamu in 1968 to preserve examples of fringing coral reef. The corals that form the backbone and climax of the reef are thriving and host thousands of fishes and invertebrates, many of which are coral specific and found nowhere else in the world. To scuba dive or snorkel on the reef in the warm water of the Indian Ocean among the myriad fishes is to enter an enchanting, underwater paradise
Mida
Creek lying between Watamu and Malindi is a World Biosphere and Heritage Site.
The Palaearctic migrants visit between September and April. It is a
natural wonder to see large numbers of birds, which have flown huge distances
from Eurasia on this tropical shoreline of mangroves and sandy beaches.
The birds can be observed on the shore or from the sea on the deck of a dhow or
a snorkelling boat. Typical bird species are: terek sandpiper, curlew
sandpiper, curlew, Mongolian sand plover, whimbrel, crab plover, turnstone,
black heron, spoonbill, greater flamingo and sacred ibis.
Between Malindi and Lamu lies a watery wilderness of tidal creeks, flood plains and mangrove swamps sheltered from the ocean by 150 foot sand dunes known as the Tana River Delta, which can be explored in a traditional dug out canoe together with a guide. The delta supports an abundant bird variety: pelicans, white faced whistling duck, darters, cormorants, carmine bee-eaters, malachite and pygmy kingfisher, fish, tawny and bateleur eagles. The larger channels support hippo and inland bushbuck, waterbuck, buffalo and topi can all be sighted.
© Sporting Wilderness 2001