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Krumel Says: There are a couple of water tanks all over the ranch, and they are very popular with the elephants. Does it not somehow remind you of the bar in your local pub?
Krumel Says: This baboon was part of a big group of 20 or 30 animals, but while the rest of them scattered into bushes when we stopped on the road, he and a friend of his climbed to a good vantage point in a tree by the road, and we were not sure anymore if we were watching them or the...
Krumel Says: It is amazing how these huge animals can hide behind the slimmest of trees. We got a good view of this one here, but sometimes they were really hard to spot if they were a bit away from the road among the trees.
Krumel Says: This is one of the two male lions that we watched for more than 2 hours. After having cruised all over the ranch in our vehicles for more than a week, 8 hours a day, without getting so much as a glimpse of a lion, it was just brilliant to get such a good look at these two...
Krumel Says: When we smelled something rotten one morning we hoped that we might come across a lion-kill, hopefully with the lions still having breakfast. While we did not see any lions, this hyena obviously had also got a whiff of the smell and was making its way towards the same spot...
Krumel Says: Genets were quite elusive creatures, but during one morning drive we saw four of them, all on or around termite mounds. One was actually crawling into the "chimney" of a mound with only the long tail dangling out of the hole.
Krumel Says: Two of these guys were walking along the road ahead of us, occasionally turning around to see if we were still sneaking up on them.
Ngulia Lodge: Breathtaking view!
Kokkiem Says: A simple lodge, but special because of its view. Amazing! We followed a large herd of elephants for kilometers down the valley while they were on their way to an unknown destination. Unfortunately, we didn't see any other wildlife. Only heard a hyena in the evening. Lots of...
Ndololo Safari Camp: Just a normal tented camp
Kokkiem Says: Nothing special (for Africa). While we were there, some tents were under construction. Enough privacy. Camp is not fenced, so in the evening and morning a Masai will pick you up and bring you to your tent. That same Masai will enlight the Masai culture during the evening...
Krumel Says: Our team was based at Galla Camp, a tented camp in the privately owned Taita/Rukinga Wildlife Conservancy between Tsavo East and West National Parks. The camp consists of six twin tents, covered by a thatched roof and each with its own little terrace. Most of them are...
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Our nightlife in those two weeks consisted mainly of watching out for big yellow lion eyes to be reflected by the spotlight, but on our last evening we interrupted our game drive for sundowners at Kisima. We climbed the rock with our bottles of Tusker beer and waited for the sun to set before finishing off our last game drive in the Tsavo bushlands :-((
Updated Dec 17, 2002
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I had learnt a bit of Swahili for a few months before going to Tsavo and tried to put it into practice when I was there. While I usually got across what I wanted to say it was a different story understanding it when someone spoke to me. When one of our guides found out that I knew a little bit of Swahili he got a bit carried away and gave me a run-down of Kenyan history in Swahili. Needless to say that I lost him completely after the first sentence.
Below is a short list of words that were useful at camp and at directing the drivers during the gamedrives:
Simama = stop
Hapa = here
Mbele = forward
Nyuma = back
Kushoto = left
Kulia = right
Kidogo = a little
Pole pole = slowly
Tembo = elephant
Twiga = giraffe
Simba = lion
Chui = leopard
Swala = antelope
Punda milia = zebra
Diki diki = dikdik
Komba = bushbaby
Moja = one
Mbili = two
Tatu = three
Nne = four
Tano = five
Asante = thank you
Tafadhali = please
Sawa sawa = ok
Habari = how are you
Lala salama = sleep well
Karibu = welcome
Kwa heri = goodbye
Updated Dec 22, 2002
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The peaceful appearance of the waterhole just below Galla Camp is rather deceptive, as it is inhabited by three crocodiles, so no skinny-dipping here! Not that the water looks THAT invitingly, anyway...
Updated Dec 13, 2002
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Being a private ranch all of the Taita/Rukinga Wildlife Conservancy is off the beaten path which meant that whatever wildlife we found, we had it all for ourselves, unlike in the big parks where a whole convoy of cars will congregate around one animal. Even though they don't seem to be too bothered most of the time I always feel rather intrusive, and it reminds me too much of a zoo. So while we saw less wildlife and had fewer photo opportunities than you would have in the National Parks, I found it more of challenge to find animals, and more rewarding when we did spot something unusual.
Written Feb 25, 2003
Krumel Says: Sitting on the roof of the vehicles during the game drives was absolutely brilliant, no matter how uncomfortable sometimes. The drivers were very considerate and tried to avoid the potholes and the low branches, but every once in a while you reluctantly would have to climb...
Krumel Says: Meeting interesting people from different walks of life that I would never have met in my everyday life, and making some great new friends.
Krumel Says: The best thing of course was when at the beginning of our second week the big day finally arrived and we saw our first (and last) lions. We had just arrived back at camp from our evening drive when the guys from the other vehicle radioed us to say that they spotted two male...
In November 2002 I joined another Earthwatch team, this time to collect data on maneless lions. Tsavo's lions are special in that also the males have either no manes at all, or maybe just a very...
TSAVO EAST & WEST - NOVEMBER 2002
The color of the soil in Tsavo East makes the elephants there red. They are the famous red elephants of Tsavo!
A couple of lions (male and female) chase and kill a zebra and feed themselves. The male lion prepare the best part of the meal for the female, wait for her to be ready and then eats what's available!...
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