Smell of Africa

Sounds, colors and smells of Africa

Kit has asked that I describe the sounds, colors and smells of Africa, so I’ll start with sitting here on the front porch of our lodge (a duplex log cabin with two twin beds, a small desk, mosquito netting that goes over the beds at night, high ceiling with a ceiling fan that sounds like “Lift off” when you put in full speed, and a bathroom with shower).

Closing my eyes, I hear the distant roar of the wind, like the sound of the ocean a mile or so away; birds chirping in every direction; the hard swaying of branches as baboons jump from one tree to another and sometimes the crack of a limb they break while jumping onto it; the baboons’ screeching when something is amiss and the loud thud of their feet on the roof of a lodge as they jump from a tree. And I can hear the whir of our ceiling fan as Bay naps. And her screams as a lizard climbs up her bed cover.

The colors here in Samburu are definitely predominantly light khaki - the dry grass and the dry river beds, like the one in front of me (the rainy season doesn’t start for another month or so). There are green bushes and trees only near the riverbeds and the lowlands. Otherwise, the trees are leafless and look dead, like our trees in late fall. But these trees, acacia mostly, look much more fragile and definitely deader than ours. Mario tells us that when the rainy season comes, all the leaves will come back and it will be a completely different view, and much harder to see the animals. There is green grass in front of my porch but it may be watered periodically. The soil here is a lighter brown than the soil at Mt. Kenya, possibly due to the moisture content.

And the smell of Africa? B.O., according to Bay.

And the size of elephant scat? About the side of a basketball, but only an inch or so high. So I love to hear from any of you, and will try to answer your questions. Thank you Kit.

No rest for the weary

After finishing my blog, publishing it and downloading my photos from both of my cameras, I checked out the photos of the lioness and her puppies. They are really great and I can’t wait to show them to you. I am especially happy because I used my new camera exclusively on our game drive yesterday and my experimentation at Mt. Kenya and at home has definitely helped. Then off to bed at 11:30, wrestling with the mosquito netting which had already been pulled over and around my bed when my bed was turned down at summertime.

The alarm went off at 5:55 and we rushed to get our clothes on, put in our contacts, grab our cameras and rendezvous with Mario for a 6:30 departure. We headed out to look for more animals with Dave and Jackie, and Jane and Rhys, with me in the back with Bay because my head would hit the popup cover of the van. I have to lean out over the back of the van as my head is about 4 inches over the top of the cover. We saw the same two male lions, this time asleep and still on the shore of the same riverbed. We also ran into another guranuk, an antelope-like creature that stands on its hind legs to eat the leaves further up the tree - maybe, Kipling-like (or is it Darwin-like), it’ll turn into a giraffe; ostriches, which are almost as tall as me; more elephants, Cape buffalo, giraffes, impala and others I may have already forgotten. The others are great bird lovers and quite knowledgeable as is Mario, and we saw many different types of birds, some with fantastic coloring (bright blues and yellows and greens), and some eagles (one a tawny eagle). We returned at 9:00. Getting out of the bus, a penny lay on the step and I insisted that Mario keep it, and told him that the man on the coin was our greatest President, the man who freed the slaves.

Saint Patrick

After breakfast, we had about 20 minutes to brush our teeth, use the toilet, etc. before we departed at 10 for the Samburu village a few miles away. Upon our parking on the top of a hill, next to their village, we were met with Patrick, an attactive and well-spoken young man who explained that he was the Secretary of the Samburu, and he introduced the Chief standing next to him. a 45 year old man wearing a red skirt and a pinkish shawl over his shoulder and a “Ryder Cup 2004” hat. Patrick further explained that they had a school and that they raised money for the school through these presentations to visitors. So we paid to the Chief our $20 per person and watched a dance show of about 10 men who were later joined by 6 or so women, all colorfully dressed and wearing large necklaces (not sure of the proper term but collar like - you all have seen them).

Patrick then led us into the village made up of quonset hut style buildings belonging to the Samburu (so shaped because it matches the shape of their sacred mountain in the distancet, and round huts (like rondovals that we saw in SA) that belonged to the other tribe in the village. There are appoximately 350 in this village - 2000 or so total under this Chief in 7 different village separately placed on the large savannah. Patrick took us into the round house, a house for a family of 10 who eat there, but only the parents and children under 7 slept there - children over 7 slept in another house, and the grandparents had another house altogether. The hut had walls that were made wth dung, water and grass, I think, and only the women are permitted to make the houses. After a year and a half, they are forced, due to termites, and general deterioration of the roof made out of intertwined twigs, to make a new house - always made in the dry season. The village is surrounded by brush with sharp thorns on the branches to keep wild animals out, and the cattle, sheep, donkeys owned by the villagers are placed in a corral enclosed by brush as well. We saw no animals as they were off grazing. And we saw no schoolage children as today is the last day of exams for them. The community is run by a council of elders who choose the Chief and the Secretary and there is a meeting every 3 days to iron out any problems. At the end of the month, they meet to have the Chief report on the funds available and they use the funds to pay the teachers, pay for the person servicing the health clinic, buy school supplies, etc. I asked if we could contribute money to purchase mosquito nets for them, and Patrick readily agreed and stated that he had told us all this so that we could contribute whatever we wanted toward their health fund - to cover evacuations when bitten by a poisonous snake, care for malaria, hospitalization, etc. So we all contributed more money for the community. After watching a fire lighting demonstration with sticks, donkey dung being the kindling, we were treated to another dance and then we had to go to the market, more aptly described as a gauntlet of about 30 women on each side stretching 40 yards or so, each pleading with you to buy something. I made it through unscathed. Well, not really, the Chief called me “my friend” and handed me his fly swatter made with the tail hair of a giraffe, and then said he would sell it to me for $30 - I said $10 and we settled on $20. Then Patrick came up and thanked me for my contributions, and said I had really helped them out and he wanted to give me his club in appreciation - of course for another $30. I gave him $20. These encounters are tough to take but quickly forgotten as Mario and I got into a discussion about Obama, Obams’s father (who grew up in a village like this one) and Abraham Lincoln - I explained the significance of the penny he had found and how Obama patterned his run for the presidency upon much of Lincoln’s experience when he was running 148 years before. His eyes absolutely lit up when I described Wikipedia and what he could do with that. We have a lot of laughs (especially when I bring up our 400-500 meter “mountains” ) and he says, “Tall mon, you are so funny. I will not forget you when you leave.” Nor will I you, Mario.

“I will protect you.”

Bay and I put on our bathing suits and went to the pool. Of course, there was an iguana near our chaises so we had to move, We took a dip and returned to our chaises where I almost fell asleep when Bay said, “Well, I guess I’ll have to go back to the room.” I sat up. “Why?” “Because of him,” pointing to a baboon about 20 feet away. I said “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” She replied, “You said that last night with a little tiny lizard. How are you going to handle a baboon?” “Bay, you’re in Africa!” And laid back down as she huffed and puffed and uneasily sat back, calculating that the baboon had to climb over me to get to her. Then a whole colony of baboons invaded us, swinging from limb to limb, crashing down onto the hotel and the cottages. But we stayed for awhile longer.

Mario’s Mission

We were told to congregate at the front desk at 3:45 so that we could be off at 4 as “we have a long way to go.” When everyone was there by 3:50, we departed with Mario driving over hill and dale, speeding by giraffes, herds of buffalo, warthogs, oryxes, impala, a couple vultures, elephants - nothing was stopping him. We drove on and on, me hanging on in the back seat (where I am relegated on game drives), and the miles really flew by when we hit Interstate 95, a high plateau with no bushes at all, and flat.

Oh, by the way, the people at our dinner table tonight, thought Bay was in her late twenties.

Okay, continuing, after fixing the muffler which Mario had broken on the first couple miles, we just flew down the dirt road on this plateau. After about an hour we joined two other vehicles at a spot with two CHEETAHS, a mother and a baby. They had made a kill the previous day and were very logy. Mario circled them so that they would get up and go to a better spot to photograph and what a show it was! Just spectacular and the photos are phenomenal. I’ll try to send one with the blog again tonight. So Mario accomplished his mission - he had a one track mind and there was no way we weren’t going to see these cheetahs! Good job, Mario.

And did I tell you that the people at our table tonight, Dave, Jackie, Rhys and Jane, thought Bay was in her late twenties, and thinking that I must have been very wealthy and dying from malaria or some such disease that would take me away quickly to have such a babe. Sounds good to me.

And by the way, Mario said he has cancelled my flight home. He wants me to be an attorney and he will collect the money for me. So, Sugar, better start making arrangements, getting Kandi the necessary shots, etc.

Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt, Bwana

PS Mario calls me “T.M.” What does that stand for? I’ll start with the easy questions. First one who responds correctly will get a prize.

PPS Tomorrow we leave at 7 for Lake Nakura, a 300 km drive.

PPPS I had lamb flakes for dinner with some fish and rice. It was great as the food has been all along.