Safari Day 3 - Samburu

After arriving late at our camp we went to sleep with the sounds of hyenas outside of camp and were awoken several times by monkeys and baboons within the camp. We are up early for a morning game drive before breakfast.



Just outside of camp we find a pair of dik-diks. These small antelope stand 12 to 15 inches high and weigh 6 to 11 pounds.



The vulterine guinea fowl are everywhere in the morning.



Large flocks of hundreds of vulterine guinea fowl.



Female impalas



Male Impala



Female Waterbuck



This was a very rare sight, African Wild Dogs.



Wild dogs have been hunted to near-extinction and only around 6,600 left in the wild.



This was a small pack of less than a dozen.



Cheetah





Near the Ewaso Ng'iro River we found elephants browsing the thorny acacia.







A Martial Eagle with a freshly killed guinea fowl on the bank of the Ewaso Ng'iro River.



We were able to get very close to the Martial Eagle as it prepared to feed this guinea fowl to its chicks in a nearby nest.





Reticulated Giraffe






In between the morning and afternoon game drives we check out the camp which is located next to the Ewaso Ng'iro River.



Mary checking the view behind the dining hall.



Inside the dining hall and lounge area.



The bar area



Spa and Boutique



In the evening we had a presentation by a Samburu chief on tribal traditions of the villagers.

European Praying Mantis

I was mowing the lawn a couple of days ago when I saw this female European Praying Mantis trying to avoid the mower blades. I decided to put it in a safe place and save it for our grandson Reed.



While the Praying Mantis may look fearsome, you only need to worry if you're an insect.



Reed making friends with the Praying Mantis.







After some fun with the Praying Mantis it was released in a nearby bush.

Safari Day 2 - Travel to Samburu

We are up early on our second day and load up our Land Cruisers for a trip north to Samburu National Park. Our group of 18 and 3 tour guides will travel in 3 of these Land Cruisers



After a couple of hours on the road it was time to stretch our legs and check out the souvenirs



Lots of wood carvings made from local ebony trees.





Back on the road and we head into the mountains near Mt. Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa.



Time for a rest break and lunch. The mountain streams around Mt. Kenya have been stocked with brown and rainbow trout. This restaurant also has its own trout hatchery.



We are greeted in the restaurant parking lot by this guy.



The Trout Tree Restaurant is built in a very large fig tree along the Burguret River.



The restaurant serves fresh trout raised in their trout ponds.



After a few more hours on the road we arrive at the entrance to Buffalo Springs National Reserve which adjoins the Samburu National Reserve.



Within a few miles inside Buffalo Springs National Reserve we encounter our first elephants and other wildlife.



Grévy's zebra, also known as the imperial zebra.



The imperial zebra is the largest and most threatened of the three species of zebra.



This is a female ostrich, the males are black and white.



Our tour group found a pride of lions resting in the bushes and we were able to get very close.







A reticulated giraffe, also known as the Somali giraffe, is a subspecies of giraffe native northern Kenya.



There are approximately 8,500 of these giraffes living in the wild.



The sun is starting to set and we find this lone elephant in a wooded area alone a stream. If you look closely there are baboons on both sides of the elephant.



After a long drive through the trails of Buffalo Springs National Reserve we cross the Ewaso Nyiro river and enter the Samburu National Reserve late in the evening. Just before entering our camp at Samburu we find an impala and a nursing calf.

Safari Day 1 - Nairobi

After arriving in Nairobi, Kenya we start our safari with a tour of Nairobi. We visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.



Elephant calves orphanned by poaching are brought here from all over the country and raised until they can be released into the wild.



Just like small children, young elephants love to play in the mud.





Next we visit the Giraffe Centre.



Mary hand-feeding the endangered Rothschild Giraffe.





The Karen Blixen Museum, located outside of Nairobi, is the former African home of Danish author Karen Blixen, famous for her book "Out of Africa" which chronicles life at the estate.



Much of the 1985 Oscar-winning movie adaptation of her book was shot on these grounds.



The 1922 Fordson Model F Tractor purchased by Karen Blixen for use on the coffee farm and used by her to tour around the estate.



The tractor is now the home of some of the local wildlife, like this lizard.



We even encountered a warthog.

We're back from our Safari

We have been traveling again and this time it was Kenya. After flying into Nairobi we headed north, crossing the Equator on our way to the Samburu National Park.



Our tent at the camp in Samburu. Our camp was inside the Samburu National Park and surrounded by electric fence to keep large animals out, but we could still hear lions and hyaenas from our tent at night.



In the mornings and afternoons we would travel by Land Cruiser throughout the park and get very close to the wild animals.



Animals, such as lions, were sometimes only a few feet away from us.





After two nights at Samburu it was time to head south to Aberdare National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park and a couple of nights in hotels. Before leaving Lake Nakuru we had our morning breakfast on the golf course and I was able to whack a couple of golf balls.



After a long day of traveling from Lake Nakuru we arrive at our camp in the Masai Mara National Reserve. This is a much more open landscape than Samburu, with a few small streams to cross during the morning and afternoon game drives.



More up close encounters with the wildlife.



A morning hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara National Reserve.



Our balloon ride landing was a little rough. After touching ground the balloon skidded and bounced along the ground on its side for a hundred yards before coming to a stop. Our pilot said this was a normal landing.

I will be sorting through my thousands of photos and posting more of the highlights of the safari.