2017/09 Part 2 Amboseli - Sun am Elephant herd |
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Sunday September 17th
This was to be a day with morning and afternoon game drives. The morning was cool and clearer but we still couldn’t see much more of Kilimanjaro than the snow on its peak.
Our first animal of the day was this impala, a mid-sized, elegant male antelope with an impressive set of horns. Close by was this black-backed jackal; jackals are similar to coyotes, opportunists and ready to eat anything. They usually hunt at night.
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Amboseli Sunday AM game drive (9.47) |
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Nzuki pointed out that the clouds around the mountain had thinned, and promptly found us an elephant so we could take the archetypal photo of Jumbo in front of Kilimanjaro. Even so, the photo had to be edited as the mountain was so faint. Minutes later it had faded 
away into the clouds.
As before, we were amazed by the diversity of the wildlife spread across the plain, with dozens of species in all directions. Zebra were everywhere, mingled with wildebeest and elephants and gazelles. But whenever the zebra got together they made artistic patterns that called out for photographs. I could see that a predator might get confused about how many zebra it 
was chasing, especially in a dust cloud. 
We saw a few distinctive, almost spooky birds. The ibis always looks spooky to me with its curved bill, but in this picture of a sacred ibis landing it’s the wings that catch the eye, looking like a swirling cloak. I’ve already pictured the black-headed heron, but this one gliding in 
to land looks like a missile.
These spoonbills are feeding alongside what appear to be floating black tents. They are black herons employing “canopy feeding”, using their wings to create shadow to attract fish. In the second picture the heron is halfway to closing its canopy.
Nzuki pointed “The elephants are coming.” And they were, a line of them striding purposefully across the plain. He thought they were heading for a drink and, for the next half hour, he kept us a little ahead of them so we’d be close when they arrived at their destination.
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In the distance we could see hippos walking. Closer was this wart hog with a couple of young ones.
Then there was this line of giraffes, looking like the cranes of a distant dock yard.
We were watching the wind pick up the dust. We’d call them dust devils or willy-willies, and Nzuki said that their name in Swahili includes the word shaitan or devil. Whatever it’s called it’s more fun to watch them than experience them.
We had a brief sighting of an eland. Although these are the largest antelopes they rarely get within miles of humans or vehicles so the best we could do was capture this picture of its exit.
There was also this bird, yet another species of plover, a Kittliz plover, with its own little pattern around its head.
Then we looked behind us and saw the spectacle of the Masai moving their herds of cattle. They have grazing rights in some of the national parks. It’s an impressive sight, a view into another century.
Further down the road these giraffes had arranged themselves into an arch. Giraffes are born
geometricians, instinctively posing in parallel lines and triangles.
We think this ostrich was just sitting down to rest, but you can see how they can hide and protect their eggs.
The parade of elephants had extended as more joined the line.
Down on the ground was this colourful bird, a yellow-throated longclaw, a name that sounds more like that 
of a dragon but simply describes its feet, built for walking. In the swamp was this solitary reedbuck.
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We were now directly in the path of the elephants, but Nzuki had picked our spot well as the elephants had arrived at their pools. They suck up water with their trunks and squirt it into their mouths.
Once they are full they switch to washing themselves and their babies. Then it’s time for the mud and 
sand. It looks like the mud spraying is fun, but it’s also a bug repellant and sunscreen, about SPF500.
We’d been seeing geese in the distance but now we were close enough to see that they were Egyptian geese, familiar to us from our days living in London. 
Amongst them were more crowned cranes, moving in pairs like choreographed dancers.
Our attention was drawn back to the elephants. Two of the large cows were racing across the plain. At first we thought one was chasing the other away but then realized that they were 
running together, both of them trumpeting and also making that strange deep rumble. 
We've since translated this as "OMG we left the kid at the mall!" Then this young one came rocketing out of the bush screaming "Mom you left me!" They were reunited, so the story had a happy ending, but I wouldn’t have liked to have been parked in their way!
We returned to the lodge, pretty much overwhelmed by all that we’d seen. And we still had an afternoon safari to go.
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