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Friday, March 24, 2017

Searching for the Samburu Seven.....

Saturday, March 18, 2017

**Sorry, between being totally exhausted and the internet being spotty I was unable to blog for the rest of the trip....I'm gonna try to catch up now!


Today was our first game drive.  Besides the obvious lion, elephant and zebra, there are the 'Samburu Special Five':  The Beisa oryx, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Gerenuk antelope and the Somali ostrich.  You can only find these in Samburu.  Once you find those, you go for the last two, the African warthog and the Vulturing guniea fowl, to make up the seven special animals to find in Samburu.  We woke up very early for a 5:30 am start to a 7 hour game drive.  It's best to get out at sunrise to get the best pictures (the lighting is amazing!) and more animals are up and about when the weather is cooler.

**UPDATE:  Grevy zebra...check!  That was the zebra on yesterday's post
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You may think these are just wild dogs, but these are the African painted wolf.  They say that they are the most successful large predators in Africa.  They move quickly in packs so we were told that it was very rare for us to witness them.  According to wikipedia, "The African wild dog is a highly successful hunter.  Nearly 80% of all wild dogs hunts end in a kill; for comparison, the success rate of lions, often viewed as ultimate predators, is only 10%"
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Guinea fowl...check!
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Don't ask me about the birds, I have no idea.  I can't remember.  I ordered a book on Amazon about East African animals, hopefully it will help me remember!


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Reticulated giraffe...check!
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Beisa Oryx...check!
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Gerenuk...check!  These guys are really cute.  They can stand up on two legs to reach up the trees for food.
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Just a few impala...
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By now it was almost time for breakfast.  It was about 8:15 and we were starting to get hungry.  We planned on stopping for breakfast at 8:30.  But then...we saw a bunch of cars in the distance and Daniel said there must be a lion over there.  Sure enough when we got there our other jeep with Susie and Evam were already there...
It was Nala!
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But then we got another radio call telling us that there was also a leopard in the area.  This all happened in less than a minute...we spotted the leopard...
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But then all of a sudden he got spooked and darted off!!
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We turned around to see what spooked him and look what came around the corner....
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Holy crap!  We were expecting a chase but the leopard got away too quickly so the lion gave up.  We went hunting for the leopard but he was no where to be found.  We didn't get to eat until almost 10:00.  Lion trumps breakfast.

13 comments:

Honolulu Aunty said...

WOW! Love the lion and the leopard. Too bad, but also good, that there was no battle.

Leslie's pics said...

Yes Aunty, I agree, I don't know how I'd react if I saw a kill. We were more hoping for an exciting chase...

Anonymous said...

Fantastic pics! What an exciting experience.

Izsmom

Leslie's pics said...

Thanks Izsmom! Yes, very exciting!!

craeyawns said...

Your blog Kind of makes me want to go on Safari then I think about the plane ride. Haha.

Leslie's pics said...

Holy crap Nicole, no kidding. That would scare away a lot of people!

jalna said...

Very, very awesome photos!! Even the birds! So EXCITING! I agree with Aunty . . . too bad, but good . . .

jalna said...

Oh yah . . . question . . . those African dudes . . . do they dress like that for work? and then change to shorts and t-shirts when they go home?

Leslie's pics said...

Man Jalna I got so much pictures to post process my eyes are going wacko! So worth it but. About the warriors, I have no idea. I haven't seen them outside of "work." Even in the village the people are dressed like that. I wonder if they can relax in shorts and t-shirts...hmmm good question!

jalna said...

Totally worth it. I don't know anybody else who got to do what you did.

Leslie's pics said...

According to the guides...both of them, they said we were extremely lucky to see all the animals that we did in that short amount of time. Between the two jeeps we found all 7 of the rare animals plus the wild dogs, which they haven't seen around for a while. The area was HA-UUUUGE too! I don't know how they know where they are going. It's not like there's street signs or landmarks around there. They radio each other to let them know where the animals are, what do they say? Turn left at the big tree?? It's crazy! They find each other so fast!

jalna said...

Do you know how Meren finds my house? He turns right at the coconut tree. He said that when Kino's brother first gave him directions to my house, that's what he told him . . . "turn right at the coconut tree". When Meren told me that, I told him, "What coconut tree?" Turns out my neighbor has a coconut tree in their yard. I never noticed before.

Leslie's pics said...

HAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAAAAA!