The 2021 Africa Journals, Ch. 26: In Which We Cross the Border (But Don't Tell Anyone)

 

Chapter 26:

In Which We Cross the Border (But Don’t Tell Anyone)

If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa — John Hemingway

We leave SuperMum Raisi and her five cubs to their post prandial naps under the shade of a bushy tree and see about our own meal.  The guides take us uphill to a nice overlook and we have breakfast.

Something I found clever was that they pour the by-now warm water from our morning hot water bottles over our hands so that we can wash our hands before eating.  The morning bottles keep our hands warm in the morning chill.  We also find hot water bottles in our beds at night.   I promptly kick mine over to the other side of the bed because I certainly don't need the heat at night.

Nonetheless, warm hand-washing water is nice and every camp should consider this.   Then, after eating, the guides load us up for a short drive to another lookout.   On the way, they meet with a couple guys along the trail who turn out to be Tanzanian border guards.   I"m not at all sure if the conversation is friendly, but we do proceed along the road.

Sure enough, a short distance on, we stop at a stone border monument.   Perhaps the guards wanted to make sure we were going no farther than this.

Guide Tony.  

Note Tony's ear lobe.   Not so long ago, it was the custom for Maasai men to pierce their ear lobes and enlarge the hole by adding ever larger items.  I got up the courage to ask Tony if he wasn't allowed to have his ear decor while working.   No, Tony replied.   We can wear it if we choose, but because so many younger Maasai have chosen not to have their ears pierced, we older men choose not to wear our ear decorations.

I can only hope this will soon catch on in the USA.  Especially with the tongue piercing.

Guide Dominick

Nonetheless, warm hand-washing water is nice and every camp should think of this.   Then, after eating, the guides load us up for a short drive to another lookout.   On the way, they meet with a couple guys along the trail who turn out to be Tanzanian border guards.

Sure enough, a short distance on, we stop at a stone border obelisk.    We pile out and step a foot or two into Tanzania.

If you're wondering about my peculiar wave, that's as high as i can lift my right arm.

Then, our wonderful Maasai warrior guides sing an impromptu Maasai song for us.   Wonderful!

We are roughly--very roughly--where the hippo is in the bottom part of the reserve.

 

In Kenya, above the jog in the border.   That's the simplest map I could find.

 

 

In the green.   Credit:   PeterHermesFurian

The guides tell us that we are right above Raisi, so I wander over to a place where I can see her and her five cubs leaving the shade of the tree.

Earlier we had been watching the vultures moving closer and closer.   Now that the cats are leaving, the vultures will pick the remains clean in minutes.

 

 

Griffon vulture.

We catch up with the cheetahs where they are resting in the shade and grooming.

Some other animals and birds on this drive include:

 

 

Coke's hartebeest, so-called because its horns resemble a heart.

Gray-backed fiscal.   Note the tiny hook on the tip of that bill.  The bird is a shrike, also known as a "butcher bird" for its hunting of other birds and small reptiles.   It then impales the pray on thorns for storage.

Black-bellied bustard.

Auger buzzard

Little bee-eater

Topi and nursing calf.

Back at camp we have lunch and then a visit to the palatial grounds of the Enkewa palace, as I call it. 

This is where Marg, Shelly, and Shannon are staying.   Two bedrooms, two baths, a sitting area in between,  and lots of room to unpack suitcase.

 

 

The back side of the palace.

The front deck

 

Can you tell this bedroom is occupied by photographers?   Beyond the headboards are the clothing storage area and the fully en suite bathroom.

The photo below shows the sitting/living room area and the second bedroom.

 

 

The second bedroom.

Second en suite bathroom.

Looking out the front.

Walking back to my tent, I take a photo of Laura's tent.

And then mine.

 

 

At four o'clock, we're off again.   One of the first things we photograph are elephants on the far horizon.   Then, back to a pride of lions we had seen just before.

To get to the lions, the driver had to find a place to cross a small, swampy drainage and when we did a bunch of swallows set up a ruckus.   I said something about possibly disturbing a nesting area, but not loud enough for the driver and guide to hear.   I doubt it would have made any difference because they were determined to get us right up to the lions.

In the parlance of safaris, these are called "flat cats"  because they are sleeping and not doing anything real interesting.   Lions are nocturnal, resting during the day and hunting at night.

 

Grooming the one in front of the three.

More grooming

Another sighting this day is a young serval cat.    There will be more about servals in another post.

A bit of the scenic savannah that caught my eye.especially that tree.

That evening after dinner, we all gather at Marg's palace tent.   Enkewa Camp is unfenced, meaning that animals can and do wander through at will.    For this reason we are confined to our tents after dark unless one of the security personnel is with us.

We want to do a bit of night photography, so we arm ourselves with a guard who is armed with a flashlight and a stick, and set up in front of the castle.   While the guard watches the nearby creek where crocs and hippos and whatever might lie in wait for unsuspecting photographers who are focused--pardon the pun--solely on their cameras.

This night photograph was taken on my camera, but Marg did all the settings (too complicated for my knowledge) and took the photo.

Next:   Ferrari Safari and I call it quits.