Expedition to Lake Nakuru!

So it’s been quite a while since I posted on here. A lot has happened, here in Africa and back in the U.S. I have to say I felt the need to disconnect from all of the shitty things that have occurred. I still can’t come to terms with the fact that Reuben is gone, but life keeps moving and I know that he would want all of us to be throwing ourselves into the present like he was so good at doing.

So that’s what I’ve tried to do. I think it’s working.

Something new happens here every day, so I’ll just skip forward to the most recent adventure. Last week, we left the KBC camp, which was starting to feel like a second home, and drove north to Lake Nakuru National Park. If you’ve never heard of this place, I highly suggest copying and pasting that into google images.

Warning: mind will be boggled.

The area is out of the rain shadow of Kilimanjaro, so it is much more lush than the place I have been for over 6 weeks. It was incredible to see the lush, green life that comes with steady rains. As we climbed up to the edge of the rift valley, we could see massive rainstorms moving through the valley as the sun beat down on us.

The entire transformation from red dust to tall green trees and full undergrowth was a lesson about life. Watching the rain fall thorugh the day with sun dancing through the droplets and refracting in a million directions inspired a thought. Water is this world’s greatest gift. It can instantly breathe life into any area, and just as easily take it away when the rains don’t come on time or weather patterns change. The cycle from sky to earth to springs and lakes and back up into the sky is incredible. It’s what makes this rock different from all the other spinning rocks hurtling through space. It gives us the gift of life, and we need to respect it as such.

Once we got to the actual park, the expediton only got better. Within an hour of being there, a few of us were sitting on top of the land cruisers watching two lions stalking a herd of impala in the open grassland directly outside the fenced enclosure we were staying at. Then, without warning, a herd of African Cape Buffalo (who are the most single-minded, angry beasts you can find in Kenya) got pissed at the proximity of the lions and decided to flush one of them out. When I say herd, I should clarify that I mean over 150 of these 2 ton animals, and they all have giant curled horns that could demolish a lion in seconds. As we sprinted full tilt around a tree that was obstructing our view, all we could do was shout what we thought was happening. It was being chased! The buffalo were gaining on it! Then, as I came around the other side of the tree, I saw the lion leap up, stretching its front paws upwards almost 10 feet and dig its claws into the bark of a lone acacia tree. In the same motion it pulled its hind legs up and was into the crook of the acacia about 15 feet up and out of reach of the buffalo. For those that don’t know much about lions, they don’t climb trees. Period. Unless they have to.

We kept watching for over an hour as the buffalo angrily grouped around the tree, even trying to headbutt it from time to time. They aren’t the smartest animals, so they would periodically forget why they were so angry and start to leave until one of them remembered the lion up in the tree and they’d all come rushing back. Finally, as dusk was transforming into the pure blackness of night, the buffalo gave up and the lion was able to come down and slink off. An unforgettable experience to say the least, and we had only been in the park for 3 hours!

I could write a similar length story about each of the days we were there, but I won’t make this post that long. Over 5 days of 8 hour safari drives, we saw both white and black rhinos (who can only be described as BOSS), spotted and stripped hyenas, impala, gazelles, zebra, thousands of birds that had gathered to catch the explosion of fish in the lake, waterbucks, buffalo, elands, warthogs, baboon, Colobus monkeys, even more lions, so many giant rothschild giraffes and to cap it off, my safari group managed to spot the most elusive animal in the park: A leopard! My professors reaction to this was hilarious. The normally calm, majestic man couldn’t hold back his excitement. “Why did you not call me immediately?!”

These elephants are from our first visit to Amboseli National Park. They are two subadult females that are play fighting, but one actually got a gash on its face from the tusks. Credit goes to Maggie Stryker for getting this awesome action shot. 

The lion is from Lake Nakuru. I’m not sure when the kill was made, but nearly every day we would see the same pride of lions sitting near the zebra and either snacking or just lazing around.  Credit goes to Mellisa Keller for sniping this picture.