Hi Everyone
Yesterday was a travel day. We first woke up early for our final game drive at Amboseli. Amboseli was unique. I will never forget the Lesser Flamingoes and the other creatures that make Amboseli their home. Also, seeing how the Masai live and joining them at their Olympics was such an amazing experience. How happy and content they seemed with so little. How hard their life is and I was fortunate to be able to see their world.
We boarded our bush plane for a one hour trip to Nairobi. Our plane first landed in the international airport so that four people from the group could fly home. Karen, Andy and myself then stayed in the plane for a short five minute hop to the smaller bush plane airport. We checked into the same hotel we had spent our first night. It felt so comfortable to feel the A/C and unfortunately catch up with the horrible news around our world.
That night four new people joined our group and the following morning we took another bush plane to Lewa in Northern Kenya. I slept through most of the flight and was awoken as we landed on the dirt runway. Michael, a local Masai, was there to greet us. The first thing I noticed was how cool and crisp it was. We were 6000 feet up and felt no humidity. Andy immediately told us to take out our cameras and that we would have a small game drive before going to Camp. We immediately ran into some different looking zebras and giraffes. The zebras had thinner stripes and the giraffes had a deeper and darker color pattern. I was told that these sub species only lives here in the higher elevation. Some Ostrich came over. The males are quite striking and then we saw them. The Rhinos of Lewa made an appearance. There are over 200 here and I sort of felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy because Kenya cares about their survival and sad because of the situation that mankind has put them in. The wildlife seemed to be all over and my heart started to pound knowing that we would be here for four nights.
Our Camp is named “Lewa House” and it is owned and managed by a Scottish couple who were both raised in Kenya. Their two children go to a boarding school in the Rift Valley or southern Kenya. Sophie, the wife, is a pilot, and she flies the children to school on Monday morning and picks them up on Friday afternoon. My living quarters is large with a beautiful veranda, my own bathroom and shower and an outdoor bathtub. My huge bed is draped with a mosquito net and I am looking forward to using it tonight.
At four o’clock we went out for our afternoon game drive. To call it memorable is an understatement. I saw some creatures I had never seen before. One animal that struck me was a “Giraffe Neck Antelope”. I captured a picture of one standing on his hind legs and eating some fruit off of a bush. The Elephants were majestic and there were so many babies. I even saw some birds that I had never seen before, but the stars were the rhinos. There were babies and all seemed so happy. It warmed my heart. We even got some pictures of lions resting in the tall grass.
My excitement is peaking and I can’t wait for the morning game drive. The wildlife life is abundant and no one is around. We are the only guests at the Camp and the situation is just as I like it.
Love
Larry