KENYA: Samburu – A Last Morning of Excitement

We watched four female Somali Ostriches casually walking through the light savanna brush when one must have said something to make one of the others very unhappy. What followed was the ostrich that took offense proceeded to chase after one of them, nipping at her body, before taking it out on another, while the fourth ostrich was quite happy to be a bystander. We will never know what that was all about, but it certainly was a light-hearted moment for us.

As we drove north along the Ewaso Nyiro towards the Ashnil Lodge, amongst an area of sparse salt-bush we came across a Cheetah that has recently killed a female Impala (above). Once they have caught their breath, they will eat as quickly as possible, as they never know when vultures, hyaenas or lions might show up to claim a free meal. She was completely bloated and we only a few minutes to watch her eat before she left the carcass to rest and digest her meal in the shade.

Several hundred meters further along a large bull Elephant stops us in our tracks. We were far enough away, but having 5 or 6 tons of pachyderm walking towards us gave us reason to be cautious. Males can leave the family herd as early as 7 years old and certainly by age 15 they lead solitary lives, or occasionally joining a bachelor herd, and only rejoin the females to breed. How old this one was was anyones guess as it had one short right tusk and a very well worn, barely visible, left tusk. To our relief the bull moved away from the track and towards an acacia adjacent to us. It then placed its head and trunk against the tree trunk and proceeded to push (above), giving it four healthy attempts, making the Black-capped Social Weaver nests and the top of the tree sway, before realizing that it was not going to topple. Their diets are varied – grass, fruit, seed pods, twigs, bark – but in this case it was interested in the succulent leaves in the center of the crown.