M favourite Kenyan moments

1. Giraffes 

Watching a giraffe eat is fascinating. Their to tongues can be up to 45cm long. They like eating the leaves from acacia tres, which have huge thorns, but their long tongues and prehensile lips manage to avoid the thorns. The Whistling Acacia tree has evolved a secondary defense - it grows little pods ( used by local kids as whistles ) which are attractive burrows for stinging ants. As soon as the giraffe tries to eat too many leaves, the ants bite the giraffes's tongue. Also, watching giraffes run is amazing. They are surprisingly graceful and appear to be running in slow motion because their legs are so long.  

2. Elephants

We saw a small herd of elephants lumber majestically towards the distant horizon on the Serengetti plains one evening. Magical. 

Watching them eat is also amazing. An adult needs to consume 150 kg of plants a day. The ear of a fully grown male elephant weighs 80 kg - the same as Steve did before he spent too many days pigging out in Indian food. While an elephant's skull is huge, its brain is not much larger  than a human's, lso they are literally air heads. Like some of the girls Steve went to high school with. 

3. Cats

In eight  days, we saw: 65 lions; 

14 cheetahs;

3 leopards; and the very rare Serval Cat (about the same size as a Lynx). 

In 4 instances, we were lucky enough to see lions with fresh kills - in one case, we came across a female adult who was in the process of finishing off a wildebeest. Our guide told us that to see a lion with a fresh kill is rare, to actually get to see the end of a successful hunt is even more rare, and the odds of getting to see it four times is pretty tiny. 

Cheetah and lion kittens are SOOOOOO cute!! 

4. Dogs

We also saw 8 hyenas, 7 jackals ( including seeing the back end of a very young kit skittering down into its den) and a pack of African wild dogs - according to our guide, the wild dogs are very, very rarely seen. 

The pack of wild dogswas just getting up from their afternoon nap. The yoga pose called " downward facing dog" is very appropriately named, we can assure you! The pack also had three pups carefully hidden in long grass. 

5. Numbers

The number of ungulates ( zebras, antelope, buffalo, warthogs, birds, mongooses, ostriches, cranes, storks, buzzards, wildebeests, etc.) is astounding. It feels like we are on a working ranch, except that there are wild animals instead of cattle. 

6. People

The folks who work in the hospitality industry are super friendly and keen to make sure that your day is pleasant. As one guy said, " tell all your friends that you had a good time so that they come to Kenya. If they do not visit, then I am jobless." 

We had a fascinating experience visiting a Masai village just outside of one of the parks. 

Steve got to participate in one of their traditional warrior dances. He was careful not to jump too high, since the warrior who jumps highest gets another wife ( or two). 

Our guide was the chief's son. He has 18 brothers and 14 sisters, since his father has 8 wives. But each wife has her own house. Sounds like a sensible idea.