Overland Travel With KMcGee

After my brief and muddy stay at SoySambu Conservancy, I headed south to Mount Longonot National Park (59 sq. mi.), established in 1983. As the name suggests, the Park is centered on Mount Longonot, which is a stratovolcano rising from the floor of the Great Rift Valley to a height of 9,108 ft. For the non-geologists among us, stratovolcanoes have relatively steep sides and are more cone-shaped than shield volcanoes. They are formed from viscous, sticky lava that does not flow easily. The lava therefore builds up around the vent forming a volcano with steep sides. Mount Longonot contains a large caldera formed by major eruptions some 21,000 years ago. Apparently, the volcano is still geologically active – yikes, with the last minor eruption occurring in the 1860s.

My campsite was the only public campsite in the Park, but I had it to myself. It was a decent spot at the base of the mountain and it had running water and a toilet, albeit trashy but functional. Here’s my campsite .

This Park was solely about hiking the mountain and caldera, but rather than describe the 9 mile hike up the mountain and around the rim of the caldera, let me take you on a musical slide show journey:

Mount Longonot hike (4 minutes)

On to my last stop, Mount Suswa Conservancy!

After Lake Nakuru National Park I moved next door to the SoySambu Conservancy which abutts Nakuru via a narrow corridor of land. The Conservancy is relatively new, having been established in 2007, and is relatively small at 48,000 acres. The focal point of this Conservancy is Lake Elementeita, another Rift Valley alkaline lake and, like the others, hosts a “flamboyance” of flamingos, numbering over a million at times and nearly covering the surface of the lake. The bulk of the flamingos left Elementeita about a month ago and, as we witnessed, have relocated to Lake Bogoria for the time being. However, the Lake still hosts thousands of flamingos and probably an equal number of pelicans, along with a variety of other water birds.

The uplands are a mosaic of grassland plains on rolling hills, acacia woodlands along the lakeshore and streams, and some rocky hills and ridges. Overall, it is a nice mosaic of habitats but due to its small size and insular nature it doesn’t support a lot of the megafauna found in the larger parks and reserves. The dominant large mammal is plains zebra – they are everywhere here – but there is a smattering of several other species as well such as buffalo and eland. Like other Conservancies, SoySambu is a “working” landscape. They have several cattle herds, a mining operation, and tourism as sources of revenue and employ many of the local natives. Here are few photos of the landscape:

My special campsite was called Lakeview and, as the name implies, it was on the lakeshore with a nice view of one of the bays. One nice feature of this campsite was that the Conservancy set up a water tank, pit toilet and bucket shower for my stay, so I had everything I needed. Here are some photos:

The only exciting thing to report about my brief two-night stay here was the driving adventure brought on by the intensive rainstorm on my first night. It rained hard for a couple of hours, amounting to a couple of inches based on my wash basin, as it has been doing most evenings for the past 2 weeks. I headed out for my usual morning drive to see the landscape and wildlife and I chose a section of the Conservancy that looked interesting based on the terrain. To get to this section I had to pass through a manned gate and the ranger at the gate advised on a route through the hills and valleys. Trust the ranger, right? Well, after I had driven some distance and was commited to this route, I ended up driving through a muddy mess and almost got stuck twice. It was too late to turn around. Once I even slid into a deep water hole with the front end of the Green Dragon because the wheels were caked up with mud and I was slipping and sliding all over the place giving me very little control of the vehicle. Check out this photo of what the “Green” Dragon looked like after this little adventure.

Now I know what this guy below feels like every time he takes a mud bath, only he loves it:

After getting through this mud bath I was able to reflect back on the experience and admire how well the Green Dragon handled the soft mud and water. I was really glad I was in a Land Cruiser Troopie; otherwise, I might still be there right now!

I also had some nice encounters with some of the Conservancy locals, as shown in these two photos:

I’m off to Mount Longonot National Park to hike the rim of a volcanic caldera. See you there.

After my unplanned visit to Ol Pejeta Conservancy I headed back west to Lake Nakuru National Park. In the map above you’ll find the Park due south of Lake Bogoria National Reserve. Lake Nakuru National Park (73 sq. mi.), established in 1961 and located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley roughly 93 miles northwest of Nairobi, is similar in its landscape setting to Lake Bogoria. Like Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru was best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting (but see below) along the shores and feeding in the shallow warm alkaline waters. Indeed, they claimed that at times the surface of the shallow lake was often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink – must have been a sight to see, although I can’t imagine how it could top what I saw at Lake Bogoria!

The number of flamingos on the Lake is strongly affected by the alkalinity of the lake, in that when the alkaline levels are high the blue-green algae blooms and the flamingos remain, which in turn is affected by the fluctuating water levels. Apparently, in recent years the water levels have fluctuated dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, and it is suspected that this is caused by the increased watershed land conversion to intensive crop production and urbanization, both of which reduce the capacity of soils to absorb water and recharge ground water thereby resulting in increased seasonal flooding during the wet season and starving the lake of water input during the dry season. In addition, like all the other Great Rift Valley lakes, the lake basin has been receiving more precipitation during the past several years which has caused the lake level to rise significantly, resulting in the inundation of lakeside roads and campsites and the death of thousands of trees (“ghost trees”) on the lake fringe. According to one ranger I spoke with at length, the rising lake level has also prevented flamingos from nesting at Lake Nakuru for many years now. Whether this displacement of nesting birds is solely due to the loss of nesting areas along the shoreline – flamingos build mud platform nests on the ground – or changes in the algae food base of the lake due to change in the water chemistry, or both, is unknown. Today, the lake supports far more pelicans than flamingos. Here are some photos of what the lake and shoreline look like today:

The Park has a spectacular setting and a diversity of habitats, along with a surprisingly rich variety of wildife species. The lake sits in a confined basin (i.e., no outlets) with high escarpments on the east and west sides of the valley that create some awesome cliffs and rock outcrops and are covered with a mosaic of grasslands and dense scrub. The valley bottom includes some large grassland plains along with extensive acacia woodlands dominated by a very distinctive acacia tree (Acacia xanthophloea) that has smooth, lemon to greenish yellow bark that gives the woodland a distinctive yellow-green appearance. The common names for this tree are fever tree and yellow-barked acacia . Here are a few photos of the landscape:

My “special” campsite (i.e., private site without facilities) was called Rhino campsite. It was situated in the middle of an extensive acacia woodland close to the grassland plains. It had some large yellow-barked acacia trees, but given their sparse canopy, it didn’t have too much shade to offer, so I spent my siestas at other locations in the Park. The one exciting thing about this campsite was the sound that woke me up at 2:30 am the first night:

It may not sound like it in this recording but this guy was on the edge of my campsite! It turns out that this guy also spent the day resting in the shade in my campsite while I was gone based on the report of a guide I met the following day who had driven to my campsite on his wildlife drive. I guess I should have come back to camp for my siesta! Here are photos of my campsite and siesta site:

Here’s an anecdote that saddened my heart. My first evening in the Park I happened upon a couple of safari vehicles watching something of interest. It turned out to be a beautiful male leopard walking through the tall grass parallel to the road. Eureka! I had only seen leopards once on this trip, so needlesstosay I was excited. I managed to watch the leopard for about 20 seconds but then he moved too far out of sight so I decided to move farther up the road in the direction he was walking. At that very moment, ~50 safari vehicles – you know, the kind with a driver/guide and paying customers – came screaming into the road from all directions. It was total choas and absolutedly maddening. I had heard bad stories about the safari vehicles in Kenya, but this was beyond my worse expectation. There was no consideration for others, just a mad scramble to get into position to see the leopard. The rudeness and unethical behavior on display was unbelievable. I was cut off by a vehicle that drove up the bank on the side of the track and then cut in front of me while I was waiting to move forward. I tried to leave the pack and escape the frenzy but the vehicles were 2 lanes thick as far as I could see ahead and behind. I was literally trapped in place without any view but the side of a vehicle for ~40 minutes. No one moved on after 10 minutes of watching and photographing to allow others a turn as they were suppose to based on the general rules of conduct for safari vehicles. It was the worse wildlife experience I have ever had. As a follow up, two things. First, I ran into the assistant director of the Park the following day and his top administrative assistant and relayed the story. They were very sympathetic and apologetic and vowed to try to rectify the situation – good luck. Second, the next night I passed by the same spot to see if the leopard was around but I didn’t see him and started to move on slowly. As I moved on, dozens of safari vehicles started racing past me to get to the site I had just left. Clearly, the leopard had been seen again and the word went out on radio/phone to the safari guides in the Park who were once again in a mad scramble to give their paying customers their money’s worth. I kept driving as fast as I could in the opposite direction to get as far away from that site as possible.

For the remainder of my time in the Park I tried to stay off the main roads as much as possible and ended up seeing lots of wildlife, including quite a few white rhinos, lions and all the other megafauna. Here’s a composite video of my observations:

Lake Nakuru National Park composite video (22 minutes)

From the Wildside:

Photo Gallery:

First order of business, the log structure hanging from the tree along the road at Lake Bogoria was a beehive carved out of log cut in half. They placed beehives at regular frequent intervals (~50 m) along the main road presumably as a living “fence” to deter elephants – and also for the production of honey as a byproduct. Mark figured this one out immediately and actually he was the only one to submit a guess (perhaps nobody else viewed the post?).

After leaving the flamingo spectacle at Lake Bogoria I headed east to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy for two main reasons. First, I had a few days to kill before resuming my original schedule so that I can meet Mark and Kirsten at Mount Suswa Conservancy on the 16th. Second, this conservancy has both species of rhino (black and white) as well as cheetah (and the other cats), both of which are on my bucket list to see on this trip. I don’t have a map to show my route and destination because this was unplanned, so I included the map above for an indirect reference. On the map above, Ol Pejeta is labeled as a National Reserve (which it is not) and it is located east-southeast of Lake Bogoria and northwest of Mount Kenya.

Ol Pejeta is a “Conservancy”, which basically means that it is a private entity administered and managed in cooperation with the local communities for the benefit of people and wildlife. Ol Pajeta supports a staff of ~600 locals and, like most if not all conservancies, does allow some grazing of domestic livestock, but presumably under close scrutiny so as to not diminish the habitat quality for wildlife. Ol Pejeta claims (but I’m not sure it is true) to have the second highest density of “wildlife” in Kenya, after the Maasai Mara, and supports populations of all the big predators, including 6 lion prides,~15 cheetah, ~20 leopards, and at least at one time had 2 packs of wild dogs. The landscape is comprised of gently rolling hills with grassland plains on the hills and scrub woodland in the valleys. Mount Kenya is visible to the southeast which provides a nice backdrop when the clouds don’t obscure the view. Here are a couple of photos:

My exclusive campsite for the first two nights was called Ol Lerai and then I moved to nearby Ewaso. Both are located along the major seasonal river through the Conservancy, the Ewaso Ng’iro River and, interestingly, are a stones throw from the equator. Basically that means that the temperatures don’t change that much over the course of the year or between night and day. Here are photos of my two campsites, the second I much preferred because of the nice shade trees. Both had toilets but no water.

I went to Ol Pejeta pricinpally to observe white and black rhinos and, with any luck, cheetah. I saw plenty of rhinos, mostly white, but struck out again on the cheetah. I think I am fated not to see cheetahs on this trip, perhaps as an enticement to return next year? Here is a composite video of my wildlife observations, with a focus on rhino:

Ol Pejeta Conservancy composite video (24 minutes)

Photo Gallery:

After leaving the Maasai Mara my plan was to go west to a remote and rarely visited Park called Ruma near the shores of Lake Victoria and then head north to visit a couple of other small and relatively unknown Parks (Saiwa Swamp and South Turkana). However, as I was leaving The Mara I learned that the tsetse flies were really bad at Ruma and that they carry the parasite for sleeping sickness. SO, rather than battle the tsetse flies and risk the disease I opted to stay east and head to Lake Bogoria National Reserve. I can’t edit the map above on my tablet so you can just skip over the paths between The Mara and Lake Bogoria and go straight to Lake Bogoria.

On route to Lake Bogoria I stayed in a low-end hotel in the town of Narok because I could not find a camping site anywhere nearby. On the way up to Lake Bogoria the following day I had an uneventful crossing of the equator. I wouldn’t even have known I was crossing the equator if it weren’t for my GPS system – there was nothing on the paper maps or on the road marking the crossing. Centered on the equatorial crossing were some large sisal plantations. Sisal is in the Agave family and is cultivated for its fibres in the leaves used to make rope and other products. Here’s a photo of what that looked like:

After many kilometers of surprisingly decent tarmack roads I ended up on a stretch of rather rough track that see’s very few vehicles other than motorcycles. However, it was the only track to the Reserve coming from the south, so I had little choice but to go slow. After creeping through herd afer herd of goats and cattle, I eventually made it to the Reserve gate, where I learned that my planned public campsite was under water. Apparently, like all the other lakes in the region, including Victoria and Tanganyika, the Lake level has risen significantly over the past several years. Some suggest climate change due to global warming-induced increased rainful as the cause. And this is adjacent to areas in eastern Kenya and Ethopia that have been experiencing severe droughts. These sorts of regional and even local swings in climate seem to be one of the hallmarks of climate change. Fortunately, the Reservee substituted the lakeside campsite with a streamside campsite that was a very comfortable and serene setting right along a babbling brook under numerous shade trees, including some huge fig trees. Here’s a few photos that don’t quite capture the full scope of the peaceful riparian setting and the grandeur of the fig trees:

But if you really want a sense of the serenity of this streamside campsite, watch my 6-minute streamside flute video:

Lake Bogoria streamside flute video (6 minutes)

Lake Bogoria National Reserve (41 sq. mi.), established in 1970, is located on the floor of the Great Rift Valley roughly 145 miles northwest of Nairobi. Lake Bogoria lies in a trough below the Ngendelel Escarpment that rises steeply from the lake 2,000 ft – an awesome sight! The reserve is centered on the lake itself, which in addition to its spectacular setting is geothermically active on the western shore, with geysers and hot springs. It was once described as “the most beautiful view in Africa” – I wouldn’t claim that, but you be the judge. The Reserve is in a semi-arid area. The only major river feeding the lake is the Waseges River, which rises on the northern slopes of the Aberdare Range. The Waseges runs through productive agricultural land (mostly coffee plantations) higher up, through bush and scrub used for grazing, and then through very dry bush before entering the lake at its northern end. The lake is surrounded by dry srcub, except along the few streams running into the lake which support lush vegetation and huge fig trees. There is no terrestrial wildlife here to speak of, which is perhaps not too surprising since there are goats and cattle grazing everywhere – so much for the concept of a nature Reserve. All they seem to be reserving is grazing/browsing for domestic livestock. Not my idea of a National Reserve! Here are a few shots of the lake and setting:

The lake is alkaline, feeding blue-green algae which in turn feed the flamingoes. At times the number of flamingoes feeding in the lake may be as high as two million. I’m not sure of how many flamingoes I saw but it must have been in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million. This flamingo spectacle is the avian counterpart to the wildebeest spectacle of The Mara. Here’s a photo to wet your lips, but check out the video to see the full wildlife spectacle.

Lake Bogoria composite flamingo video (10 minutes)

I know how much some of you like trying to guess mystery objects/sounds, so here’s another one for you. What is this cut log structure hanging in the tree and what is their purpose (note, these were distributed all along the road through the Reserve)?

OK, I’m off to find Rhinos at Ol Pajeta Conservancy. Wish me luck!

My first destination in Kenya is the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Mara Triangle, located in the southwestern corner of the country and contiguous with the Serengeti NP of Tanzania. The Mara Triangle is the western portion of the Reserve between the Mara River, Tanzania border and the Isuru or Oloololo Escarpment.

The Mara (580 sq. mi.), as it is locally known, established in 1961, is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. Their description of the area when looked at from afar: “Mara” means “spotted” in the local Maasai language, due to the many short bushy trees which dot the landscape. The Mara is one of the most famous natural reserves in Africa, in part because its unique role in hosting the huge mammal migration of 2 million plus wildebeest, plains zebra and Thompson’s gazelles during the dry season of August-October before they turn south to the Serengeti in Tanzania for the wet season. The Mara is a meca for the wildlife during the dry season because it receives just enough monsoonal rain showeers the keep the grasses green when everything to the south is dried up. And like the Serengeti, it is importantly to remember that The Mara is the ancestral home of the Maasai people who were displaced from the Reserve to benefit the wildlife and tourism.

The landscape in The Mara is primarily open grassland with seasonal rivulets and a few major rivers, including the Sand, Talek and Mara. In the southeast region are clumps of the distinctive acacia tree, and shrubs and trees fringe most drainage lines and cover hillslopes and hilltops. In the south are distinctive low, flat-topped volcanic “inselbergs”, which are usually topped with a shrub thicket. The western border is the escarpment of the East African Rift, which you might recall is part of the great African rift system that extends some 3,500 mi long from Ethiopia through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and into Mozambique. The southern border is contiguous with the Serengeti NP of Tanzania and fortunately there are no fence lines to disrupt wildlife movements between these areas – although people are not allowed to pass! Otherwise, The Mara is surrounded by well-developed and populated agricultural and pastoral lands. Consequently, The Mara, along with its southern neighbor is truly an “island” wilderness home to the many wildlife species. Unfortunately, in recent years the wildlife populations have suffered significant declines due to the increasing human population and development surrounding the Reserve and the accompanying human incursions, including poaching and cattle grazing, into the Reserve. In fact, only the Mara Triangle, the area west of the Mara River, is completely dedicated to the wildlife. The rest of the National Reserve still allows cattle grazing by the native Maasai communities. Here are a few photos to set the scene:

Before getting to The Mara I had to cross the border post at Isibania. It would have been a breeze through and taken maybe 15 minutes if I didn’t have to wait 1 hour for the custom’s agent to come back from lunch at 2:30 pm (?!). For various reasons, including not finding any campgrounds nearby, my needless delay at the border post, and my need to take care of some “city business” (i.e., get sim card for my hotspot, shop, refuel, wash Green Dragon), I ended up staying in the first significant town after the border crossing, Migori, and ended up staying at the Hotel Discretion. Yes, that’s right, Hotel “Discretion”. What that means, I will let you ponder; I simply used it for a bed and a secure lot for my vehicle in the bustling urban center of Migori.

I had 3 nights in The Mara before I was joined by brother Mark and Kirsten. For my first night, I chose the only public campsite with complete facilities, Oloololo, which is located near the northwestern entrance to the Reserve. The video will show the campsite and its setting so I won’t repeat it here. For the remaining 4 nights in the Reserve (2 more by myself and 2 with Mark and Kirsten), I moved to a no-frills (i.e., only pit toilet, no water) campsite farther south into the middle of the Reserve and perched up high on a hill partially overlooking the plains and Mara River. A sweet setting but without any good shade trees. Again, the video will show the campsite and setting. Mark and Kirsten brought with them lots and lots of food – no surprise there – but also the return of “sundowners”. Here’s a photo of our sundowner on the first night:

I have a couple of anecdotes to share from my stay in The Mara:

#1. I am a little reluctant to share this anecdote because it could have earned me a Darwin Award, but in the spirit of full disclosure, here goes. When you are in the “bush” and you have to releave yourself it is customary to find some sheltering vegetation or landform. At one point along my drive I really “had to go”, so I stopped the vehicle near an old termite mound that had some small shrubs growing out of it – seemed like a reasonable spot. Here’s what the site looked like:

Pretty reasonable looking spot for taking care of business, right. I went to the middle of the termite mound and found a burrow in the middle that looked like this:

Doesn’t too active, does it? Here’s an even closer look at the burrow:

As I dropped my pants and started to squat about 3 feet away from the hole, an alarmed or frightened or pissed off – I didn’t have time to determine which – bolted out of the hole straight at me. I was so startled that I jumped 10 feet in the air and landed with my legs at full speed, where I promptly tripped on a rock and landed face down. In the split second that this took place I had visions of being rammed up the you know what by one very pissed off warthog. But when I turned and regained my feet, to my great relief he was racing away as fast his legs would take him. Fortunately, he was scared and not pissed. Needlesstosay, I lost a few heartbeats during this encounter. Good thing my head is already shaved of hair or I would have lost some of that as well. Moral of this story is: “never squat near a burrow, no matter how unused it looks!”

#2. I went to a Border Post in the far southwestern corner of the Reserve and talked to a couple of the Park Rangers. They shared with me that they do border patrol along the Tanzanian-Kenyan border through the middle of the Maasai Mara as well as anti-poaching, since they are located along the Reserved Boundary. To my amazement, they showed me a pile of animal snares used by poachers from the adjacent villages to trap and kill antelop for the meat. They retrieve 100-300 wire snares every day on their patrols and so far this year they have collected 70,000 snares. Yes, that’s right, 70,000! Here’s a photo to prove it:

OK, that’s it for anecdotes. There’s not much else to say here about the landscape and the wildlife that the video won’t do better, so I will leave it at that and let the video and pictures below do the talking.

Note, sorry, but not really, but the composite video is super long because I had 5 full days of observations in The Mara, and there was so much to observe. There is quite a bit of footage of the wildebeest herds and the migration because this was THE main spectacle, and what a spectacle it was. Also, for this video I composited my footage chronologically, so you can see how my observations progressed over the 5 days. Of course, I wasn’t able to capture all the cool species I saw on video, and I stopped videoing a lot of repeat scenes after day 2, otherwise the video would have been twice as long. I realize that this video is longer than most of you will want to sit through, so honestly I don’t expectt many of you to watch this. But if you want to experience the spectacle and see lots of lion footage, then skip your Netflix movie and sit back and enjoy The Mara, because I sure did!

Maasai Mara composite video (83 minutes)

From the Wildside:

Photo Gallery:

My 6^th and last country on this overland trip is Kenya, and once again, it is worth sharing a few factoids about this country to put things in better context and to educate myself (and you, if needed) a little about this corner of the world.

• As you can see in the map above, Kenya is on the east coast of Africa bordering the Indian Ocean and abutting 5 countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and perfectly straddles the equator.
• It is part of what is commonly referred to as “East Africa”, along with Tanzania and Uganda (although there are many other recognized delineations).
• The official name of Kenya is the Republic of Kenya.
• Roughly the same size as Texas.
• Roughly 57 million people, compared to ~332 million in the U.S..
• 2 official languages: Swahili and English, but there are as many as 70 different native languages spoken.
• Government is a democratic republic, which includes independent executive, legislative and judicial branches with a structure similar to the US, including a bicameral legislature.
• Official currency is the Kenyan Shilling, but many tourist places (e.g., hotels, lodges, etc.) accept US Dollars.
• Major exports include coffee, tea, cut flowers, and vegetables. Unlike its southern neighbors, gems and precious metals are relatively minor exports compared to the horticultural products. Kenya exported coffee to the value of over 40 million US dollars in 2021. Locals value coffee as a commodity so greatly that most Kenyans don’t really drink it, and only a small amount is sold domestically.
• Although it is unclear what percentage of the population self-identifies as indigenous, the government does recognize some 42 different indigenous tribes.
• Often referred to as the “Cradle of Humanity” because the earliest known hominids and the oldest remains of genus Homo are found here and elsewhere in East Africa
• Kenya’s colonization history is very similar to much of eastern Africa, and especially to its neighbor to the south, Tanzania. The indigenous hunter-gatherers began to be displaced by Bantu peoples some two thousand years ago, and the influx of various Bantu peoples continued through the 19th century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to sway influence over the region during the 16^th and 17^th centuries but never assumed any real colonial control over the native peoples and never reached too far from the coast. During the second half of the 17^th century the Portuguese were slowly driven from the coast by Arabs from Oman, and from the end of the 17^th century the Arabs were the dominant power in the region. The Arabs became slave traders and took huge numbers of slaves from the region during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, exporting slaves mostly to Arab or European colonies in the Indian Ocean. Eventually, the British arrived in the late 1800s and started taking over the region under the banners of the British East Africa Company. Thus, during this period East Africa was split between British control in the north in modern-day Kenya and Uganda and German control in the south in modern-day Tanzania (also Rwanda and Burundi). However, after the first world war the entirety of East Africa came under British territorial control. The end of British colonial rule was spearheaded by the Mau Mau rebellion between 1952-1959. And while the Mau Mau were eventually defeated, the rebellion signaled the end of British rule. Kenya achieved formal independence in 1963.
• Has the 2^nd tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kenya, at 17,057 feet!
• Has the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – Wangari Muta Maathai! This inspirational woman was a Kenyan environmental, social, and political activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
• Has the world’s largest desert lake, Lake Turkana, which is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• There must be something in the water in Kenya, because the country’s Kalenjin people have produced many world record breaking athletes and long-distance runners, known for dominating marathon circuits worldwide.
• Has ~12.5% of its total land area devoted to national parks, reserves and wildlife management areas – comparable to the US but not as impressive as its neighbors to the south!

Time again to reflect on the country from behind the wheel. Note, these are not always observations from literally behind the wheel, but rather observations based on ponderings while driving – so, indirectly from behind the wheel.

In contrast to Zambia and, to a lesser extent, Zimbabwe, Tanzania seems like a more progressive country focused on growth and development – not that that is necessarily always a good thing, as the human propensity to always develop, develop, devolp is in fact the primary cause of so many of our global crises. Nevertheless, Tanzania seems to be working hard to improve the standard of living of their people. Here are some specific observations, not all of which are positive and some of which are common to other southern African countries. In addition, many of the previous comments I have made about other countries also apply to Tanzania, but I won’t repeat them here, so the comments below are largely ones that I haven’t commented on yet.

#1. Build, Baby, Build. The Tanzanian national highway system and even some of the major secondary roads are tarmaked and essentially pothole-free! Can you believe it? Even South Africa, a much more developed country, has far worse roads. I don’t believe I hit or even had to swerve past a single pothole while driving the highways of Tanzania. Moreover, the few sections of the highways system that are not tarmaked are under construction right now, including massive bridges over waterways. I am not sure how all this new highway construction is being funded, but one section had a sign saying “funded by the people of America”. I heard others say China and still others just said “the government”. In any event, when the rest of the highways are finished in the next couple of years, it will make getting from one part of the country to another (and from Park to Park) very easy. All I know is that my life would have been much more difficult if I had to drive all those miles on potholed highways or on gravel. Thank you Tanzania!

#2. Country Life. Here are some typical scenes traveling the roads of western Tanzania. Note the following. First, the entire area outside of established National Parks and Game Reserves is settled and developed, predominantly with rural small-scale mixed agriculture, but with some larger settlements mixed in. Lots of charcoal and thatch production, along with maize predominantly and a smattering of other crops such as sugar cane and bananas depending on the location – your basic subsistance land use with a little extra to sell to improve ones standard of living. Second, deforestation is a serious problem. Outside of the Parks and Reserves the forests are heavily cut over for fuel and building materials. Many of the tree species coppice or resprout, but they are cut again as soon as they reach any size. This land use activity, which is understandable given the living conditions, leaves the Parks and Reserves as “islands” for the remaining wildlife. Here’s a few photos of some typical scenes along the roads.

#3. Love Those Babies. Africa has the fastest growing human population in the world and is expected to contribute more to the global human population growth over the next half century than all the other continents combined. My observations of the population demographics would seem to support this claim. It seems like the youth make up the largest segment of the population followed by the child-bearing aged 20- and 30-year olds. Moreover, it is hard to find a young women – and too young at that – NOT carrying a baby on her back. I’m sure that 9 out of 10 young women in their child-bearing age were carrying babies on their backs as they went about their work. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw a young worman without a baby on her back or at her side. Given the poor economic state of at least the rural western part of the country, it makes me wonder how they are going to fare in the future. I am concerned about the welfare of this next generation of Africans.

#4. The Better Half. One of the things that is hard NOT to notice is that the women are almost always engaged in some kind of activity, whether it be getting water from the local bore hole, carrying produce on the head to market, hauling wood from the woodlands, tending the crops, washing clothes and a dozen other essential activities. In contrast, while there are cleary some ambitious, hard-working young men, a large portion of the young men in their teens and 20’s seem to be idle most of the time. It is common to see anywhere from a few to a dozen young men just sitting around doing nothing while the women all around them are working. It is as if the young men, after finishing secondary school, if they don’t find a real job they just sit around doing nothing while they wait for the gold to drop from the sky. It definitely seems to be a cultural norm that the men try to find work, but often fail, while the women take care of the children, household and farm, if they have one. And if the young men don’t find gainful employment, they don’t “lower” themselves to helping with the “women’s work”. I hate to say it, but a lot of the young men are not worthy of the family they have.

#5. Burn, Baby, Burn. Tanzania tops the list when it comes to the use of fire. While I have commented previously about the use of fire both inside and outstide of the Parks and Reserves to manage vegetation, Tanzania takes it to the next level. I estimate that 80-90% of the lands I passed through had been burned, or were still burning, this year. This 1-2 year fire return interval rivals that of the aboriginals in northern Australia. One of the many reasons they burn every acre they can each year is to produce a flush of nutritious new growth as seen in these photos:

#6. Karibu. I will end this on a high note. Karibu is a swahili word with multiple meanings, but is commonly used to say “welcome” when you are greeted, especially by service providers. Most Tanzanians appear to be genuinely pleased to welcome you to their country, and most are very proud and happy to be Tanzanians and share their country with you. Of course, some of this is business-motivated, but I get the distinct impression that most Tanzanians are truly happy to see you visiting their beloved country. It is the same welcoming atmoshpere that is prevalent in Botswana, but here it struck me as hallmark of the country, or rather the people.

There’s so much more that could be said, but I’ll save it for later. Cheers.

After traversing the Western Corridor of Serengeti National Park and then out of the Park through the Ikoma Gate, where I had my accident, I travelled north through Game Reserves and mostly tribal lands (i.e., settlements) to the west of the Park and reentered the Park at the very northwestern-most and litle used gate called Lamai, north of the great Mara River which drains a significant part of the Maasai Mara in Kenya (more on that later). This section of the Park is centered on the Mara River the grassland savannah’s on either side of the river. Here are a few photos to get you in the mood:

I was able to book a “special campsite” inside the Park along the Mara River at a place called Kogatende. This place is the major hub for Park acitivities in the northern section of the Park along the Mara River. There are many private lodges/camps in the vicinity and there is an airstrip to accommodate all the tourists that don’t want to make the painfully long drive to the area. Indeed, this place was an absolute zoo at times, with as many as 50-100 safari vehicles from the lodges/camps and mobile safari outfits concentrating at the airstrip to pick up and drop off guests. There were as many as 3 planes on the grass tarmak at times. Crazy busy! Needlesstosay, my time here was not private. However, this is the location of the famous migration crossing of the Mara River with the huge Nile crocs taking down wildebeest and zebra as they brave the crossing. And this area is where the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania extends into the Maasai Mara where most of the migratory herds are concentrated this time of year. SO, if you want to see the big migration, the Mara River crossing, or the herds out on the grassland plains of the Maasai Mara, and NOT have to go to Kenya, this is the place to go. Despite all this safari activity I had an amazing amount of privacy on my drives and wildlife observations. It is such a huge area and there are so many places to drive to see the wildlife that everyone disperses from the airstrip pretty quickly.

My “special campsite” wasn’t very special, unfortunately, and thus I didn’t even remember to take a photo, but it did not matter too much because I spent almost no time at my campsite other than to sleep. I won’t describe the landscape or my wildlife observations here as the video does the talking for me. I will say, however, that my time on the Mara plains was, well, how can I describe it, SUBLIME! The wildebeest herds on the grassland savannah was a wildlife spectacle unmatched, at least in my experiences. Although the video doesn’t capture the multi-sensory “gestalt” of the experience, it is the best I can offer.

Serengeti Maasai Mara composite video (30 minutes)

OK, I’m off to the Maasai Mara on the Kenya side of the border and to hook back up with brother Mark and Kirsten. See you there.

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My final destination in Tanzania is Serengeti National Park, located in the far northwestern corner of the country on the border with Kenya. Note, I showed the map above in my last post, but I am repeating it here so that you can reacquaint yourself with the Park’s location and shape. Serengeti NP (5,700 sq. mi.), first established as a park in 1940, almost needs no introduction as it is one of the world’s most famous parks – featured in numerous nature programs and documentaries. The Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The Park is actually just the central part of the much Greater Serengeti Ecosystem which includes several surrounding game reserves and conservation areas (e.g., Ngorongoro Conservation Area) and extends into the Maasai Mara of Kenya (more on that later).

The Serengeti (which means “endless plains” in the native language) is most famous because it hosts the world’s largest and longest overland migration of large mammals – primarily common wildebeest, plains zebra and Thompson’s gazelle (a.k.a. “Tommies”). As many as 2 million of these animals, and at times even more, undergo a 500-mile annual migration, moving in clockwise fashion around the Serengeti to capitalize on shifting forage resources over the course of the year. During the wet season of December-February the herds are in the southern part of the Serengeti giving birth and feasting on the fresh growth of grasses stimulated by the rains. At the beginning of the dry season in March-April, with their young in tow, the herds start moving into the western part of the Serengeti (i.e., the Western Corridor where I am now) and then start moving north following the moisture as the dry season progresses. During the peak of the dry season between July-October, the migrating herds make their way farther north across the great Mara River, where huge Nile crocodiles lie in wait to take individuals in dramatic fashion and many more drown while trying to make the crossing, to get to the Maasai Mara in Kenya where the grasslands offer an abundance of dry-season forage. As the rains return in late October, the herds begin their southward journey back to the birthing grounds, and the cycle repeats. It’s important to realize that not all the wildebeest, zebra and Tommies in the Serengeti ecosystem take part in this annual mass migration. Significant numbers of all 3 species remain in smaller resident herds cattered throughout the Serengeti. Why and how individuals choose between these two dramatically differnt life histories is a mystery, but the vast majority have chosen the migratory lifestyle.

Last year on our Tanzania journey (Nancy, Phil, Mary, Bill, Rick and I) in July we were fortunate to time it perfectly to see the mass migration at its greatest concentration – the crossing of the Mara River. It was a wildlife spectacle that can’t be adequately described in words and was reminiscent of what it must have been like to witness the great bison herds on the plains of North America before they were just about exterminated by commercial game hunters during the late 1800s.

My visit to the Serengeti this year comes in late August when the herds have already crossed into the Maasai Mara of Kenya – so no mass Mara River crossing for me this year. Although, I should note that sometimes smaller herds will move back and forth across the Mara River during this time of year, depending on the rains and the forage quality. The forage opportunities must be really rewarding to risk multiple crossings of the Mara River. So, when I am in the northern Serengeti before crossing into Kenya, I may yet witness some river crossings on a modest scale. In the meantime, there is much to see and enjoy in the beautiful Serengeti savannah.

It behooves me to point out that the awesomeness of Serengeti NP does come at the cost of disrupting and displacing the native Maasai people. Much of the area now protected within Serengeti NP was formerly populated by the Maasai, who grazed their cattle on the eastern plains, but had a more sporadic presence in the west because of the seasonal profusion of tsetse flies, which carry a parasite responsible for a disease that can be fatal to cows. The Maasai are relatively recent arrivals to the region, having migrated there from the north in the 17th century, when they forcefully displaced their native Datoga predecessors. Nevertheless, the creation of the Park has not been without contention among the locals. It is understandably hard, as a government, to weigh the costs and benefits of creating a park such as this.

My visit to the Serengeti this year began in the Western Corridor (the rectangular appendage of the Park extending west almost to Lake Victoria), as I approached the Park from Lake Victoria to the west. The Western Corridor is centered on the Grumeti and Mbalageti Rivers which drain most of the central and southern portions of the Park and empty into Lake Victoria. The Grumeti is the second largest river in the Serengeti (after the Mara), but even so, it runs dry during this time of year, sustaining only scattered pools along its course. Besides the narrow strip of dense riparian vegetation along the river course, the bulk of the corridor is comprised of classic Serengeti plains – grassland savannah consisting of extensive open grasslands and varying but low densities of scattered trees (most acacia) – in addition to the hills between the two river drainages. Here are a few photos to put you in the mood:

There are no public campsites in the western corridor so I opted for what they call “special campsites”, rather than pay the exorbitant fees to stay at one of the private camps. Would you be surprised if I told you that none of the Park staff at the entrace gate could tell me which special campsites actually existed (since they change over the years) or where they were located. Indeed, nobody any any helpful information. The staff were just as much “in the dark” as I. Anyways, the computer said there were 3 sites in the western corridor and I could choose whichever one I wanted. So I picked one at random since there was no other information to help guide my decision. It turns out that these “special campsites” are, in fact, truly “special” because they don’t really exist. There is no designated site, just a general area. Apparently you just pick on spot and camp – there are no facilities! For my first night I picked a spot next to one of the scattered pools on the Grumeti River and on the edge of the grassland savannah under a shade tree. Here is a photo of my site and another African sunset from my site:

For my second night in the Western Corridor I decided to move my campsite to a location near where I was spending most of my time observing wildlife. There was a hill in the middle of these vast plains that thankfully had a track up to the top, undoubtedly for “sundowners” for the nearby private camp, with spectacular views over the plains. I was well away from the general area of my “special campsite”, but because there were no signs for the special site and no one I asked knew anything, and I even went by the Ranger post but there was nobody around, I decided to “wild camp” on the hilltop with the classic “out of Africa” scene laid out below. Indeed, this might have been one of my favorite campsites on the entire trip. Here’s a couple of photos:

For my third night I drove through the Western Corridor to the central part of the Park called Seronera and then exited north through the Ikoma Gate and stayed at a private lodge/camp. Nothing noteworthy to report about my campsite. However, in the spirit of full disclosure I will share a very unfortunate accident I had leaving the Park. I missed a turn and was initiating a U-turn when a safari vehicle came screeming up from behind me going like a bat out of hell with dust flying everywhere. Apparently he didn’t see me in time, slammed on his breaks and slid into the back right corner of the Green Dragon, smashing the corner and bending the heavy steel bumper of my vehicle. His front end was significantly damaged. No one was hurt, other than my pride. I was mostly at fault doing a U-turn on this narrow gravel road so I assumed responsibility. Of course, he shouldn’t have been driving so fast but there was no speed limit on this road so technically he wasn’t doing anything illegal. I ended up towing his vehicle the few kilometers to town to the local police station – don’t think real police station like in the state, here it was a one-room concrete block with a chair and desk for the one police officer. Turns out in Africa accidents are generally handled between the two parties without getting the police really involved or insurance companies for that matter. The parties just agree on a settlement, money changes hands and you go your separate ways. The police officer was merely a bystander. I can see how this system might create some real hostile conflicts when the two parties disagree on responsibility, but it worked in our case because I assumed repsponsibility. So, the Green Dragon has her first battle scar and wil require some body work when she gets to Nairobi. Moral of this story is don’t ever do a U-turn without first looking behind to see if it is all clear.

I won’t describe my wildlife observations here since my narration in the composite video will serve that purpose. Suffice it to say that the Serengeti is a wildlife haven so I had lots and lots of cool wildlife observations. I posted my longest video yet for this section on the Serengeti Western Corridor – I am sorry but I just couldn’t bring myself to cutting anything out as it is all so interesting to me.

Serengeti Western Corridor composite video (45 minutes)

OK, I’m off to the northern Serengeti and the Maasai Mara. See you there!

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