Ol Pejeta: Arrival

Cessna 208B Caravan, the plane of choice in this part of Africa

We arrived at the Nanyuki airport about noon where we were met by Duma, our guide. Duma means cheetah in Swahili. He was given the nickname because he is good a finding cheetahs on game drives. It turned out that he was good at finding all kinds of birds and animals, so we were happy. The Conservancy is about 30 minutes from the airport so we had to wear seat belts for the first part of our journey. We drove past the typical roadside restaurants, bars, and shops on our way. These are the strip malls of East Africa with several joined together in a row alongside the highway. Some are obviously open while others are more difficult to discern. They might be open or they might even be closed for good. We always saw people around them passing the time. Occasionally, they would have food or drink, but most of the time they seemed to be chatting or resting.

We crossed the equator twice before we reached the conservancy. The weather here is pleasant and not too hot, but still very dry. We are over one mile in elevation. We stopped at one of the equator crossings to take a couple of pictures. When we reached the entrance to the Conservancy, Duma registered our arrival. While he did that I talked to a young couple traveling on their own. They were from Spain and planned to spend a couple of days at the public campground.

Gazelle - the side stripe will disappear as males age

Conservancies are private concessions on land owned by one of the indigenous tribes. Tribes are paid a fee for their use so they won’t be developed as towns or farms. The leases are only temporary however, so there is often concern that when the lease expires, the tribe will end the conservancy arrangement to meet the needs of the growing population. This is one of the many pressures on African wildlife we learned about while on our travels.

Baby elephants are so cute

African Kingfishers are much more beautiful than ours.
This is a Brown-hooded Kingfisher

When we got back in our vehicle to head to camp, Duma told us we no longer needed seat belts. We would not be driving fast enough to need our seat belts and we were now off the main roads so we would not be stopped by any police looking for a chance to earn some money.

Elands are the largest of the antelope-type animals

Dry landscape

Another gazelle

On the way to the camp we saw a number of gazelles. These beautiful animals are similar to impala. They are the dominant antelope-type animal in this part of Africa in the same way impalas dominated the landscape in southern Africa. They are a more striking animal because most have a black stripe along the flank. On males this stripe disappears as they mature. This part of Africa has two different gazelles: Thompson (the smaller of the two) and the Grant. Other than size, they are difficult to tell apart.

Superb Starling
These birds are everywhere

We also saw elephants, reticulated giraffes, impala, and buffalo. And of course, we saw a number of birds. The most beautiful of these is the superb starling. Just like the European starling we have in the US, they are ubiquitous and a bit obnoxious, but at least they are native. The birds of Africa are generally more beautiful and interesting than those we have at home.

Yellow-necked Francolin