Kenya: Stories and Pictures: Segment I

Thank you for your warm response to my story about the Rays of Hope Clinic and your generous giving. I so appreciate your support. I have now begun learning how to write a grant proposal and am researching what companies, corporations, non-profits, etc. might be likely places to send my request, once I figure out how to write it! Any help anyone can give me regarding where to send the proposals would be an enormous help. I am really a novice at this, but am determined to do what I can. In the meantime, I would love to share with you more about the trip to Kenya.
I will be posting the full story, but I will do it in segments.
The first segment tells of our visit to the Maasai Mara area of Kenya where we stayed at Kicheche Bush Camp in the Olare Orak Conservancy. All of the places we stayed were "off the beaten track" and I never saw tour groups at all.

SEGMENT I

MAASAI MARA: July 2012

I am writing of the immensely exciting experiences I’ve moved through in the last three weeks, though they feel as elusive as a leopard when I reach to capture them in words…

However, with the patience borrowed from the cheetah stalking its prey, I will stay with it!

Traveling from one side of the world to the other was surreal and challenging, taking its toll on my physical body and calling upon my inner resources to remain grounded and calm in the midst of what often appeared as mad chaos. At the same time I was astounded at how efficiently that chaos is managed, and that the entire global system of travel works as well as it does. Glitches occur, but probably statistically, considering the numbers of people traveling, they are few. Our trip was enhanced immeasurably by flying Business or First class most of the way, plus we had assistance at most airports to help us to manage the walking, etc. I had hurt my knee before the trip, and Maureen did not have the physical strength to manage long walks. After I got over my feeling of embarrassment about needing help, I was grateful for it! Both directions were accomplished beautifully, with only one cancelled flight, which then caused our bags to not arrive at the end of the trip. Jet lag and sleep deprivation at the end of the trip were the only real problems I encountered.

To Kicheche: Maasai Mara (5,000ft.)

Olare Orok Conservancy (60,000 acres)

After our arrival in Nairobi we stayed overnight at a lovely historic hotel which, according to our driver, was the safest in the city as it was next door to the Israeli Embassy which has a high level of security all around it. The next morning we boarded a small Air Kenya aircraft, and were told we should disembark at the 3^rd stop. As the names were unintelligible to me, I kept careful count. All our landings after leaving Nairobi were on dirt runways. Disembarking we were met by our Maasai guide, climbed in the Safari Vehicle that would become our second home for weeks and began the first hour of many to come on the roughest dirt roads I’ve ever traveled in my life (and I’ve traveled a lot of them!!)

I was immediately thrilled, felt my adrenaline rising and my heart filling with delight. The first animal I saw was a warthog! They are quite common, and quite comical as they move through the grasses with their tails bobbing straight up in the grass like little antennae. We were headed to Kicheche, a bush camp in a Conservancy of 32,000 acres in the Masai Mara. The Masai Mara area is connected to the Serengeti in Tanzania, but no one is allowed to cross into it without permission. In this first hour’s drive I saw elephants, zebra, several kinds of antelope, ostrich and much more. Arriving at Kicheche we were met by our delightful hosts, Darren and Emma. Heavy duty tent construction, running water, flush toilets, a mess tent, 12 guests maximum all in the middle of a wilderness of immense proportions. This camp could be completely taken down in a week, so is not absolutely permanent, but serves as such. It was very comfortable, with delicious food, game drives all morning with breakfast, and “Sundowners” after tea at 4:30 until 7PM, followed by dinner at 8PM.

Breathing in grasses,

greens, yellows

billowing, flowing…

short, cropped

giraffe sculpted trees

further dwarfed by 
the destruction

of elephants feeding…

Do they grow back?

Antelope, ostrich, zebra

elephants abound…

Then she appears,

the fading evening light

following her lean, powerful,

confident journey through

the grasses...

A leopard leisurely lures

us onward until we

all disappear into the night.

The days were full, with any expectations I may have had being obliterated by the reality of each moment. Nothing could be predicted, with every moment holding the possibility of a surprise. I became alert and ready, poised to see everything I possibly could, fully present, filled with joy and the energy of life itself. Nature is everywhere present showing herself in all her glory, in the life/death/life cycles, in the land, in the weather, and in the activities of the wild ones. I feel the similarities to a “vision quest” deep inside, and know that I will one day understand more of what that means for me. Being in the unfamiliar, out of my comfort zone, with difficult challenges coming in traveling with someone, meeting new people, on my own…all are there for me to learn, to see myself in that mirror and deepen my knowledge of myself.

I’ve become aware since I returned from the trip that part of the reason I was so affected by the land and its people was the fact that it isn’t a highly developed country, that its wild lands are being cared for and respected now in such tangible and successful ways, and that there is an appreciation for wilderness and for animals. These are things that mean a lot to me. It’s where I put my attention in my own life. My heart and soul were captured by the bush, the people and the experience of being so close to the basic realities of life, death and survival, seeing in that what we have lost in our highly developed materially oriented world. We no longer see or understand the interconnectedness, the oneness, the beauty and necessity of acknowledging the natural world, of respecting wilderness and protecting wildlife. The people of Kenya were wonderful, with open hearts and sincere in their efforts to please.

Just me and a Maasai

guide, not warrior

with hippo chorus

breakfast in the African sun

cheetahs running across the horizon…

And we followed them, as they ran through the grasses, watched as they climbed up on termite mounds in order to see better, drove very near, hearing their shrill barking sounds indicating agitation, which, according to “Nelson,” might be due to a lion being nearby or that they are looking for a female. None of the animals were disturbed by our vehicle, having seen them since they were born and having no fear of them. No one was to ever get out of the vehicles, however, as then we might be seen as prey.

Topi, only in the Mara, are plentiful. (sloped back)

Wildebeast, and Thompson Gazelle (black strip, smaller, constantly moving tail)

Grand Gazelle, lions, giraffe, vulture, eagle, cheetahs, boomslug (poisoness snake, bright green)

Ostrich, wart hogs, black backed jackal, Impala (males have horns)

During an afternoon ride with James, we spotted a leopard up in a tree. She leapt with infinite grace from the tree and we followed her to where she had hidden a previous kill. She began to drag the carcass, easily more than her own weight, and we followed. Slowly, more and more exhausted, she moved through the grasses. A hyenna lurked nearby, watching, lusting after the kill perhaps. We felt the unfolding of a drama, as the leopard climbed a tree and looked around, quite obviously determining how to get the carcass up into the tree to protect it. Darkness was coming and we soon had to leave. The next day we returned, found her, and her cub, now in the large tree where we originally had seen her. The carcass was safely stowed in the branches. We saw that the hindquarters of the wildebeest had been ripped off, and we wondered if the hyenna had been able to grab it as she hauled it through the night. There seemed to be plenty left for her and her cub. Then, to the sounds of cracking bones, we watched them take turns filling themselves, rest, their limbs hanging loosely from the branches, and then return for more.

Eventually they moved to a nearby creek bed for what appeared to be some play time, and we sat nearby drinking our tea….a bit surreal for sure.

Another day, while following 3 male cheetahs out looking for prey, I feel my own deep survival/hunting instinct surfacing as I watched the careful, stealthy, slow creep through the grass of the lead cheetah as he headed for an impala grazing ahead. Knowing exactly when he would reach the right distance to begin his final sprint, he slowly moved forward. I held my breath, knowing these animals needed food and that another animal would die to provide it. Meanwhile, a topi nearby raised his head, apparently having sensed or seen the cheetah. His warning sound alerted the impala. Both move away and the cheetah’s kill is thwarted. The 3 brothers then move under a tree for a rest…

Three cheetahs single minded 
Search stealthily stalking impala

Lying low in green yellow cover

Maasai plains grasses eons of silent

Regeneration now bearing eternal witness

Grazers now prey in the ongoing cycle of life

Now thwarted by a topi warning, the “three boys” rest

And I wait…

Eating my muselli silence surreal no stalking no searching no killing no rush nothing to do but wait…

For three cheetahs to wake…

And they sleep…

Bush Lessons:

*There can be no hurry here; you must wait to find what you seek…

*Only in silence will you hear what you must…

*The life/death/life cycle is all there is to know, and we are one with it as are all life forms…

*Sitting and waiting, nothing and everything will happen; nothing and everything will be revealed…

*In not speaking, I uncover deeper truths inside; like the kudu, I hold stillness in the night…

*In speaking, with conscious awareness, I set myself free and fly like an eagle…

*All life is interconnected. In the bush it is clear and respected. In most of our lives it is hidden and ignored.

Here is the slideshow to accompany this story:
The adjustments are in the upper right.
Set speed on SLOW, and click "SHOW INFO" to see captions.

http://www.flickr.com//photos/87229554@N05/sets/72157631609230841/show/

END OF SEGMENT I
Segment II will be posted soon.