World Kenya Tsavo National Park

Dale and Carol's Kenyan Experience

First day of our expedition Nov 3, 2009

Everyone was on time and ready to go in their newly purchased safari clothing and hats as if the price tags were just yanked from the clothing before they arrived. We were quite a site as we boarded the Land Rovers on our first day of recording data on elephants. We drove for about 30 minutes and then entered Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary. The top of the vehicle was popped up, binoculars and cameras strapped to our necks, as we were given safety instructions and then told to start looking for elephants. During the next 8 hours, we experienced a ton of different things and learned much about Kenyan wildlife, insects, birds, and botany. We saw dik-diks, gazelles, kudu, Cape buffalo (the most dangerous animal here), zebra, giraffe, ostrich, a monitor lizard, scorpion den, Dung Beetle den and an array of exotic birds. We learned about how severe the drought has been and the toll it has taken on the animals. The only elephants we saw today were those back at the waterhole at our lodge. We stopped at 1 PM for the prepared boxes lunches and were told that this would be our fare for all the rest of our time in the parks. We dined on: 1 hard boiled egg A piece of fried chicken One croissant A cheese sandwich Cake Carrots One tomato A cute little sweet banana We also got to experience the “bush” break (similar to a bathroom break, but without the bathroom). You need to locate a bush that is shouting and running distance from the van also free of scorpions and other biting insects, and then complete your task. Today we learned to work as a team for the data collection that will be needed for our future outings and got to know the 6 other members and our guides much better. Another successful day!

Advertisement