A tray of coffee/tea was brought to us at 0500 so we could be up, showered and ready for a 0600 start. Although there is a small electric fence running around the perimeter it can't be relied upon to keep dangerous animals out and therefore we had to arrange for the Askari to come and collect us. It was considerably colder than at Amboseli due to the altitude and we were glad of the fleecy ponchos and hot water bottles waiting for us in the truck.
It was also still a bit too dark for my camera. Peter suggested trying to get the sun rising over Mount Kenya with silhouettes of rhino, but to be honest they don't do much for me - probably because I declined to get out of the truck and lie on the wet grass!
We could be hitting a bit of a wall photographically, there are only so many species of wild animals in Africa and as this is our 4th safari (including the short one in Namibia) we've seen and photographed most common things already. Nevertheless I can't seem to stop myself taking pictures so these just record what we saw, but I am trying to be more discerning - honestly.
A very intense Hyena Cub
Reedbuck, but he was moving quite fast and I'm pleased that I've still managed to get him in focus.
Egrets still in their overnight roost.
I love this Ruppell's Griffon Vulture classic pose.
Nothing special, but only the second time I've successfully photographed a Eurasian Hoopoe.
Two beautiful female defassa Waterbuck.
And a very handsome male.
This subspecies differs from the Common Waterbuck by the markings on its backside; Common Waterbucks have the classic "toilet seat" shaped markings whereas defassa have a thick stripe each side of the tail, allegedly resembling strips of toilet paper. And that is how they are known, at least by Dickson in Amboseli.
Peter had never heard the Toilet Paper nickname and it really made him chuckle. He was delighted to be able to add to his knowledge bank and promised to think of us whenever he saw one.
At last, a decent shot of a Lilac Breasted Roller in flight, albeit wings down. I am so pleased as although I think the colouring is nicer with the wings closed, at least I can show what they look like in flight. And the next frame was only very slightly out of focus too.
These two looked like bookends or the rhinoceros version of push me pull me from Dr Doolittle. For a moment we thought they might get up but they stayed resolutely down.
Warthogs, back view as per usual.
By now the sun had started to warm us up and it was time to stop for breakfast. Peter picked a lovely spot with Mount Kenya in the background and I carefully positioned Ian so he had a bush for a hat.
Peter setting up breakfast; far too much for just the 3 of us but what we had was delicious, especially the homemade yoghurt
All the utensils safely carried in, I suspect, a bespoke, handmade roll.
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Nice guy!
The first, and I'm quite sure last, photo I've taken of a rhino spraying to mark its territory.
And now for this morning's first dose of elephant. We met this lone bull on a wide open expanse and parked up a respectful distance away, but he wasn't 100% happy and kept turning towards us with his ears half flapping, so Peter was ready for a quick getaway should it be necessary.
After a little while we wished him a "Good Morning" and went on our way. Driving through a more shrubby area we came across a large herd of Impala and watched for a good while as the dominant male tried to round up all his females who took it in turns to break out and escape. I tried to take a piece of video but it didn't turn out too well, so we'll have to make do with stills.
And I'd really love to know the back story to this lone zebra.
Back out on the high plain, this Cape Buffalo's rather ears intrigued me; they looked like they were pleated.
This was just two young ones having a bit of fun.
Peter dashed ahead of this small herd as originally they'd been walking along in a string, but they fanned out when they got nearer, which is a shame as it would have made a great shot and you can see the young ones still scrapping in the background.
Moving on we came across two cattle herders with an enormous head of cattle. They are Boran cattle and according to Peter very well behaved and don't wander off like English cattle do.
Peter offered them the untouched remains of our breakfast which they happily accepted and chatted to them about recent sightings. I asked him, to ask them, if I could take their photos and both kindly agreed, I rather expected them to both look at the same time but no, two different shots needed.
I'm desperately try to keep the blog in a chronological order and resisting the urge to lump photos of the same animal together - so here we have a few seemingly unconnected images, but they do serve to show the diversity of wildlife around.
Wallowing Cape Buffalo
Black Rhino and calf and I must say I didn't realise quite how large their ears were; clearly used for communication. The mother's has been clipped for ID purposes and the same will happen to the baby before it's ready to leave her (about 3 yo)
These two Black Rhino however looked set for a real bust up, but we stayed for ages and nothing developed.
Maybe I'll just go back to the mud!
Coming up next, an Elephant Special.