Day 4: Afternoon with the Elephants

Awakened at 5:30 am by a soft friendly Maasai voice softly calling, “hello hello.” They wake you here with morning coffee complete with hot milk and raw sugar delivered to the table on the deck of our tent cabin. The morning was cool – almost damp. Hippos were bellowing just down at the Mara River while the dawn chorus of birds welcomed the new day. To the Land Cruiser by 6:30 am, we loaded up and bumped up the rutted road to see whatever came our way.

Our first spotting was two Dik-Diks. This miniature antelope is barely over a foot tall not quite the size of our black tail jackrabbits of the desert southwest. This is the world’s smallest antelope and is superbly adapted to arid areas preferring the safety of rocks and dense brush. These delicate shy animals are completely water independent – they never drink water at all. They get all the water they need from the dew and the plants that they browse upon. They mate for life, and if one dies then the other is soon to follow.

A huge herd of Impala ran full speed across the road in front of the truck. An Impala is a graceful slender antelope: Males weight up to 170 lbs and females up to 118 lbs. An s-shaped set of horns is found only on the male. Males keep a harem of 50 to 60 females and defend them from interested bachelors. Young males form bachelor herds and wait for their chance to challenge the dominant breeding male. The dominant male is only in charge of the harem for a few months before the stress and strain of defending the harem weakens it and another male wins the group. Absolutely amazing jumpers! When we were close to a running herd, our guide William clapped his hands once and the surprised Impalas jumped literally ten feet straight up. They can also broad jump an astounding 36 feet.

We had a “bush lunch” – cheese, fruit, bread, vegetarian quiche (no crust), and potatoes all with a world-class view of zebras grazing on the savannah. By 3:00 pm we were exploring again. Dixon drove amongst a small stand of trees and quickly cut the engine. There not more than 100 feet away was a family of eight elephants with two very small babies. One baby was about 2 weeks old and the other about 4 months. In the shadowed light of the cool trees, we had an intimate view of family life. The babies were young enough that they did not have the use of their legs sorted out yet. Standing up was a labored awkward rocking motion that often times was less than successful. Legs would get tangled and the baby would flop on its side just to try and try again. Parents and extended family seemed patient and attentive with the clumsy little ones.

Returned to camp in the dark to a beautiful meal and conversation with the other guests, camp manager, and owner of Serian Camp.

Species List:

Impala Spotted hyena Bare-face go-away-bird Dik-dik Topi Wattled starling Reedbuck Common zebra Superb starling Black-headed heron Cape buffalo Elephant Savanna monkey Eland

Waterbuck White-bellied bustard Ruppell’s long-tailed starling Helmeted guineafowl Silver-backed jackal Wildebeest Thompson’s gazelles Kori bustard Golden pipit Lilac-breasted roller Yellow-billed oxpecker Coqui francolin Little bee eater Grey shrike