MyWestworld

A Beastly Place (part 3)

Posted on 28. Feb, 2008 by Kerry Banks in Writing from the road

“This is where the miracle happened,” says Mustafa. As we drive through the gates into Samburu National Reserve, our Kenyan guide relates the extraordinary story. In 2002, a solitary lioness at Samburu stunned onlookers by adopting a baby oryx, a type of antelope that lions normally feast on. Amazingly, she kept the calf by her side for naps, nuzzling it and defending it against predators, but allowing it to return to its mother for nursing. This went on for two weeks, until a male lion from another pride killed the calf while the lioness was sleeping. When the lioness awoke to find the dead oryx, she was enraged and roared at the predatory lion, circling him 10 times before she drove him away. She later adopted another oryx. After this one was rescued by park rangers, she continued to adopt other oryx calves, repeating the process six times over the span of a year, much to the delight of tourists and the bewilderment of wildlife biologists. The local Samburu tribe named the lioness Kamunyak, “the blessed one.”

The mysteries of the animal kingdom were front and centre during our two-week safari through Kenya and Tanzania. Our September visit, timed to coincide with the Great Migration–an annual cavalcade of 1.5 million wildebeests, 500,000 gazelles and 500,000 zebras, trailed by an entourage of hungry predators–was an eye-popping spectacle. In some places, the herds stretched all the way to the horizon. To get a detailed description of the adventure, you will have to check out my feature article in the spring issue of Westworld magazine, but I can mention a few things here that did not end up in the published version. One aspect of the trip that took some getting used to was the proximity of the wildlife. In Kenya, where guides are allowed to leave the trails and follow the animals, we got within spitting distance of lions. Evidently, the big cats don’t regard the land cruisers as a threat, or as anything edible either.

At many of the lodges we stayed at, the animals prowled the grounds. The Sykes monkeys were especially bold at the Serena Mountain Lodge in central Kenya. We were cautioned not to open our windows as they were apt to sneak in and steal stuff from our rooms. Humans did not scare them much. Before dinner, one monkey slipped into the lounge and snatched a couple of cookies off a plate before making a fast escape up a flight of stairs.

The river that bordered Kenya’s Samburu Lodge was infested with crocodiles. Presumably, the modest stone ledge that ran down the side of the grounds kept them at bay. There certainly was no attempt to discourage their presence–the staff fed them in the evenings for the guests’ entertainment. Baboons were everywhere. Shortly after arriving, I was startled by a large male, who arrogantly strutted past my back porch. He was just slightly smaller than a St. Bernard. One of the women in our safari group told us that as she was opening up the door to her bungalow, she felt a hand on the back of her bare leg. It was a baboon. What it wanted is anyone’s guess.

When we checked into the Serengeti Lodge in Tanzania, the desk clerk informed us that we were not permitted to leave our bungalows after dark, unless we first phoned the front desk to request an armed escort. It was the dry season and hyenas and buffalos and other animals were coming onto the property to search for water. However, the call-for-help system had a fatal flaw. After arriving in our rooms we found a note informing us that all the hotel’s phones were out of service. They remained that way for our entire stay. As you might guess, we spent little time in our quarters after nightfall.

During the game drives, our guides provided reams of information about the various African creatures. We learned, for example, that cheetahs can’t retract their claws and that they are born without a hunting instinct and must be taught to kill by their mothers. I filled several pages of my notebook with similar unusual facts. Did you know that hippos spend so much time in water because they have no sweat glands; or that giraffes drink once a week, ingesting up to 50 litres at a go; or that hyenas have the strongest jaws of any mammal?

We also learned that some of the world’s most venomous snakes are found in East Africa, including three species of mambas, five types of cobras and four varieties of giant vipers. Fortunately, we had no run-ins with any of these lethal reptiles. We did, however, have an intimate encounter with a bull elephant at Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. We had come close to elephants before, but something about the demeanour of this one caused our normally laid-back guide to stiffen and order us to be quiet. The four-tonne giant strode deliberately toward our vehicle, then paused at the front door and looked inside, before plodding past within inches of the windows. I can still recall the crunching sound of his feet, which seemed unnaturally loud because everyone in the jeep had fallen into a deep and uneasy silence.