Tsavo

Photo: Tsavo

// November 12th, 1996 // Kenya, Passage To Africa

The one thing I didn’t expect was the vibrant coloring. The landscape glowed in red and orange. The lodge had a wonderful verandah you could relax on and watch the animals drink at the watering hole. The most endearing was a young elephant.   It took him over an hour to work up the courage. He acted like a child playing hide-n-seek. Starting out behind a tree 100 yards away, he’d peak around the tree and then go back behind it. After an hour, he finally mustered up the courage to come all the way down to the water.

The lodge also had several “nonpaying” guests on the grounds, a group of groundhogs! They were absolutely adorable and would bake for hours on the rocks outside the lodge. Beautiful views, friendly furry locals, good food, and comfortable accommodations – who could ask for more? But, there was more – wonderful game drives into the bush around Tsavo!

We didn’t see any big cats at Tsavo,   but we saw plenty of zebras and antelope, and the area itself had many beautiful vistas through the valley. I don’t think the zebras think much of the tourists – they have a favorite position for photographs – they turn so you get a nice view of their back ends.
On one of the game drives from the lodge we traveled up into the hills to a spring. Though the sign at the entry reminded all exactly how “wild” the area was, it was a beautiful, peaceful oasis, home to several hippos and monkeys.

Traveling by minibus through Tsavo, and then across the country side to Amboseli we stopped at a check point going out of one of the game reserves. That’s where I snapped the picture of the cute little guy on the right. He posed so beautifully for me, and I was so interested in him, I didn’t even notice until I got the pictures developed he was sitting on a gnu skull!

Oh – travel note: The roads in Kenya are HORRIBLE. Between the game reserves, they’re mostly dirt and washboard rough. My advice – if you can afford it Fly! Most of the bigger reserves have landing strips and planes that fly in on a regular basis.


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