Ark to Kigio

Linda: Kigo Wildlife Camp

It has been an interesting time since the luxury of the Mt Kenya Lodge. We visited the animal orphanage at the lodge - they keep animals safe there and try to reintroduce them to the wild but many come back and live at the orphanage. The ostrich named Penelope ate corn out of ur hands as did a monkey. They had climbed up on peoples shoulders the day before but weren't interested in doing that with our group.

Roy has mentioned our golf game. Richard and Tim (van mates) played with us and we had a lot of fun. It was very interesting to have a caddy. Roy and I had Simon for a caddy. The ground was so hard that he teed up my ball for me. Probably a good thing as tees were at a premium. They each had two old tees and if the tee went flying when we hit the ball we had to spend time finding it. It is a nine hole, par 3. We all did pretty well but didn't keep score. The caddies charged us a dollar each for used balls but were very good about finding them when we hit into the bush. Simon would say, "your face was open on that hit". When I out drove the men and was on the edge of the green he said "not too bad". I'd like to have brought him home.

From the Lodge we went to the Ark away out in the bush. 17 km I believe. It is built in the shape of an ark with 4 levels. You have to be escorted in and out as there are wild animals all around. Every level has a veiwing area of the pond and natural salt lick which attracts the animals. The bottom level has a bunker and you look out of small open windows and are just meters from the animals. During the night they ring a buzzer in your room to let you know which animals are outside. We only got buzzed once for an elephant. It was too bad as everyone was hoping for a rhino. There were a great many Cape Buffalo and 7 hyenas, many bush bucks, and lots of wart hogs.

The elephant came around 1:00 am. We had been out a bit earlier to watch the hyenas circling a cape buffalo. I heard the hyenas come past the path by our room and we went out. The action seemed to die out so we went back to bed. No sooner did we get to bed than I heard an elephant trumpet. Back out we went. (the area is flood lit) When we got to the outside viewing area (very cold, the altitude was 7,500 feet) the elephant was backing toward the salt lick and us so it could keep the hyenas in view. They were ranged all around it and a cape buffalo was complacently licking away. The elephant trumpeted and chased the hyena off a bit then began to enjoy the minerals in the salt lick. Between the buffalo and the elephant they kept the hyena away. A little bush buck (like a small deer) and the elephant chased it away too and wouldn't let it rejoin the rest of it's family. It took a long time for the poor little guy to get back to its clan.

The hyena finally chased a bush buck off into the bush and that ended the drama. The hyenas were bully's always making the other animals uncomfortable.

We were back on the bus at 8:00 this morning and travelled to the Kigoio wildlife camp. On the way we stopped at the equator and saw that the water does really go clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter clock wise in the southern hemisphere and goes straight down right on the equator. We also stopped at Thompson Falls which are 260 feet high and were discovered by Thompson in 1897. It was a long, long, bumpy ride here. The potholes we had seen so far were nothing compared to today's. A grown man could get lost in them. We were all dusty and tired when we got to the camp. Here we sleep in tents with cement floors. It is very rustic and we really are not allowed to go outside with out a guide and we really don't want to. Still have to check for scorpions in our shoes and can't drink the water. Tonight we go on a night game drive and see the nocturnal animals. It will be dusty and bumpy as the roads are the worst we have experienced. Our camps electricity is on a generator again so we have no power or hot water during the day time or night when we sleep. Roughing it eh! Sort of from the sublime to the basic.

I haven't mentioned our van mates. We got very lucky and I think we have the best van. Richard and Lori and Tim and Ellen, all from Abbotsford.

Our guide, James says the tour is unique because of the high ratio of men to women and because no one uses a breathing machine at night.