Elephants and Kilimanjaro

Recent ventures out of Nairobi took us south, to a town called Loitokitok and one of the best locations for elephant spotting in Kenya. As we neared the town and the border with Tanzania, police and army checks appeared about once every 15km or so, looking for Somalis we are told. Kenya is quite sensitive after being accused by the Americans of having weak borders which allow the Somalis to easily target neighbouring countries like Uganda. The standard of roads here is also much better than any others I have been on in Kenya, owing much to the strengthening of the East African Community and the importance that trade between the 5 countries will play. There are even discussions going ahead about a single currency, causing people to ask me how we like having the Euro!

Loitokitok is a small town located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, on the Kenyan side. The town, apparently ignored by the majority of tourists, is in a stunning location, with the backdrop of the snow-capped mountain towering above it and beautiful views of the surrounding hills and valley below.

This area of Kenya does have a distinctly different feel to it because of the dominance of Masaai culture. The Masaai are the most well known tribe in Kenya and are what sells many of those quintessential images of the country: tall men dressed up in beads and red draped clothing jumping up and down with their ‘rungu’ staffs. In reality the Masaai are far from the largest group, their numbers are actually dwindling, and the majority of them live in Tanzania now. They do mostly wear their traditional dress, beads included, or for the more modern Masaai youth, fluorescent coloured clothes it seems. Masaai people are still herding their animals across this part of Kenya and have got into several bitter disputes with the government about rights to roam. In fact the lions of Amboseli became a victim of this dispute when bitter Masaai killed as many as they could find after being shut out of the park. There is a feeling of being squeezed out of their lands and down towards the border as land becomes more desirable for other purposes. Within Loitokitok itself there is also growing resentment of the arrival of more and more Kikuyus, the dominant Kenyan tribe who stereotypically have a good head for business. It will change the character of the town, we were told, making it seem more like other central Kenyan towns. In some respects though it already does, every Masaai man in Loitokitok seems to be either a Man United or an Arsenal fan.

Loitokitok is the perfect base for visiting nearby Amboseli national park, a park small enough for a day trip, which we did starting in the dark at 5.30 in the morning. Arriving at the park that early was definitely worth it though as this is when the animals are out and active. We were very lucky to see group after group of beautiful elephants, hippos, ostrich, zebra and giraffe, but to top it all off two male lions on the prowl at very close quarters to us, and a rarely spotted cerval (big cat with pointy ears).

Elephants live in family herds, and are exceptionally protective of their calves. One jumbo decided our car had got a little too close, so we were treated to a very noisy warning not to come any closer while the whole family fell into a defensive position around the calf the jumbo believed we’d threatened. The elephant’s roar was all the more impressive because these parks are so quiet. We were staring at fifty to a hundred elephants, a plethora of birds, some hippos and probably a lot more we couldn’t pick out, yet the only noise was coming from inside our vehicle.

Then up to observation hill to look out over the park and up at the mountain towering above before leaving the park by lunchtime when the animals tend to hide away or just stand for hours on end in the baking sun. At one point on the hill we were totally alone, with elephants, hippos and hyena the only life in view between us and Mt Kilimanjaro.

 

 If anyone is considering a safari themselves – anywhere from here to Mombasa, we’d highly recommend Moses Buli (bulimoses@yahoo.com / 0723 281840) or Ann (0721653467) as your guides. They booked us in a great hotel at ksh600 a night, and can provide a van for six for the day at Amboseli for around ksh8000. This commercial has now finished.

We spent the next day taking a hike up the lowest slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, which was tiring enough, walking until will found a lovely little waterfall and then out into the surrounding maize fields. People seem to grow nothing but maize here, whereas about 5 miles down the road it is apparently all sunflowers. Seeing how rural communities live in Kenya makes you realize the stark differences in prosperity within this country. Children here are dressed in dirty rags and will probably spend their entire lives scrapping a meager living in this town, not for them the lofty ambitions of the city children who, in their pristine uniforms, dream of studying in America and driving a fancy car.

As we headed out of town at the end of our weekend we popped in to say hello to another volunteer in the nearby town of Kimana, only to be taken on an impromptu adventure that beat even the lion spotting. We jumped on the back of two piki pikis (small motorbikes) and headed off into the bush just off the roadside, led by a local off duty game warden. Weaving in and out of the scrub we rode alongside galloping giraffes and fighting zebras, startled gazelle and very large birds that we couldn’t identify, it was a truly amazing experience and made for a very memorable weekend.

For more pictures go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61370474@N03/sets/72157626447036418/
And for the video of the piki piki go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61370474@N03/5597794792/in/set-72157626447036418

Jo