There might be some competition for the title, but the drive from the Lewa "airport" (dirt strip, not even a lean-to, very cool place to land) to the Sirikoi Lodge is my choice as MADFAAITW (which means, of course, the Most Astonishing Drive From An Airport In The World).
It all makes sense now, as the landing strip is located in the Lewa Conservancy. But at the time, I was astonished by the sheer number and variety of wild animals we saw. So, even though it was just an airport transfer, it was more like a game drive.
Our guide for the drives, James, picked us up at the airport He is very patient, stopping and waiting for us (primarily Sanjiv and I) to take photos. (Spoiler alert: James has been an excellent guide. Which is probably why he guided for Prince William and Kate. More importantly, James also guided for Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame.)
The land is absolutely stunning; a fitting backdrop for the animals. Wide open savanna with oases and water holes every so often. Both stands of trees and solitary trees that are evocative of scenes from every movie you've ever seen set in Africa.
I won't be doing a lot of writing for this trip blog, because the photos tell the story. But come along and join me, because there are some stories to tell. The pictures below are all from the MADFAAITW -- and these are only a portion of the photos I took on that short drive.
We checked into our beautiful two bedroom cottage, with master suites for both us and the Bansals. There is a large middle room and a small kitchen. Each of the three rooms has a fireplace, and our porter would build a fire in each one at night. The best feature is the deck. At night we've been sitting around the firepit, telling stories if we have one. During the day all sorts of animals have passed by in our backyard, and there are many, many more animals in the adjoining savanna and waterhole.
It's a short walk to the beautiful outdoor dining room, which gets us even closer to the waterhole. There's a heated infinity pool with spectacular views of the wildlife, and it's going to be difficult to leave this place! Some of the photos I took from the deck that first day are below.
Note the blue legs on the ostrich.
Common Zebra. They have wider
stripes that the Grevy Zebra, which is
not found outside of a small part
of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
The first, but far from last, elephants we saw.
White rhinos are grazers, while black rhinos
are browsers (they eat leaves). White rhinos
are called "white" not because of their
coloring, but because the Dutch settlers
used the word "wyd" to describe their
mouths. Early English settlers in
South Africa thought they were saying
"white."
Buffalo are the main source of food for
lions, primarily because there are so many.
Don't be fooled though, as the hook
shape of the horns are quite dangerous to
lions and humans alike. Buffalo become
more dangerous when wounded.
The oxpecker is welcome relief for white
and black rhinos, as the bird eats the
ticks that latch onto rhinos.
White rhinos are much chiller
than black rhinos, who's
answer to everything is
to charge and attack.
The oxpecker isn't just hitching a ride.
This impala gets better gas
mileage than a Chevy Impala.
This is an eye of a common zebra.
Females are dominant in the hierarchy.
The lead female leads the group when
moving, with foal and other females
behind her. The stallion guards the rear.
This impala is the first of the photos I took
from our deck. He's off the left on our
"backyard."
The one in the back is a Grevy's Zebra,
pronounced by our guide James
as "gravy," and it is especially popular
served at Kenyan Thanksgiving, spooned
over their turkey, stuffing, and mashed
potatoes. (Editor: Don't mislead your
readers! Writer: I'm not worried. I have
the smartest readers in the blogosphere.
They know it's a joke.)
When walking, giraffes move both legs on
one side at the same time. So both
right legs step, and then both left legs step.
With the open air middle room, we were
told to keep our bedroom doors closed
because the monkeys like to go in and
take Ambien and Malarone, which
I suppose is why they sleep well and
never get malaria.
Bright blue coloring of his, um, well,
this is a family blog, so move along
to the next picture.
Same dude as above. Look
at the length of his tail.
Grevy's zebras are the only ones who have
a "kindergarten" for their foals. While their
moms go to the watering hole to drink,
the stallion watches the foals. Of
course, most of these are Common
Zebras, except the one in the very back.
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