Bolger Family Travels: You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometimes, You Get What You Need

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometimes, You Get What You Need

The Operations Center is not that far from a spot where a leopard is often sighted, so James set out to find one. And that's the thing about African safaris, even if you don't find what you are looking for, the magic is in the looking. . .because you'll always see multiple interesting or exciting animals, views, birds, plants, etc.

(Editor: Did you really just use “spot” and “leopard” in the same sentence without referring to a “leopard’s spots?” Writer: Don’t worry, my devoted readers are chuckling over my punny humor. Editor: More likely groaning. Writer: As long as they react, that’s what counts.)

You are allowed to go off-road* in pursuit of three cats – lions, leopards, and cheetahs. So James took us off-road through some incredibly stunning territory. And while we saw some beautiful wildlife, including a hornbill, an eland, an eagles nest (but no eagles. . .yet), a heart beast antelope, superb starlings**, elephants, giraffes, and more, there was not a leopard to be, yes, spotted. It was still a cool drive, and long from over.

Having done a South African safari in 2014, I came to Kenya with several goals in mind:

1. Enjoy all the animals;

2. Take in the scenery; and

3. See a male lion, a leopard, and a cheetah.

Having seen the cheetah the night before, that was thrilling. And of course, while we have joked about tiring of seeing certain plentiful animals such as zebras and cape buffalos, it’s still a thrill. I was beginning to resign myself to not seeing an elusive leopard or a male lion.

*“Road” being loosely used above, as there are, understandably, no paved road. It’s all single lane dirt roads, or alternatively, two dirt strips of tire tracks through the savanna.

* Yes, “superb starling” is the actual name, not just my editorial comment on how good it looks. That noted, I would have gone with “mahvulous starling” as in Billy Crystal’s “you look mah-vul-ous” line. But I’m also betting that the starling was so-named long before Mr. Saturday Night hit the big-time.