Last Friday, Phil Curtis (Anne’s brother), his wife Leslie, stepdaughter Katie and I drove through Lewa to the West Gate and onto Borana, a privately owned conservancy abutting Lewa. Owned by the Dyer family since the ’20’s, the 32,000 acres are home to much the same wildlife as Lewa. Ranching, several lodges and private residences support Borana’s conservation activities.

Entering Borana we forded a river and wound our way over hills and through gullies, climbing around 1,000 feet, until we reached the Borana escarpment. For Lion King fans, we passed an enormous rock on the way up which was the inspiration for Pride Rock.

Our plan for the day was to go horseback riding then have lunch at the Borana Lodge. When we arrived at the stable, they were ready for us. After quickly putting on chaps and helmets, we filled out the rider information form and read the general instructions to learn:

This ride is for advanced riders only. You must be comfortable with galloping because when we get near elephants you may need to gallop away if they charge. Your horse may break into a gallop if you accidently come upon a lion. Sometimes birds will startle your horse and your horse may rear. Buffalo are generally not a problem. They will not usually charge whether they are alone or in groups.

This was Leslie and Katie’s first horseback ride. Phil’s experience was limited to nose-to-tail trail rides and I claim no expertise. So we mounted up and headed out.

Our two guides, expert horsemen both, bracketed us front and rear. It wasn’t long before we came upon a grazing giraffe.

We continued seeing occasional wildlife and getting used to being in the saddle on trained polo horses. After climbing a hill we could see elephants in the distance.

Riding back down we got closer to the elephants but (keeping in mind our lack of experience) our guides didn’t let us get too near.

About then our guide got a call from the lodge wondering where we were. It was getting past lunch time. I guess I am learning a little bit of Kiswahili as I overheard, “Apana trot, apana canter, polei polei.” No trot, no canter, slow, slow.” Yep, that pretty much described us.

As we began wending our way back to the stables an eland appeared on the hillside in front of us. We took a slight detour to get a closer look when the lead guide excitedly shouted “Simba! Simba!”

Just past the eland there was a female lion feeding. Our guide made sure that we didn’t get closer than about 200 yards. Even at that distance my horse got a bit twitchy; whether from the nearness of the lion or eagerness to get back to the stable, I don’t know. The guides said that it had been several days since lodge guests had seen a lion and he had not seen one from horseback since he’d begun working at Borana nine months before.

We left the lion to finish her meal and ambled our way back to the stables. Climbing down we all groaned. “That was really fun but I don’t think I’ll be able to walk for a week.”

Throughout the ride the guides kept apologizing for the lack of wildlife, it was in the heat of the day and everything was hiding under an acacia. But we saw giraffe, duiker, dik dik, gerenuk, eland, gazelle, elephant, and lion. No complaints on our part. And … it really is different seeing a giraffe, elephant or lion from horseback rather than a car. One feels just that bit more at risk, that bit more real, that bit more part of nature not observing nature.

Oh yeah, we did go on to the lodge for a delightful gazpacho, salad and pizza lunch followed by Phil, Leslie and Kate taking a dip in an infinity pool overlooking a gorgeous valley while I took a bit of a nap. Life is Good.