Last week I visited all the schools in Biliqo Bulesa, a conservancy northeast of Lewa, large in area and small in population. My driver, cook and I packed up our camping gear, food for a week, plenty of water and headed out. One hour of tarmac road and four hours on dirt found us in Merti. We spent the first night in a small hotel. I had the expensive room, Ksh 600 ($7.20) with indoor plumbing. Simon, the driver, and Faith the cook stayed in the Ksh 300 rooms. They had the better deal. Their board walls with gaping holes, paneless window openings and thatch roof let in a cool breeze while I sweltered in my block construction with sheet metal roof which absorbed and retained the daytime desert heat.

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If you haven’t looked at it in a while you might try a quick gander. We now have 40 different bird species pictures that we have taken in Kenya.

I woke up and opened my eyes. It was dark and moonless outside. Stars were shining through the upper corner of our bedroom window, a sure sign it was not yet 4 am. I mentally ran through the check list of reasons I might be awake: Cold? No. Hot? No. Need to go to the bathroom? No. I looked at my watch. It was 2:58 am. Then I became aware of sounds; loud breathing, guttural grunts, munching, the occasional clunk and a branch snapping.

John, also awake, whispered from beside me “Do you hear that?” “Yeah,” I replied. “What is it?” We lay there for a minute or two listening. It got closer and louder. “Why does it sound like a toilet is flushing?” I asked, by now up on my elbows peering through the mosquito netting into the night. It is no more than 30 feet from our bedroom window to our outdoor shower. Whatever it was, it was somewhere in that scant 10 yards.

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The journey to visit all NRT schools has begun. Before recommending an education program for the NRT it is necessary to get into the field and see what is actually in place. So, I designed a school assessment survey, hired a consultant to help, and started visiting every school, ECDE (pre-school), primary, and secondary in the conservancies. Paul Leringato, the consultant, and I are gathering information about the students, teachers, existing infrastructure, and NGO’s which are currently helping the schools.
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Hang around safari guides and you quickly learn that witnessing a big cat bring down its prey is the homerun of wildlife viewing. Nature in action; raw, fast and final. Tourists pay big tips for such a memory and the accompanying photographs.

The sun was sinking toward the Borana Hills as Susie, Lynn and I headed home after a fairly successful game drive. We’d seen giraffe, rhino, oryx and the usual assortment of swala (hooved animals of the antelope variety). A family of elephants grazing in a swamp twenty feet from the road held us entranced for a good fifteen minutes. Lynn had spotted a large tortoise heading into the grass and we added a new species to our ever growing list.

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Guest post by Lynn Pownell

I am now back in snowy freezing North Carolina and missing the warm sunshine of Kenya. Susie and I headed for home two days after new guests arrived. The overlap was fun, highlighted by an invitation to share in a sundowner dinner party. Rehema and Wamuyu cooked all afternoon, we packed the car, crowded into the back seat and, after a slight delay in route to wait for a group of elephants to finish their dinner with a typical teen not willing to give up the tender grasses in the middle of the road until he was good and ready, we arrived at a special place. As we made new acquaintances, sipped cocktails, and ate wonderful food, the sun slipped away from the expansive landscape and the brilliant moon took its place.

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On Monday, January 13, 2014, Paul Leringato and I climbed into my Toyota Land Cruiser and headed to the Naibunga Conservancy, one of NRT’s more remote conservancies. Loaded with a change of clothing, computer, school survey forms, power bars, and a couple of bedrolls (just in case we found ourselves stuck overnight under an acacia tree), we were going to visit the schools in the conservancy and assess their teachers, students and infrastructure. Four five-liter bottles of water, toilet paper, and a few biscuits (cookies) from the Nakumat in Nanyuki completed our provisioning.

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Tim Quigley is visiting and he is a birder. With his help we have added a bird page to the blog. As we photograph new birds we will post them there. We will identify them if we can. If you think we are mistaken or in cases where we don’t manage an identification please leave a comment with your thoughts.

While Tim is here I think we will do okay on the identifications. After he leaves all bets are off.

To reach the Bird page click “Bird” on the masthead.

I know I’ve been remiss in writing, but sometimes there is so much going on that there is no time for reflection. My habit has been to get up when the rumble of the generator penetrates my consciousness at 6 am. I plug in the electric kettle, brew a pot of coffee and then take my mug, pad and pen to a comfortable perch on the couch. There I watch the sunlight creep over the hill across the valley, look for wildlife and write. An hour later, Rehema knocks gently on the door and enters with “Good morning, how was your night?” Then the bustle of the day begins. John and I head to the office between 9:00 and 9:30.

For the past ten days, since returning from the U.S., this routine has been interrupted by jetlag, early morning work requirements and, happily, our guests – Susie and Lynn – who often show up before 7 am with binoculars and cameras in hand ready for a morning game drive. When this happens, we quickly fortify ourselves with caffeine, grab the car keys and head out into the bush. I am transformed from neophyte Kenyan to experienced tour guide.
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