Gorillas in the mist

Gorilla tracking in Rwanda has been on our wish list for a while now and we were thrilled to finally have the opportunity to visit Volcanoes National Park. It was all that we had hoped for and more; a truly unforgettable experience.

More photos here.

The Elephant Whisperer

What's better than a book about a conservationist in Africa? A book about him adopting a rogue elephant herd, of course!

Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. Then he was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand. His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them.

In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.

The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony's experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. Set against the background of life on an African game reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, Anthony's unrelenting efforts at animal protection and his remarkable connection with nature will inspire animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere. 

Source: The Elephant Whisperer on Amazon.

Serengeti = Maasai Mara...

... just across the border!

The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region that is located in northern Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya. The Kenyan part of the Serengeti is known as Maasai Mara!

The Serengeti hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, which is one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population and is one of the best places to observe prides in their natural environment. Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language, Maa; specifically, "Serengit" meaning "Endless Plains". Much of the Serengeti was known to outsiders as Maasailand.

Serengeti's Official Website.

Sources: Wiki & Image from utalii.com

Kenyan Safari

Visiting Amboseli National Park and Lake Nakuru National Park in August 2011 were unforgettable experiences. Seeing all the majestic animals roam the land freely, without chains and cages, now that was a real thrill. I first experienced it when I went whale watching in Cape Cod and this time around I felt it in a stronger way. Hundreds of elephants and other animals ambling about, free to do as they please and go where they want. Peaceful co-habitation. Freedom.

Full set of pictures here.

Giraffe Centre

The Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, Kenya was started to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe and to help breed it in captivity. The program has been very successful.

It is a wonderful place to interact with giraffes from a raised platform. Not only do you get to observe them at very close quarters but you are also allowed to feed the giraffes little treats made from molasses by hand! They seem to love them enough to play a game of tennis-watch for them. See for yourself:

It's surreal being so close to so many of these tall beauties. I learned that they are intelligent creatures, they actually respond to their names!

Most intriguing however, was the fact that their saliva is so antiseptic that their mouths are perpetually clean. In fact, they eat leaves from the thorny acacia since the thorn wounds heal rapidly owing to the antispectic nature of the saliva!

Here are some pictures from our trip there. You will also see some happy warthogs who enjoy the treats that the giraffes drop.

Giraffe Centre

The Lone Acacia

I often wondered about the images that pop up when he hear the word 'Africa' (or type it in Google for that matter). Sunsets, giraffes, elephants, lions... and the acacia tree (or two). For me, the image that remained etched in my mind after just a few days at Amboseli, is the image of the lone acacia tree. You turn your head and you see miles and miles of flat land, hills in the distance and directly in view, there it stands, the lone acacia tree. I saw it so often and wondered how the landscape managed so cleverly, to repeatedly bring into view, (with changing backgrounds), just one lone acacia, standing tall.

Dave Sheldrick

Official Photos from Dave Sheldrick Postcards and Newsletter

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is an orphanage for Baby Elephants. It was started by Daphne Sheldrick to honour the memory of her husband David, who was a great naturalist. The couple served as the wardens of the Tsavo National Park in Kenya.

Baby elephants are orphaned for various reasons - some mothers die of natural causes, poachers are rampant and mothers are brutally killed for ivory while innocent babies look on, some mothers die when herds get caught in the middle of human conflict. However, it should be noted that most elephants are orphaned due to humans and their activities. Each year 19,000 African elephants are killed.

Once found, the baby elephants are brought to DSWT and hand-reared by a group of dedicated staff members using a special formula of milk whice Daphne took years to develop and perfect. After about three years of TLC, the elephants are taken back into the wild and rehabilitated with a herd. As they are young, they are easily accepted by the mother of the herd and the young ones learn to follow the rules of the herd. A noble initiative that is being well carried out. Another place of hope in an ugly world.
I was fortunate to visit the shelter and say hello to some of the sweet elephant babies there. The shelter also cares for rhinos, one of them completely blind, but at peace.

• Recent NPR Article on getting raincoats for these Baby Elephants.


• Read also about BBC's http://www.elephantdiaries.org/


• Official Website.


• My Photographs:
  
  
  
  
  

  Dave Sheldrick

National Parks Galore

The list of national parks in Kenya and Tanzania is larger than I had imagined! The national park system of Kenya is maintained by the Kenya Wildlife Service. KWS Official Website.

Africa’s Lost Eden

The Gorongosa National Park is located in Mozambique, at the southern end of the Great East African Rift Valley. I learned about it first, from a National Geographic Documentary titled "Africa's Lost Eden". Trailer here.
The film explains how this wondrous park, once abundant with wildlife (and even known as ‘the place where Noah left his Ark’), saw almost all its wildlife completely wiped out due to the long civil conflict in Mozambique. A very large and courageous restoration project is now underway at Gorongosa; led by The Carr Foundation, a U.S. not-for-profit organization, and the Government of Mozambique. An attempt to relocate animals from national parks in other parts of Africa, with a hope that they will , help re-populate Gorongosa and someday bring it back to its former glory.

Official Website. Historic Photo Gallery.

Out of Africa - II

After hearing innumerable references to the film, I finally watched 'Out of Africa'. The film, which is based on a true story, and adapted from the writings of Karen Blixen, showcases various aspects of Kenya, notably:

• Kikuyu: Kenya's most populous ethnic group. Environmental and Political Activist and Author Waangari Maathai is Kikuyu.
• Maasai: an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania.
• Kenya's Natural Beauty: Aerial shots of the beautiful landscape reminded me of Yann-Arthus Bertrand's photograph of the Flamingos on Lake Nakuru in Kenya.
• Life in the early 1900s when the British controlled Kenya (then British East Africa).

I enjoyed the film very much (except the hunting scenes) and found it romantic and touching.

The film on Wiki, and the book it was based on.

Pamplemousses

In the district of Pamplemousses, which is in the north of the island, there is a beautiful botanical garden. It is peaceful and serene and provides a welcome overdose of fresh green!

Here is some info I found: "Famous to naturalists for its 500 species of indigenous and exotic plants of which 80 are palms, this garden is located in the proximity of Port-Louis and spreads over 60 acres.

Among the plants growing there, there are the giant Victorial Regia water lilies and the talipot palm, said to flower once every sixty years and then die. The garden was created by Pierre Poivre in 1767 in the Estate of the French Governor Mahé de Labourdonnais. The latter's Chateau de Mon Plaisir, built in 1735, is found there."

Papillons

One Saturday in April 2005, we spent the entire morning at La Vanille Crocodile Park. The park is well maintained and much of it is like a nature walk. We saw plenty of crocodiles, some interesting fruit bats, lots of geckos, monkeys, and mongooses.

They have here an amazing insectarium where thousands of insects are beautifully displayed. An entomologist who lives in Africa worked on these exhibits for 30 years. All of are neatly labelled in his beautiful handwriting. There were bugs and creepy-crawlies of all sorts. The butterflies were beautiful and the spiders scary!

Casela Bird Park

In May 2005, I visited the Casela Bird and Nature Park. Casela is a mini-zoo with a fantastic collection of birds (and plenty of other animals including tigers, zebras, javan deer, etc.). The aviaries are well maintained and have many exotic birds including some of my favourites - the Toucan, the Makaw and the Bleeding Heart Pigeon. If you come to Mauritius, you must meet the famous "Pink Pigeon". Luckily, they've saved this one from extinction (and a lot of the hard work was done by Gerald Durrel and his team). I saw many amazing photo opportunities but the I had a really hard time taking pictures because of the cages! :(

The Casela Park entrance ticket costs Rs.150 but they have a superb safari ride through the mountains for just Rs.30. I spotted these beauties while we were heading towards the mountains.

At Casela, I had the privilege of meeting Lori, the cockatoo. She is 30 years old. She can talk, dance and whistle a variety of tunes. She loves meeting new people. I had read about her and was eager to meet her.

At the petting zoo Lori was in her cage and as soon as I saw her I said "Hello" at least 10 times and she wouldn't reply. I kept wondering why until the sweet lady who takes care of her (and who took this picture) said "Oh, Lori speaks only French"!! She responded to my first "Bonjour" and happily climbed onto my arm to have a nice conversation with me and whistle some tunes for me. She was fascinated with my camera. I took a picture of her and showed it to her and she was amazed with it - she kept touching it with her beak. She also liked my bag and had a nice time walking all over it. So adorable!