AFRICA: BUFFALO SPRINGS NATIONAL RESERVE DAY 2 MORNING DRIVE (KENYA)

Vervet monkey outside our lodge. (Photo by E. Tooke)

Ever since we got home from Africa, we have been asked a lot of questions about our trip, and a few keep popping up.

Question: Were your game drives crowded? Were there lots of people gawking at animals and causing traffic jams like there are in Yellowstone?
Answer: No, they weren't crowded at all. For example, seven safari lodges surround Buffalo Springs National Reserve, which is a relatively small reserve. Anyone can bring a private car into the reserve, but almost everyone goes with a tour group, which means that the tourist population is partly limited by the number of rooms available in the lodges. Of course, it is also possible to drive in with a tour, do a drive through the park, and then drive somewhere else for lodgings. We did see a few private vehicles, but they were very rare. We never felt that there were a lot of people in this (or any other) reserve/park we were in.

Question: Did your group do any hunting?
Answer: Hunting safaris ended in 1977, and Kenya joined an international animal protection group in 1978. In most cases, even the local tribes are not allowed to kill game.

Question: What time of day did you see the most animals?
Answer: We usually had two game drives in each game reserve, a morning drive and and afternoon drive. I would have expected to see many more animals in the morning than the afternoon, but it didn't seem to matter when we were looking. We saw animals all the time--although what we saw varied according to the time of day.

That should do it. Back to the safari.

Our second game drive in Buffalo Springs National Reserve was a morning drive. After a delicious buffet breakfast at the Sarova Shaba Game Lodge, we climbed into our Land Cruisers. On our way, we passed these two delightful children with their wooden Medusa-like hairdos. It was common to see children carrying varying-sized bundles of wood. Even children in uniforms on their way to school were sometimes cheerfully carrying loads like these in their arms or on their heads. 

AFRICA: BUFFALO SPRINGS NATIONAL RESERVE DAY 1 AFTERNOON DRIVE (KENYA)

It is a challenge to write about a long safari because in some respects, every day is alike. On most days we had breakfast followed by a morning safari drive. We were back for lunch, and then had another safari drive in the afternoon, returning for dinner and bed. Honestly, before the trip when I envisioned day after day of driving around looking for animals, I was worried that it would get boring. In addition, I tend to get motion sickness, and the thought of bumping along on dirt roads for a couple of weeks didn't sound like my dream vacation.

However, I did not find this to be the case. The big surprise was that every drive was a new adventure, every day had its unique moments and sightings, and I never got bored. As for the motion sickness, I had come prepared with scopolamine patches (the kind worn behind the ear that are often used by people on cruises), and they were generally pretty good at preventing any problems.

I have decided that the best way to write about this experience is to begin by giving an overview of the location of a drive, and then list the animals we saw on that drive. That way if someone is looking for a post about a particular animal, it will be easy to scan the list at the beginning. Also, a list will show the variety of animals we saw every day, which is what made this trip so amazing. I will follow the list with photos of some of the animals and a little commentary.

Here we go!

After the long drive from the Kenya Mountain Lodge to the Sarova Shaba Lodge, we had lunch and a short rest, and then we headed out on our first real safari in the Buffalo Springs National Reserve, 51 square miles on the southern side of the Ewaso Nyiro river (the river that runs through the lodge property).  The other side of the river is the Samburu National Reserve. Buffalo Springs was a great place to begin.

ANIMAL SIGHTINGS 

Those marked with an * are unique to this particular area of Kenya

Termites (or at least their homes)

*Beisa oryxes

*Reticulated giraffes

Common zebras and *Grevy's zebras

Black-backed jackal

*Gerenuk

Impala

Grant's gazelles

Nile monitor

Baboons

Vervet monkeys

Superb starlings

White great heron

Red billed hornbill

Yellow billed hornbill

At an altitude of about 3,000 to 4,000 feet and less than 100 miles north of the equator, the Buffalo Springs Reserve is hot and dry. Flat-topped acacia trees spread their thorny branches threateningly across the arid landscape.