I came to Africa to enjoy the tropical heat, but now the immortal words of the Geographical Society are ringing in my ears: “Snow on the Equator! Impossible!” I slept in a cold bed with two hot water bottles, and now I am jumping on the spot, trying to get some blood back into my feet.
The sun is fighting the thick ground fog, trying to penetrate the savannah, stretching into the distance. A safari truck coughs and spits into life as the day begins.
I left Nairobi yesterday at the crack of dawn and drove North for seven hours on the hunt of a lifetime. Back in the late nineties, I was lucky enough to safari in the Massai Mara, where I had a wonderful week driving through the bush, finding all sorts of creatures. One of the highlights was a white or wide-mouthed rhino that was being babysat in the bush by a ranger. Over the last twenty years, I have wanted to set eyes on another rhino, but unfortunately, due to excessive poaching, there are not many to be found.
I decided that this year would be the year to explore the northern part of Kenya. This area includes Mount Kenya, Nakuru, Meru, and Nanyuki, where I find myself today, some 6,247 feet above sea level.
We managed to find a hotel at the gate of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the home of the rhino in Kenya. To say I was excited to visit this excellent Conservancy is an understatement. After a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and tea, we head into the fog-bound savannah. Our guide, Lawrence, is a little reticent about our chances. The black rhino is a shy but aggressive creature that tends to move away from humans and live in remote areas of the 360 sq km conservancy, but we live in hope. However, he is much more upbeat about the white or wide-mouthed rhinos. “They are lazy,” he says, “and are not bothered by vehicles and humans, probably one of the reasons poachers obliterated them.”
Lawrence, our Ol Pejeta Conservancy rhino guide, explains, “In the 1970s, Kenya was the home to 20,000 rhinos. However, the poachers were keen to sell the rhino horns to buyers who would grind the horn into fine powder and sell it as an aphrodisiac to rich, fat Chinese businessmen. This led to the downfall of this prehistoric animal to such an extent that in a survey done in 2010, there were only 600 left in the wild.”
In 2004, the UK-based conservation organization Fauna and Flora International purchased the Ol Pejete Coffee farm for 15 million dollars. The area is ideal for rhinos, with a high annual rainfall and temperatures in the late 30s during the day but dropping to the teens at night. The rhinos are free to wander wherever they want, with their ranger, guardian angel, following behind. The food is plentiful, with thunderstorms regularly rolling in from the distant hills, feeding the swamps and rivers.
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As the fog starts to burn off, the long grass glistens with morning dew as we drive into the savannah of Ol Pejeta Conservancy. After half an hour of gazing into the distance, Lawrence suddenly says, “There a white just ahead at 10 o’clock.”
I peer through the haze at what looks like a white hump far off on the plain. We drive the car closer, then creep forward in low gear to within about 30 yards of a lone white male nibbling on the grass.
In hushed, reverential tones, Lawrence says, “This is a wide mouth or white rhino. There is confusion about their names, which has never been cleared up, but we use wide-mouthed here. Look at his mouth. It is long, broad, and flat. This guy is a grazer. He must eat as much grass as possible before it gets too hot. His brother, the black rhino, has a more pointed snout and mouth. He is a browser; he eats fruits from the trees, plants, leaves, and grass.”
My camera is clicking away like a runaway train on a track. This massive beast is fantastic; he is the size of the Toyota we are sitting in and has a spear-shaped horn on his nose. The old guy peers at us through his myopic, tiny eyes and then returns to his grass. The massive herbivore is constantly roaming, and within minutes, he wanders away from the road and into the distance, his ever-present ranger strolling along behind him.
Our journey takes us across plains full of zebra and warthogs, all vying for a space to eat the choicest wet grass before the sun burns it dry. We gradually peel off layers as the sun starts to make its way across the sky. We drive the tracks of Ol Pejeta, searching for our elusive black rhino. On the way, we bump into a group of four wide-mouth rhinos lying in the morning sun.
We finally round a curve and come over the crest of a hill, and Lawrence says, “Stop!” We sit in silence, not sure what to do. Then Lawrence says, “Now back up a little.”
A black rhino mum and child are standing in the middle of the road. She is eyeing us and is not happy. Lawrence explains, “She could charge; black rhinos are notoriously aggressive, and she has a child.” We sit with bated breath as this two-and-a-half-ton dinosaur eyes us, sniffs the air, and waggles her ears. I can’t help myself, so I started manically taking photos and videos of the amazing site. The mother looks at her baby and pushes it in front of her, keeping her huge behind, pointing at the car. It seems we are not a threat as the mother rhino pushes her child across the road and up a small bank. Then she looks back at us and disappears into the bush.
I was gobsmacked by the site. It was awesome, more than I could have imagined, and a great way to end the morning’s drive. I had clicked and shot so many videos my camera batteries were nearly dead, and my memory card was full. It was time to return to the lodge for lunch and a recharge. Then we would hit the road again and head to see Baraka, an old black rhino living at the sanctuary, and hopefully spot some chimpanzees, the only ones in Kenya. So, hang tight, and I will fill you in next month.
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Top Tips for the Perfect African Safari Vehicle
The Naming of Kenya-How and Why!
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