OL PEJETA  – just rhino-ing around 

Saturday – What a great night’s sleep.  Just to be in my own room and lie in bed, slowly waking up and listening to the sounds of silence is wonderful.

Whilst many people would lie here for ages I am up and getting ready for the day – maybe even a bit of sunrise photography.

We have turned the itinerary around and today we are visiting the wonderful Ol Pejeta Conservancy.  The recent rains have made some deep furrows in the roadway but our drivers advise that all should be good.

Another wonderful brekky and we are soon on our way for another full day of animal encounters.  On our drive down the bumpy track to the entrance we spot some Long Tailed Widowbirds so of course we come to a stop to catch these wonderful long tailed flyers.

They zip around and as soon as I get one in the picture it takes off – then comes back again.

Wikipedia advises that once again it is the males that have all the colours and between six and eight of their twelve tail feathers are approximately half a metre long.

The tail during flight display is expanded vertically into a deep, long keel as he flies with slow wing beats.  Well, Mr Wiki it is not slow wing beats – they are fast little buggers.

But we have had enough and now it is on to serious stuff – The Big 5.

For those of you who do not watch Natgeo and therefore do not know what the Big 5 are, here’s the list: Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo and Leopard.  How exciting will that be to see them all on the one day even though we have been nearly elephanted out earlier at Amboseli. We all have enough batteries and cards etc as we will also be having lunch out here somewhere so let’s go.

First up a little bit about Ol Pejeta. The Conservancy is a 360 km2 not-for-profit organisation.  It is situated on the equator and works to conserve wildlife, provide a sanctuary for great apes and to generate income through wildlife tourism.  It boasts the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, and in 2013 reached a population milestone of 100 black rhino. It also houses the three remaining Northern white rhino in the world, who were moved here from the Czech Republic.

Driving along we spot a group of Common Zebra but they do not want to co-operate and keep their rears pointed toward us.  Well, two can play that game, we ignore them to a degree (read more bum shots) and it is not long before we see our first white rhino.

NATURE LESSON : The white rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros is the largest existing species of rhino.  It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The English word “white” is said to have been derived by mistranslation of the Dutch word “wijd”, which means “wide” in English.

The word “wide” refers to the width of the rhinoceros’ mouth. So early English-speaking settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the “wijd” for “white” and the rhino with the wide mouth ended up being called the white rhino and the other one, with the narrow pointed mouth, was called the black rhino.  

There is a group of four just wandering around with not a fence in sight.  Talk about being overcome – these magnificent creatures – how on earth could anyone kill them just to take their horn?  Greed and money that’s why.  If I was a Ranger I would shoot the bastard poachers without blinking an eye.

What is it with animals and their bums? Don’t they realise it is not their best view?

Chris has brought his GoPro and of course not wanting to miss a moment of the action he gets it ready and sets it on the ground heading toward the pack.  Of course the one with the biggest horn takes an interest and does not seem happy with this intrusion.  He snorts and snuffles, takes a step forward and then back, more snorting and snuffling and then up to the car to attack and crash!

Down comes that bloody great horn on the top of the camera and he quickly retreats with the look ‘that will show you guys just who’s boss around here’.

Chris’ baby whirs and then with wheels pointing in different directions he manages to get it to limp back to the jeep to be reclaimed.  This has provided a great bit of mirth for us all, not to mention some action videos of said battle!  Love it – just love it.  No damage to the camera – the car needs some repair.

Once everyone has enough photos (how many is enough?) it’s time to hit the trail.

This is a Lilac Breasted Roller.  One of the many, many beautiful birds we encounter. Before you all jump up and down about the photographer’s rule of thirds, just let me point out that it was blue sky everywhere and nothing else.

Isn’t he a pretty thing?  It’s amazing how long we stay waiting for him to do something and as soon as we relax he hops down onto the ground into the grass. Maybe he has spotted a bug for lunch?  Isn’t it always the way?  Being a photographer certainly teaches one patience and persistence.

Zebras and buffalo – strange friends indeed but I suppose there is safety in numbers and these four footed friends do not mind having their photo taken.  I love the way the Cape Buffalo is peeking out from behind the bushes pretending that we cannot see him.

On the left is Grevy’s Zebra.  It is the largest zebra with a long, narrow head, making it appear rather mule-like (I still think he’s cute).   This zebra is the rarest species and is classified as endangered.  An easy way to spot him is his ears – front on they are like Mickey Mouse ears. 

I think this small group must be the look out for the main party because around the bend is the wide open spaces filled with more zebra and black rhino!

This herd of zebra are just standing around, some are having a nice dust bath rolling around on the ground.  They are so close and they make those wonderful noises that zebras make.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be on safari every day?

Our next encounter is with a warthog and a jackal.  Obviously the heat of the day is enough for the jackal as he is enjoying his time in the small amount of shade from the tree when Mr Warthog happens along.

Some snorting occurs but he is not going to give up his shade and continues to sit.   Mr Warthog moves along – you can tell he is not impressed.

Seems like we have been out here for hours but it is only about 10.30am.

Just when you think maybe you have seen what you are going to see, along comes some long necked friends just loping along. Talk about up close and personal – they amble across the track and head for higher ground.

If you were like me and thought that a giraffe was a giraffe was a giraffe – then you and me both were mistaken.

NATURE LESSON : The reticulated giraffe is among the most well-known of the nine subspecies. Together with the Rothschild (remember Ruko Conservancy), it is by far the giraffe most commonly seen in zoos, but this is much better eh?

Its coat consists of large, polygonal, liver-colored spots outlined by a network of bright-white lines. The blocks may sometimes appear deep red and may also cover the legs. I wonder if they ever get sore throats?

We are heading for our lunch area and along the way we spy some food on the hoof.

It is at this time that I must admit we have been rather slack at taking photos of these four footed friends as we were all overwhelmed by the big or more well known varieties of animal life.  I will try and get a few more shots for you because they do have cute faces and funny looking antlers and they all should be treated equally.

I have decided that I will end this here before we have lunch.  We can all have a break, enjoy our rest and then head forth and explore the afternoon (spoiler alert – more really good stuff).

Morning bum shot – I am going to get a pair of pyjamas just like these!