Having explored a lot of the area around Lewa House, we asked if there was somewhere further afield we could go and take a picnic lunch with us. Joseph was delighted as guests mostly only stay 3 nights and are fixated on seeing the Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino). He suggested an area right on the edge of the conservancy and somewhere he hadn't had the chance to visit for some time.
Majestic Mount Kenya, situated within Mount Kenya National Park in the central area of Kenya and about 45 kms from Lewa. At 17,057 it is the tallest mountain in Kenya and the second tallest in Africa after Mt Kilimanjaro.
First we headed off to find a cheetah that had been spotted (haha!) in the area and passed this gorgeous Giraffe and calf.
We found her with ease and shortly after she "set up camp" under a tree.
I'm glad I'm safe in a truck.
She had her eye on some Impala in the distance.
But was obviously prepared to play the long game and after a while just sat down under the shade of a tree. We left her to it.
A sight we luckily haven't seen very often (so far) and not how I would like to experience safari.
Another wishy-washy Eurasian Roller
First sighting of a Coke's Hartebeest
The terrain was extremely hard going on the vehicle, Joseph's driving and us bobbing around in the back. We stopped at a waterhole that had been originally created for cattle by Sophie's great grandfather, the water comes straight from Mt Kenya and is gravity fed. There were lots of different animals there when we arrived but by the time Joseph had sorted out the best position to park, a lot of them had b*uggered off!
Another lovely example of how Zebra aren't always black and white.
Eventually we drove on and saw quite a few animals, some of which we hadn't seen before (not good pictures, but the only ones I got) and others where I think the picture is better than a previous post. Having spotted a rare piece of litter, Joseph was potentially risking his life getting out of the truck to retrieve it!
Oryx (aka Beisa)
Very pretty facial markings.
Generuk with their rather camel like mouths.
Famous for going up on their hind legs to get the tastiest leaves.
An unusually attractive group of buffalo.
Tree Hyrax
Klipspringers
We stopped for lunch in a small grove where 3 elephants had broken in and were enjoying the lush vegetation (various areas are fenced off in the conservancy to allow them to recover from elephant damage). We just made sure we weren't too close.
Klipspringers
We stopped for lunch in a small grove where 3 elephants had broken in and were enjoying the lush vegetation (various areas are fenced off in the conservancy to allow them to recover from elephant damage). We just made sure we weren't too close.
The journey back was a little quicker and we're back at Lewa House before it gets dark. I've finally managed to get photos of weavers entering a nest.
Sadly now it's time to pack our cases ready for our departure after breakfast tomorrow.
Dinner was just us and Calum as all other guests and left and Sophie was in Nairobi sitting exams for her pilot’s licence. Calum is extremely well informed and very entertaining with it, so dinner passed quite quickly.
The whole experience of staying at Lewa House is like staying in someone’s house with the children running around and joining in at meal times and pets/animals various wandering freely around the cottages. It is also for me a glimpse as to how the more wealthy people live in Kenya (and England for all I know) with staff to do just about everything. Maximum occupancy is 12 I think and there are about 30 staff who are all lovely but very subservient.