Beware Baboons

The Baboon is much larger than the vervet monkey and a lot less cute.

Tourists have more close encounters with the primates than any other animal, simply because they are much more intelligent than other species and have learned that tourists can be an easy source of food as well as other trinkets, so never leave your mobile phone unattended.

On one trip we were staying in a lodge built into the side of a fairly steep hill, so it had three or four levels all with magnificent views. One morning I was standing on the top terrace, looking out over the plains, there was a young couple on the terrace below doing the same thing and chatting. All the terraces had walls around them, about waist height for the safety of visitors. I was watching a huge male baboon make his way over towards the base of the hill just below the lodge, he moved out of sight and I didn't think much of it, until about two minutes later when he popped up in front of the young couple and hopped over the wall. You don't realise how big the males really are until you see them up close. They both stepped back in surprise, well, the guy did, the girl actually ran away screaming. The baboon promptly grabbed hold of one of the handles of a bag that had been at the girls feet. I was quite impressed with the reaction of the guy as he immediately grabbed the other handle and a tug of war for the bag ensued. I wouldn't have put money on the man but fortunately he won, which was lucky because the bag contained all their money, their passports and their tickets home! It could have been a disaster for them.

They have also mastered the tecnique of unzipping tents and ransacking the place while you are out. I have experienced this first hand, luckily for me only my crisps were taken, so its a good idea to use a padlock, even when going to the toilet, they can be very quick.

One of the scariest moments for me was while we were camping in a wooded area, the campsite had a large troop of baboons living in the area. At night they like to sleep in the trees where it is safe, but the noises they make are un-nerving, especially when walking through the trees to get to the toilet, in the pitch black of the night. The torch I was carrying only lit up a small area of ground in front of me and the screams from the baboons sounded so close. I was so relieved to get back to the tent unharmed, after that I made my husband accompany me and stand guard.

Young Cattle Herder

I wanted to include this photo as it is not just animals that call the mara their home. This photo is of a maasai boy, around 12 or 13 years old. It is no longer necessary for him to attend the local school and he now has the job of minding the herd of cows that belong to the cheif of the local village. The number of cows a man owns represents his wealth and also his standing in the community, so this is a very inportant job. During the dry season when good grazing is hard to find the cows are allowed to wander into the reserve, this often causes conflict between the domesticated cattle and the wildlife. Preditors, especially if they are having trouble hunting will often see the cattle as an easy meal and it is the minders job to protect the cattle. As you can see from the photograph the only tools the boy has to defend himself and the cattle from predators is the two sticks in his hand.

They obviously have a good understanding of the wildlife as it is part of their lives, but I think they are very brave to share the same space as the big cats. We saw this boy keeping watch over a large herd as we returned from a day on safari, it was around 5pm in the evening. We called him over and with the help of our guide, who translated, we discovered he had been out alone since sunrise with no food or water and would not return to the village with the cattle until sunset. We were able to offer him sandwhiches, that we had left over from lunch and a bottle of water, he was very happy with this and was more than happy for us to take his photo, he was very proud of doing his job well.

The maasia people who are traditionally nomadic by nature, moving around to where there is good grazing for their cattle realize how much tourism benefits them, but they still need grass for their herd. Unfortunately this does sometimes bring them into direct conflict with the wildlife.

Black Rhino

Not actually black but a dark grey in colour the black rhino is an endangered species. It is rarely seen by tourists, it is difficult to find, mostly because there are so few of them and they rarely venture out into open grassland, preferring to spend their time on the edges of small dense wooded areas where they like to graze on low trees and shrubs. These areas are not really accessible to jeeps.

We were lucky enough to be out in the Mara when a call came over the radio that one had been spotted. We were not far away so our guide headed for the location reported. Because a sighting like this is so rare, every vehicle in the vicinity rushed to see it. We could see jeeps and mini buses from all directions, as many as 20 or 30 all converging on the same spot. Fortunately the rangers were already in position to keep some sort of order. The rhino doesn't have very good eyesight but they do have a strong sense of smell and if they get upset or feel threatened they can be aggressive. Restricting vehicles at such sightings is absolutely necessary for endangered species like the rhino even if its a little disappointing for the viewer.

I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and to have an experienced guide who was able to make a good guess as to which direction the rhino was headed. Together with about 9 other jeeps we waited quietly as the rhino came into view, slowly walking across the open grassland right towards us. At one point it stopped and looked right in our direction. It was amazing to see this huge creature in real life and up close before it disappeared into an area of bush. It is definitely a sight I won't forget in a hurry and its nice to know that the black rhino are being brought back from the brink of extinction by the dedicated work of the rangers in stopping poachers who kill them for their horn.

Vervet Monkey Having Lunch

The Vervet Monkey must be one of the most lovely of the ape species with their small cute face framed by the white fur, they are also quite intelligent. They welcome tourists as a source of easy food. I'm not talking about tourists feeding them, which is obviously not a good idea, more that they steal from you whenever they get the chance.

The vervet monkey in the picture is one of many that hang around a designated picnic area next to the mara river because they know that at certain times of the day there will be lots of food around. The guides bring you here so that you can take a stroll along the riverbank, with an armed guard, where you can see families of hippo's and the many crocodiles that spend their days lazing about, before having lunch. The wooded picnic area is littered with fallen trees that make good seats and the guides always carry blankets for these occasions. Every lunchtime the monkey's choose a group of people and take up their positions in the trees just above them. As soon as the opportunity presents itself they sneak down, steal what they can before heading back up the tree to safety. They are particularly fond of bananas.

They sometimes work together in pairs, we had a troope of vervet monkey's living on the edge of our campsite. One morning myself and my husband were enjoying a very tasty breakfast of sausage, omelette and small cubes of potato when a delightful monkey came and sat at the end of our table, just watching us. My husband quickly grabbed for his camera, which he always keeps to hand, as he turned and focused for the shot another monkey came in from the opposite direction, hopped up onto the table grabbed handfuls of his breakfast and made off into the bush before he realised he had been robbed. As soon as the  the first monkey had got the food the second one ran off after him to share in the spoils. It was a brilliant strategy and clearly one that works!

An elephant and kilimanjaro

I decided to start my blog with an image of the largest of land mammals. A huge bull elephant, strolling across the open savanah in Amboseli, with the majestic Kilimanjaro mountain as a backdrop. If you look closely towards the top left hand corner you will see the snow capped peak.

Even though Kilimanjaro is the largest mountain in Tanzania you are not always lucky enough to see the snow capped peaks. The first time I saw it in all its glory was during breakfast while staying at a lodge in Amboseli. We had arrived at the lodge the day before, taking an afternoon game drive before having dinner in the large open dining area with wonderful views of the surrounding area. The next morning we sat down to breakfast at 8.15am, I was enjoying my food when I glanced out and was stunned. 'Jesus, where did that come from!'
Right in front of my eyes was the largest mountain I had ever seen with brilliant white snow laying along the top, and it simply hadn't been there the day before or even when we had walked into the dining room, I would have noticed. It was truly magnificent and within 15 minutes it was gone again, covered by cloud, as if it had never existed.

I was told by the locals that the best time to see Kilimanjaro is for a short time in the morning and again in the evening, the rest of the time it is hidden from view. I was really glad that I got up early for breakfast that particular morning.