Elephants crossing

Reporting back from another exciting weekend away camping with Christine and Shauna…
I saw my first African Elephants, this family was crossing the road just behind us.
Maybe a camera without optical zoom wasn’t the best choice for the Land of Big Game, but they’re my memories…?
This time with Shauna’s big new 4WD truck.

We’re watched by these little fellows, possibly Bush Buck (any ideas?).
When you have a vehicle, its amazing what stuff you can take camping: stove, saucepans, food, mattress, blankets, beer, Vodka, …

I got to build a fire from firewood gathered from the bush. Christine taught me the “tee-pee” method.
I sat and played with the fire until late. The ladies went to bed in the tent (then opened the flap so they could look out on the camp). After a while I heard noises behind me and scanned the camp-site with my Petzl…
Eyes! Staring at me out of the darkness, refelcting bright. My heart raced, we had heard baboons in the distance earlier in the evening and did not want those tent-shredders in our vicinity. The eyes moved… my back tingled with panic!
“Hey Guys, there’s some wildlife out here”, I said to the ladies in the tent.
“What kind of wildlife?”
As the creature moved I could see its outline, it was somethink like that Bush Buck above, its legs had horizontal stripes at the tops that we could make out in the dim glow of our head-torches.
Once I had relaxed from that encounter I joined the girls in the tent. The flap stayed open for air and so I could observe the embers of our fire through the netting of the inner. I saw more Buck-like creatures come and sniff round the hearth. At one point when I was almost asleep I heard footsteps nearby. I moved to look out of that observation flap. There were hares near us on the grass. I finally decided the baboons wouldn’t come and went to sleep but before long I had to get up and go pee. I actually had to shoo the deer-like creatures away (I’m shy).
At breakfast these fowl (Franklins?) came and searched for our left-overs (all round the camp, up on top of the truck, etc.).
On Sunday morning the car wouldn’t start. The Kenya Wildlife Service men didn’t have a vehicle. One hiked down from the gate witha pair of pliers, the other brought the battery from his solar panel in a wheel-barrow. We started the truck with the solar battery and then hot-swapped the flat battery back once it was running (**after** trying to bump-start it — MAN that’s a heavy truck!)
On the way into the park we’d been going seriously off-road. There had been a road but it had just faded away after years of neglect. A plate under the truck started making clanking noises and I tried to tighten the bolt with my fingers (we had no tools with us). Everything down there was hot! My finger burned and got a lymph blister which broke when I was pulling dry branches out of the bush for the fire. So when I lifted the battery out of the car I got battery acid in the broken blister and ran off back to the camp-site looking for the spigot and swearing. Hence the rubber gloves in this pic.
On the way out of the park we saw these warthogs; Just like Lion King!


tyg Says:
how abouts some "zebra crossing"?
May 17th, 2004 at 6:46 pmMark Says:
What, you mean like this:
May 17th, 2004 at 7:04 pmhttp://www.bitterjug.com/blog/archives/00000067.shtml
tyg Says:
duh …
May 17th, 2004 at 8:26 pmMayke Says:
Hi Mark, good to see pictures of 3 happy campers! That Canadian tent serves its purpose! Please give a big hug to Christine and Shauna! Happy trails,
Mayke
May 18th, 2004 at 10:41 amFede Says:
Hey Mark is grat to see YOU!! Finally
you re looking well, and the place looks amazing. Oh dear, might come and visit soon for real!
fexx
May 19th, 2004 at 1:25 pmMark Says:
Hey Fede, I was in the earlier pics too, the birthday ones and the other travel ones. maybe you didnt recognise me in a white shirt or the hat that covers my shiny head.
Yeah, come visit! But Tala is not as beautiful as these places (must take the camera out in Tala one day) if you want to travel we can plan something.
May 20th, 2004 at 1:48 pmJan Says:
yo bro … it was so good to read this and see you this am It made me even more sure we have to come out to see you .
May 22nd, 2004 at 3:06 amI laughed untill I cryed when I read about the rat ..I could just see you.
But camping in the bush that is really cool and scary.
so good to see you doing cars in the bush Dad would be proud of you chico !! hugs Jan x :rolleyes: