Day One

Landing in Kenya was a shock to many of us. Leaving behind England in a heat wave, arriving to the chilly Nairobi morning made us question our packing of only t-shirts, shorts and copious amounts of sun cream. Having been met by our guide and host Enoch (grinning at our shivering) we packed into the land cruiser and made for our base for the day in the Kitengela district on the outskirts of Nairobi… at least we tried to reach Kitengela. Nairobi traffic is like nothing those of us new to Africa have ever seen, if the city has a highway code its only rules seem to be overtake and don’t hit a cow. Having negotiated the road system to Kitengela, with the odd Giraffe to cheer us along on the way, a brief recuperation period was allowed before once again braving the dust, potholes and traffic of Nairobi to reach the head quarters of the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS). After a bone-shaking journey we at last arrived at the picturesque HQ of the KWS to discuss the history, politic and goals of the KWS with the only education officer brave enough to face the onslaught of question and accusations levelled at him by the CUWCS. He should be commended for not quailing under the scrutiny of the irrepressible Mr Bhavik Shah.

Talk from Kenya Wildlife Service
Talk from Kenya Wildlife Service

Leaving the HQ we were treated to a show by a delightful troop of very vocal Sykes’s Monkeys. Before the sun set on what had already been a very eventful first day we braved the roads one final time to reach the pasturelands of the Kitengela district that border Nairobi National Park. Though not a protected area the residents of the national park move freely between the pastureland and the park itself, hence the opportunity to see many of the wonders of Nairobi National Park presented itself to us. We were not to be disappointed; large herds of Plains Zebra, Giraffe, Thompson’s Gazelle and Blue Wildebeest abounded. These groups were interspersed with the odd Common Eland, Coke’s Hartebeest, Impala, Warthog and Ostrich.

Eastern white-bearded wildebeest (world population estimated at under 10,000)
Eastern white-bearded wildebeest (world population estimated at under 10,000)
Maasai Ostrich (female)
Maasai Ostrich (female)
Maasai Giraffe and Wildebeest
Maasai Giraffe and Wildebeest
Plains Zebra
Plains Zebra

Though we could have simply sat and gawped at the wildlife within an arms length, as the sun set over the plains we instead shared our company with some of the heroes at the front line of conservation in Kenya. Meeting with Nickson, a Maasai chief and community leader in mitigating human-wildlife conflict for the district, we were taken to a KWS ranger outpost where the rangers spend their nights watching over the fauna of Nairobi National Park and Kitengela Game Dispersal Area, particularly watching out for black rhinos and lions straying out of the park through its unfenced southern boundary. It is the lions of the area that are causing the main strife for the local Maasai pastoralists, and in the dying light we discussed and debated how do deal with such issues both as a ranger on the ground and a foreign westerner living many thousands of miles away. So, despite the fact few of us managed to sleep at all during our flights, we managed a very full first day, already meeting some inspirational people and seeing some amazing wildlife. Though I could continue and list the various birds and reptiles seen along the roadsides and the specific subspecies of ostrich seen in Kitengela (it was the massaicus race for anyone interested) we all now long for our beds to catch a few hours sleep before beginning our six hour journey at the crack of dawn to see the wonders of the Maasai Mara.

Group photograph with KWS Rangers and Enoch (centre) and Nickson (short-sleeved shirt to the left of KWS
Group photograph with KWS Rangers and Enoch (centre) and Nickson (short-sleeved shirt to the left of KWS

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– Tom

Photo credits: Bhavik