Christmas Honeymoon Safari

Africa is full of contrasts, opposites and contradictions. There is ugliness and beauty, justice and oppression, wetlands in the heart of deserts, glaciers on the equator. One of the contrasts which always gets to me is the disparity between the rich and the poor. I take my guests to parts of Africa where nature and beauty are the norm and we are indulged with comforts which we take for granted such as running water and regular meals. We have always tried to put back as much as we can and Amanda and I support a project in this area in the hope that we can help some of these unfortunate people.

As we took off this morning on our flight to Lewa which is the first destination of Matt and A-C’s Honeymoon, we flew over Kibera slum where half a million souls live cheek by jowl on the outskirts of Nairobi. An hour later and we step off Pete’s little yellow airplane into Eden; lush grasslands, browsing elephants and tall acacias. It’s not fair, I know, but I am a lucky man.

Wilderness lodge on Lewa Downs Conservancy is owned by Will and Emma Craig and remains one of my favourite destinations in the North.  The ranch lies on a shoulder of Mt. Kenya and is home to one of the largest populations of Rhino in Kenya and the largest population of the rare Grevy zebra in the world.  Besides these two species there are many others which inhabit the area and help to make Lewa such a fantastic game conservancy. Wilderness Lodge overlooks a stream at the bottom of a steep sided valley and we took an afternoon walk to work out the kinks from long hours on aeroplanes. This is a view of the lodge from the other side of the valley just about where we had enjoyed watching a herd of elephants during lunch. Rakita was our walking guide and he is skilled at picking just the right trails to get close enough to observe the elephants without disturbing them or putting us at any kind of risk. It is great to get out on foot in the bush as one really feels more a part of the world rather than being an observer from a vehicle.

Early the following day we set out on a game drive in a clear, fresh highland morning. There is something about this time of day which I love, the fresh air, the promise of a new day the birds greeting the sun with a chorus of sound and the thrill of anticipation at what lies ahead. We were not disappointed when shortly into the drive we found a big bull White Rhino who was unhurriedly patrolling and marking his territory. The early light was great and Mt. Kenya looked close enough to reach out and touch.

Later we found the Three Brothers, Lewa’s famous trio of cheetah who had obviously eaten well the previous day as they were nursing huge bulging bellies. We learned that they had in fact killed a young zebra the evening before. These boys have held reign on the central plains of Lewa for about 12 years now and they are a formidable force; large and efficient, they are the stars of several documentaries by the BBC and Discovery Channel.

Last and certainly not least we came across a male Yellow neck Spurfowl singing his territorial claim from the top of an acacia tree just beside the road.  His song seemed to be a celebration of the rains and the return of food and plenty for a while. Lewa is vibrant with life, finally getting rains after a prolonged region wide drought which devastated East Africa. To look at it now you would never have guessed.