Animal Antics

The sun was just rising on Sunday morning as we entered Nairobi National Park for a game drive. Spanning an area of almost 46 square miles, it is located on the edge of the city and occasionally, passengers leaving the Airport have seen animals such as Giraffes looking over the perimeter fence! Welcome to Africa!!!

A beautiful sunny morning, the Park was busy with visitors. As there had been unseasonable rain during the previous 10 days, the growth in the Bush was tremendous. Not good for game viewing, as loads of game could be lurking in the long grass and invisible to the human gaze!! However, we were only a couple of hundred metres inside  when we spotted crocodiles and hippo in the Dam!

Beautiful birds surrounded this Dam and to sit listening to the birdsong, while identifying the various species,  was breath taking.

On again along the track and a large group of Impala gazelles were sheltering just off the track. These small dainty animals have a wonderful appealing look, if slightly frightened, but then they are the meal that the predators are constantly seeking.

Four of the Big Five are to be found in this Park, too small for Elephant, but despite our best efforts, the predators remained elusive on Sunday.  We did come across a pod of Ostrich, the females pink legs indicating they were ready to mate. We hung around for a while, but no action! Maybe they wanted some privacy!!

Sitting on the edge of the Savannah, having coffee and sandwiches ( you can’t get out of your vehicle) and scanning the horizon, I spotted a large group of Giraffe. These majestic creatures amble along at a slow pace and always look so graceful. We drove up quite near them, but they were more interested in Kongani, another breed of gazelles, grazing nearby.

Couple of hours were then spent,  driving along the tracks, some more difficult to navigate than others, while spotting lots of Plains game. The variety and amount of Birds was incredible. We had the Bird book and lots of time was spent trying to identify various ones. Personally, I was relaxed to listen and look at the variety of such fabulous creatures.  The peace and tranquility of such a wonderful facility would calm anybody.