Batian summit attempt

Prelude

Greetings. 

For years I've dreamt about climbing Batian peak on Mt. Kenya, even before I moved here a year and a half ago. Last April, I fortuitously bumped into a guide/rescue guy by the name of Simon Maina while hiking back from Pt. Lenana last April. It was a fateful meeting that set me on my path to greatness, a path fraught with challenges. Challenges that were mental, physical, and even existential. Read on...

Over the summer while visiting London and France Ramata, I picked up some basic personal climbing gear so I could start training when I got back to Kenya. Starting in September, I climbed with Simon and other guides over the course of 4 months to learn the skills. I also started getting very physically fit through a combination of ice hockey, running and gym. There were significant personal and professional struggles on the side. Over the summer I still suffered from chronic fatigue, a lingering effect of getting Covid back in May. I wasn't doing great mentally, either. Over the summer, I would have described myself as mentally unstable and unsettled. Shortly after I returned from my trip with Ramata to the Alps, I started to suffer from serious depression for a couple of months, and we grew distant, talking less and less. Come November, I got some help and underwent a significant mental comeback. I got myself into ridiculous shape very quickly. Work started going well again and my social life was going great. I had an epic holiday planned for us during Christmas break. But the moment she got to my place, I sensed something was off. She had a coldness toward me. I put it down as just being tired from the long flight and delay at the airport, plus it was late at night. But over the next couple of weeks that coldness continued and eventually I confronted her about it. She told me she wanted to end it. I was completely devastated. After 6.5 years, I'd lost the woman of my dreams, the woman I wanted to have kids with and grow old with. There was so much I needed to figure out. Mainly, how did I let this happen? What are my personality traits and habits that led this to happen? My trip to Mt. Kenya with a friend at New Year's permitted me the chance to look inward and contemplate the many questions I had to ask of myself. All the while, I was trying to focus on attempting Batian for the first time, which had been my goal for the past several months. Part of me wanted to cancel the trip, but my friend peer-pressured me into following through with it. 

I organized a traverse, entering through Chogoria gate and exiting through Naro Moru gate, which is where our team was based. It was a bit complicated and more expensive cause of the need to bring tents and transport the crew all the way to the other side, but the epic scenery of the Chogoria route made up for it. We had 5 days to do it in. But on the first evening, it rained for about 24 hours straight at lake Ellis, setting us back a day for the approach. The whole second day was spent waiting out the rain. On day 3, we hiked to Minto's camp. It was very cold and serenely beautiful up there. At night, the stars and moon iluminated every mountain for 360 degrees while shooting stars traced white lines across the cosmos. You could have easily walked without a light. On day 4, we walked up to Austrian Hut and reached Point Lenana in the afternoon. Simon tried to keep my expectations in check. Sure enough, there was too much snow on the face of Nelion, and it would take at least 2-3 days for it to melt. On top of that, when it melts up there and re-freezes, it turns into basically ice. We passed two clients who were descending with their guides, having written-off the climb. I had really amped up this climb in my mind. I'd spent alot of money going on training climbs, and a hell of alot of effort training for this. 

My overwhelming remorse about the breakup that I had suppressed up to now, about moving out here, re-starting the long distance relationship, then being dumped somewhat out of the blue, came flooding back. I felt like the death of my relationship with the love of my life was something that, despite my promises to leave Kenya at the end of my 2-year contract, I had no control over. It just happened unexpectedly and there was nothing I could say or do to save it, even though there was nothing I cared about remotely as much as us. No matter how much I cared, it didn't matter. My destiny was being determined by factors completely outside of my control. This climb was supposed to challenge that. I was to prove fatalism wrong. Accepting that I had to abandon the summit attempt, a sense of crippling helplessness flooded into my entire being. It was not really about the summit; it was about her. I sat there with my head leaned against the end of my hiking pole, and bitterly wept. The summit attempt was doomed from the start. I know fatalism is a stupid philosophy, but it felt very real in that moment. I composed myself and we hiked up to Lenana, which was actually pretty exciting for Ivy who had never been. I tried to cheer myself up so as not to spoil her moment. We enjoyed ourselves up there (which is still a significant hike and view I might add). 

After some negotiation, I managed to get Simon to refund me the exorbitant 50,000 Kenyan shilling technical climbing fee (400 US dollars). Simon is a top quality alpine guide who I would gladly trust my life with, but in my opinion he's kinda too fixated on money. I told him I'd be back during the February break and to not worry about getting back his fee. I went back to work and took this as an opportunity to increase my level of physical fitness over the next 5 weeks. 

The peak of my training was a hardcore weekend where I played hockey on Saturday morning, then drove to Mt. Longonot by myself, ran the crater just before dark in 105 minutes, camped at Hell's Gate, then climbed the big wall on Sunday morning (150m of trad). It was awesome and I was feeling confident. 

Training with Nelson at Hell's Gate (Fischer's Tower visible in the background)

Some more runs in Karura forest, hockey practices and gym sessions and my cardio and strength were up to task for the climb ahead. Work got in the way but I forced myself to find time. On Sunday, February 12th, I grabbed some groceries and drove up to Naro Moru to pick up my guide, the trusty Gerald Mwangi. I chose to hire only 1 man, to save money. He had a kerosene stove and helped me with the cooking and dishwashing, so I paid him a bit extra (4000/day instead of the usual 3000). We spent the night at Met Station cabins. 

A very cheeky resident Syke's Monkey at Met Station

Day 1 - Met Station to MacKinder's Hut

Preparing ugali and bean stew

Best pancakes ever made

After an epic breakfast of banana and rasberry pancakes, we did the 11km hike up to MacKinder's, going from 3,048m to 4,300m in altitude. The hike was gruelling because I was carrying nearly all of the food in a second backpack on my chest. Gerald's pack wasn't exactly light either, him carrying the stove and kerosene fuel. On the trail, we passed 3 locals (one more experienced mountaineer and another man with his 15 year-old son). I'd met them the weekend before along with Stephen Maina, another guide I'd trained with a few times at Hell's Gate. They had made it to Nelion the day before, at about 13:45. But they turned back due to the late hour and the high winds up there, so they didn't reach Batian. I hoped that my 1:1 guide:client ratio would pay off in terms of pace, and that the wind would die down for us. It took us 6.5 hours to reach the hut. My back and shoulder muscles were screaming from the physical strain of the backpacks. We had a nice coconut vegetable stew and passed out. 

Day 2 - MacKinder's Hut to Austrian Hut

The next morning, I woke up with a splitting headache, a more rapid than normal heart rate, and some kind of cold producing yellow mucous. This did not bode well. To do myself a favour, I offered one of the porters of another party 1500 bob to carry our food bag up to Austrian Hut ('plus tip' he insisted). It was the best 2000 bob I've ever spent. Along the way, we passed 3 seasoned German mountaineers who were also on their way back from Nelion. I think they reached it just before 15:00. I picked their brain for some tips. They told me that they'd just spend 3 weeks acclimatizing in the high Alps and had climbed the Materhorn while there. They emphasized the importance of acclimatization to boost the red blood cell count. I told them "well, I don't really have that luxury of time so I'll have to rely on my physical fitness and stamina to get me through. Do you think I get reach Nelion by 11am?" I asked. "Hahaha...no way! Maybe if you are Alex Honnold's brother!" was the response of one of them. I was determined to prove these cocky Germans wrong...

We got there and I had a nice long lie down (didn't think I was gonna get back up till the next morning). After a while, I felt better and decided to recreate the epic fruit pancakes to share with a group of American college students. I told them when I saw their bag of dried oats and other less exciting food, I felt pity. They gladly accepted my pity, and we shared another batch of epic pancakes complete with butter and Canadian maple syrup! They said it was the best food they'd tasted in days, which I took as a very nice compliment. They went on their way and were replaced by a Dutch couple attempting Lenana at an unusually late hour. I decided to join them for the short walk up. The view was epic and it was good acclimatization (about 4,985m). Austrian is at 4,790m, by the way. From my prior conversation with those German mountaineers, I was seriously doubting that I'd be acclimatized enough for the summit attempt the next morning. But Simon said it was the only day he could do it, so I sort of had no choice. He had another group coming on Friday and needed the rest day between climbs. We went to sleep by 9pm. 

Simon caught us some rainbow trout in the Teleki River! 

Acclimatizing at Pt. Lenana

Day 3 - Austrian Hut to Nelion and Batian summit attempt

I set my alarm for 4:05 am and we'd planned to set out at 5:00 am. I only snoozed for about 10 minutes and got up to make myself a coffee (the real stuff, not that instant shit!). I couldn't belive it - I felt great! Simon on the other hand, had some trouble rousing himself out of bed and seemed to have a bit of a cough. Because of this, we set out at 5:30am sharp rather than the planned 5. Our brisk pace across the boulder field made up for this. At about 6:30am, we started the first pitch. The sunrise was among the best I've seen. We could see little bright specks of headlamps on Pt. Lenana, and could see Mt. Kilimanjaro in the very distance. It was very cold and I'd brought all of my clothes with me. 

Getting psyched up for the first pitch (of many)

After countless pitches, we got a rhythm going. The routine would go as follows. Simon would climb up and lay the protection (combination of webbing/quickdraws and cams) while I belayed him from below. Then he would yell "I'm safe!" Then I would yell "off belay!" He would take up the remaining rope until it was taught to my harness. I'd give the rope a good tug and yell "that's me!" Then I'd disconnect my safety sling from the anchor, and yell "climbing!" followed by his reply "climb on!" This routine became automated fairly quickly and we gained altitude at a respectable pace, taking no breaks other than a few seconds to catch my breath. Had this been at lower altitude, I still would have called it physically demanding. At about 5,000m, it was a whole 'nuther level. My breathing rate and heart rate stayed high the whole time. 

At some point, I unwittingly reached a notorious section known as 'The DeGraaf's Variation'. This resembled a rectangular indentation in the rock, very vertical, with few decent handholds and necessitating jamming one's self laterally and trusting the vibram soles of my second-hand mountaineering boots against diagonal rock face. "Should I put on my climbing shoes?" I asked Simon. "No need!" was the reply (every time I asked this). I guess he didn't want to waste time changing footwear. So, I ploughed ahead with some difficulty but managed to catch up with him. After a second similarly difficult pitch, I asked him when we were gonna reach the crux (the hardest section of the climb). "That was it. See? No need of climbing shoes" he said. Part of me was annoyed that he tricked me into not using my climbing shoes, but the other part of me felt very self-satisfied that I'd crushed it in mountaineering boots. The Germans had emphasized to me that climbing shoes would be "absolutely essential" for this section. I just laughed. 

A while later and we were only 2 pitches from reaching Nelion Summit, and it was 10:30am. Would we make it by 11am? We did! We reached Nelion at 10:58 am, proving the arrogant Germans wrong which was immensely satisfying. The Gate of the Mists beckoned and conveniently, the wind died down just as we reached it. But first, a 20-minute rest at Howell's Hut was in order, with some water and snacks. The hut is very small, only 1.5m tall and with rom enough for 4 people to lie down in. We howled at the top of our lungs in pure elation at reaching Nelion, and a single tear streamed down my check. We'd later learn that the folks down at Austrian hut could hear us very well and were celebrating with us, even though they could not see us. 

Atop Nelion Summit, with Batian in the background

We cut our well-deserved break short because time was not on our side and who knows how long this calm weather window would last. It had been howling wind up here for the past 2 days, and the day before, the peak was enshrouded in forest fire smoke which would have made it unclimbable. We were determined not to let our good fortune go to waste and set ourselves to task with aplomb. It started with a rope-less scramble followed by probably the scariest rappel I've ever done, into the Gate of the Mists. It was even more epic than it sounds. My gopro video of this shows me rappelling quite slowly because it was the first one of the day, but later on my rappels became much quicker. The GoPro also ran out of memory here cause I'd forgotten to wipe my friend's videos from when she borrowed it. Simon did a very clefver thing here where he had me attached to a second rope, which he used to steer me toward the narrow ridge where he waited for me. If I had gone too far to the right and overshot that ridged, I'd be f****ed. It 4 more pitches (I think?) to Batian. The feeling was not as epic as Nelion had been, because we could see the route and knew we would make it. But it still took us like an hour and a half to cross the GOTM. At last we stood atop Batian, the ultimate throne of a king who has conquered LIFE as his kingdom. I've read somewhere that "it's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." This is so true. The mental and physical test to get here was seriously hardcore. In fact, it was even harder than I'd imagined. I've seen pics of less fit people than me up on Batian and I'm baffled at how they managed. To me I felt like I was pushing myself to the limit. I guess they took more days to do it in is all I can think of. 

I busted out the Canadian flag for a photoshoot and we lingered there for about 20 minutes. The park motto is "Touch the Sky". We were truly doing that! I felt incredibly humbled by the forces of nature that graciously permitted us to bask in the glory this mountain throne for a fleeting moment. Mother nature could have easily thwarted us with any number of deterrents (snow squalls, winds, smoke, fog, rain...). Before I left, discretely pocketed two small rocks (one for my geologist friend and one for me). We had to cross the GOTM again but this time, it necessitated climbing up a thin strip of snow and ice using crampons. There was only one axe on hand so Simon led with it, carving a few handholds for me as he went. This took quite a while to do, but I made quick work of it using his handholds. It had been a long time since I'd used crampons, it felt good. 

Back to Nelion at 14:48 for another break. I left 1.2 litres of water in the hut for whoever might need it and to help reduce weight, and removed an empty plastic bottle to compensate. A long series of harrowing rappels (at ever increasing speed and efficiency) and we were back at the base by 17:26. Not bad! I finished my final rappel with speed and flourish and gave Simon hearty handshake. We finished the half-hour walk to Austrian hut and got there at 17:58, rounding off a 12.5 hour time. Not bad!!! Everyone at the hut congratulated us and Gerald has prepared us some tasty potato soup (not sure where he got potatoes). Simon then convinced me to do the walk back down via a gruelingly steep path to spend the night at MacKinder's Hut so I'd sleep better and cause Austrian was kinda crowded and noisy. It was the only bad advice he'd given me all day. The 6.5km trail (600m of elevation loss, mostly in the dark) almost finished me off. I could barely keep my eyes open and I almost fell asleep twice while walking, jerking myself awake as I started to stumble. We got there at 20:45. It was the most physically tired I've ever been. Also mentally, because it turns out constantly not dying for almost 12 hours straight does become rather taxing! Gerald really went above and beyond by rustling up a hearty soup with canned tuna and rice which was enough to coax me back out of bed. In my room, all alone in the cold dark night, I slept like a rock. 

The face of a man at full exhaustion

Day 4: MacKinder's Hut to Met Station Cabins

Nothing much to say about our last day, other than the fact that left at 10:00 and crushed the 11km trail in 3 hours flat! (The exact distance of this trail is hotly debated and depends on the source consulted). It was 13:59. I shared a bottle of Brandy with the caretakers for a few minutes (Gerald doesn't drink) and we hopped back into the comfort of my Nissan Xtrail to drive back to Naro Moru. 

Done and dusted

All in all, I can pretty confidently say this was the most demanding and hardcore thing I've ever done in my life. Certainly the most EPIC, by far!!! Through the experience, I've accepted that one's destiny is always gonna be a mixed stew of three things: external factors beyond one's control, preparation and planning, and execution. In this instance, I took care of the last two, and depended on luck for the other. This felt like a significant step for me, a highly metaphorical experience for all aspects of life. Another thing is that I now feel like I can officially call myself a 'mountaineer' without feeling like a fake. I've read that for every mountaineer, even after having just achieved one summit, he/she is already mentally planning the next one. For now, I'm just going to bask in the glory of my achievement, although, the thought of running the Nairobi half-marathon is an idea...

12h birding rampage at Nairobi National Park

 Just before summer, I scrounged up just barely enough to buy a 2004 Nissan Xtrail. 

My ticket to freedom. 

The first thing I wanted to do upon return from summer holidays was to take it out with some friends. My new Nature Kenya friends Adrian and Getrude answered the call. We aimed to bird from 6am to 6pm, which are the park hours, but it ended up being 6:20am to 6:30pm. 

The biggest challenge of birding this park is getting one's arse out of bed at an ungodly 4:45am and getting to the park without making any wrong turns. This time it went very smoothly, unlike last time. We entered the park and started by scanning the plains near Ngoloman dam for cheetahs. We observed a very strange mating dance from a some Ostrich. 

While filming the ostrich, Adrien picked out the song of a Siffling Cisticola aka Short-winged Cisticola (not sure why - all cisticolas have equally short wings). This was one of those lifers that is common but I just haven't seen or identified for whatever reason (probably because I didn't know the call). We got great looks at a handful of them. 

The main visual field mark of the Siffling Cisticola is it's lack of field marks

Some rangers stopped to check our receipt and gave us a time on some lions between posts 4 and 5. We duly proceeded there to find an mfalme with 2 females. The growing car jam prompted us to continue on our journey through the park. Soon after, a solitary francolin crossed the road. Raising my binoculars, I was ecstatic to behold a Shelley's Francolin, my ultimate Nairobi nemesis. Two lifers in the first hour of the day, not bad!

"Can you feeeel the loooove tonight....."

Hartlaub's or Black-bellied?

A little further, we scanned an area of dense bushes with our bins and spotted a female rhino with a large young running away. We figured them to be Black Rhinos based on the habitat and skittish behaviour. White Rhinos were spotted throughout the day, always out in the open. We drove through alto of black cotton soil looking for larks, but with no luck. While checking a pond for possible squacco herons, we noticed a group of Hartbeest all facing the same direction. Their intent focus betrayed the presence of a lone female lion. We triangulated and drove to a spot where we figured she was headed to. She appeared on the track we were parked on and walked right past the car, then disappeared into an area of whistling thorn acacias. 

Checking for Short-tailed Larks at Hyeena dam (spotted 3 weeks ago), a land cruiser pulled up beside us and an arm reached out and grabbed me. It was my old friend Kelvin Gichuki guiding for Mufasa Tours. We had a very leisurely catch up and bird sightings conversation while his clients waited in the back of the cruiser. We parted ways, and headed to the huge reservoir on the far side of the park with all the Marabou Storks, a nice spot for lunch. We ate cold sandwiches and pizza while spotting birds, hippos and crocodiles. Getrude was quite cold by this point and needed to wear my sweater on top of her hoodie, whilst I was content in my t-shirt. Continuing our birding, Adrian picked out the call of a Scaly-throated Honeyguide in a tiny patch of yellowbark acacias on the lake edge. We photographed a strange-looking Black Kite that looked more like a Black-eared Kite (the Asian subspecies). A Lanner Falcon blazed past and Adrian expertly spotted two Spotted Thick-knees in the grass. 

The strange-looking Kite

From there, the logical part of the park to explore was the acacia forest along the Athi River. The livestock crossing over to the park to graze was a bit of a bummer to see. Also sad was the extend of degradation on the non-park side of the Athi River, where the bank has been denuded of all vegetation to speak of and rendered a bank of dusty, hoof-packed dirt. The river was a sad trickle of eutrophicated green water due to the amount of cows defiling all along its extent, but for a small stretch by the hippo pools. 

The acacia forest was awesome. We had probably 10 species in a mixed flock, including 3 woodpecker species and some Red-throated Tits (Kenya lifer for me). Sulfur-breasted Bush-shrikes brought a splash of colour to the cold and gloomy day. Abyssinian Scimitarbills were also of note. Leaving the woodland, we spotted a group of Mountain Reedbuck on a ridge. I had no idea they were found in Nairobi National Park. 

Mountain Reedbucks

Proceeding to the Hippo Pools, we tried our luck for Finfoot, but I've never been lucky at this spot (maybe early in the morning?). We decided to walk on the non-park side of the river this time, with the company of a ranger. It payed off when Adrian found a Pygmy Kingfisher, a pretty good bird for Nairobi. He also spotted a Wahlberg's Honeybird in the parking lot. Despite the habitat being severely degraded by livestock activity, Adrian revealed that we had seen 71 species on this short walk. A bit ridiculous. 

By this point, Getrude was getting anxious that she would be late to meet her friend at the park gate on time. We were aiming for 6pm, but it looked more like it would be 6:15pm. We were waylaid by a Shelley's Francolin calling from the side of the road, forcing us to stop and capture it in our bazookas. It was counter-singing with another one quite aggressively. 

Driving further toward the gate, we were stopped in our tracks yet again by a car-jam. There was a group of 11 lions lying beside the road. We couldn't really see them very well, but then they started walking toward us and crossed our vehicle on both sides. There seemed to be 3 generations of cubs all in one pride. One full-sized female walked right past my open driver window. Getrude was getting visibly distressed about being late to meet her friend by this point. "Well, no way to get around these cars, might as well enjoy the lions," I said. After the lions passed us, the cars dispersed, clearing a path for our exodus. Then a Bat Hawk circled over us. It was about 6:30 by the time we got out. One of the most epic safari days I've had. 

Bat Hawk! A perfect ending to the day

Epic Roadtrip to Tsavo and the Coast!

For my 1-week break in February, I drove to the coast with Ramata and Jack. It almost didn't happen due to lack of transportation, but luckily my neighbor and friend Rosie lent me her Toyota Prado for this one, so long as I covered any repairs resulting from the rip and brought her back with something in the tank. The trip got postponed by a day because of this insane online IB course I was in the middle of. I did just enough work to not get kicked out of the course, told the instructor I was going on safari for the next week and not to expect any posts from me until I got back, and we were on our way. At last, temporary freedom. 

We stopped at a petrol station along Mombasa road to get all our fluids topped up for the road trip. Unfortunately, the test strip/cap for the transmission fluid wouldn't go back in cause of the way the tube was shaped. It took us quite a while for that to get sorted out. The guy went under the car, removed a curved pipe that was causing the problem, rounded it out with a hammer, then put it back in. We were able to put the strip back in and close the cap after a long delay. 

We reached Tsavo West with enough daylight to comfortably drive around for a bit and set up camp in the public campsite. The campsite was totally deserted and pretty wild. We cooked a spicy bean stew and had a campfire. We could hear African Scops Owls and we were pretty sure we heard a Barred Owlet calling as well. A musical rhapsody from our bean stew, and the symphony was complete. 

Public campsite inside Tsavo West

The next day, we were accompanied by the camp caretaker/ranger who offered to show us around for a reasonable fee. We hiked up Mt. Shetani and visited Mzima springs. My photos from Tsavo West seem to have been accidentally deleted, but I have some cell phone pics at least. 

Mt. Shetani (=devil in swahili) is an extinct volvano with an impressive lava field sprawled out on one side of it. Apparently it only erupted about 200 years ago, so the lava rock is fresh and little primary succession has had the chance to occur. I didn't expect a lifer mammal there but we spotted a pair of Klipspringers in the lava field. Marto said he's seen William's Lark here, which I found quite surprising as it is quite far from their known range. We scrambled up the quickly heating lava scree to the top of this volcano and beheld amazing views. It was fun to imagine what the eruption would have looked like for any witnesses present. We got back to the car covered in dust and sweat. You could have easily fried an egg on the hood of the car by this point. 

Shetani lava field

Walking down Mt. Shetani. The rocks were crazy hot by this point

From the inferno of Mt. Shetani, we went to Mzima Springs, a lush oasis in the middle of the dry wilderness. The water trickles through the ground all the way from Kilimanjaro, filtered by the porous rock along the way. It springs out the ground in a perfectly pure state, and was epically refreshing on a hot day. This is one of the few spots in Kenya where you can drink water without treating it. The spring has created large pools filled with crystal clear water, but in parts despoiled by hippos. The oasis supports a small lush forest around it, and multitudes of birds and mammals come to drink. Strange endemic blue fish swim in the waters, which you can view from an underwater glass viewing chamber. We heard Shelley's Francolins again, but were unsuccessful in spotting them. I did get a lifer though: Jameson's Firefinch. As I was dropping off our guide at dusk, we came upon a Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar sitting on the road. I took my shoes off and slowly crept up to it, then gently caressed it in my hands. I'd always wanted to do that! What a beauty. 

Mzima Springs

Tsavo West is pretty unique and amazing wilderness, but it's hard to see wildlife there because of the thick bush. We kept an ear out for Rufous-naped Bush-shrike, Pringle's Puffback and Friedmann's Lark, three special targets for this park. But without special knowledge, it was a longshot. We decided to chop a day from Tsavo West and instead visit nearby Lumo Community Conservancy which Jackson had been raving about. I don't usually need alot of convincing to change plans if it involve epic wildlife. We drove through the park until our permit was almost expiring. However, we had another small car problem. A rear passenger window refused to close. We paid a park mechanic to open up the panel and close it for us, and he disabled the window just in case Ramata was tempted to open it again. We thought we'd gotten to the Lumo entrance with enough time to set up camp, but there was no staff manning the gate. I heard some Shelley's Francolins so I wandered off into the bushes after them. Just as it got dark, I almost had them. They were calling from about 5 meters away, but must have been in the thick grass. I never have any luck with francolins. The guard had returned and we were on our way to the Cheetah campsite. It was a bit expensive for camping, but at least it had hot showers and they made a fire for us. The only complaint was that the showers were too hot! On Ramata's part, she said there were too many "creepy crawlies" in the showers! She is unphased by elephants and massive sea creatures, but a gecko will send her running. 

We postponed breaking camp and started our much-anticipated morning game drive. We were headed for a big rock formation famous for its lions. They were not at home, so we continued our exploration. 

Along a river lined with exotic-looking Doom Palms, we kelp our ears tuned for Violet Wood Hoopoes. Eventually we caught up with them. We scrutinized the extend of their violet sheen to eliminate the extremely similar Green-headed Wood Hoopoe, keeping them close by playing their calls on the speaker. While driving along in the grassland dotted with pockets of shrubs, we pulled up next to a pickup carrying some rangers. They pointed at a bush just up the road. There was a lioness sleeping under the bush! We stuck around hoping they might do something interesting, but she just stretched a couple of times and moved her head around. There was a second lioness in the bush further away, and about 4 cubs lounging around between the 2 bushes. Too bad I seem to have accidentally deleted all my photos from Lumo and Tsavo West. 

At mid-day, we reluctantly left the park to finish our drive to Watamu, our ultimate destination. We had 4 days of scuba diving planned ahead of us. We discussed doing another day of game driving in Lumo, but stuck to the plan in the end, the logic being that the cost of a 4 day package was almost the same as a 3-day one. The drive was longer than expected and it was almost dark when we got there. My friend Apoloh met us at the Mida Creek Eco Camp for dinner which we had arranged in advance over the phone.

The first 3 days of diving were pretty standard. The visibility was OK, not the greatest, but good enough to enjoy. The variety of corals and fish on display in the marine protected area was mind-boggling. But the 4th day was by far the best. We came upon a huge Green Sea Turtle AND an Octopus at the same time! After observing them for some time, staying neutrally buoyant and just hovering above the reef, Ramata pointed underneath her. There was a second Octopus hiding in a crevice! The original one was friendly, and would tickle your extended finger if you held it out gently. It rapidly changed shape and colour from dark maroon to white when it got excited. So that 4th day of diving really paid off! Two Alligator Fish were another highlight. 

On the diving boat with BlueFin Diving

On one of the afternoons, we took a trip to Gede ruins. Our excellent guide Saleem interpreted the fascinating history of the long-abandoned Arab settlement. On the way, he called a bunch of Syke's Monkeys by yelling their names, which were funny names like 'Katarina', 'Osama' and 'George Bush'. They would sit on your shoulder for peanuts. 

Gede ruins

On one of the afternoons, we picked up Apolloh and took a drive up to the Sabaki River mouth to see the waterbirds. It was very hot and quite a long walk through sand dunes eventually to the river mouth, and then lots of barefoot walking through the mudflat. Little of particular not was seen, just the usual gulls, terns, shorebirds and lesser flamingos. But the number of birds was impressive. Heuglin's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Pied Avocets were new Kenya birds for me. In the sand dunes, I picked up Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Zanzibar Red Bishop and Coastal Cisticola which were lifers. Violet-breasted and Mouse-coloured Sunbirds were nowhere to be found. 

Mixed flock of Heuglin's Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Lesser and Greater Crested Terns and Sooty Gulls

Lesser Flamingos and Sooty Gulls

On the second last day, we hired the legendary David Ngala for the afternoon, mainly just so Ramata could have a chance to meet him (one of my heroes). We didn't have a whole lot of time to twitch birds, so we focused on showing Ramata the amazing Sokoke Scops Owl. David checked so many spots and kept coming back empty, but there is any guide that can pull a bird out of his pocket at the final minute, that's David. His determination finally found us a pair of brown Sokoke Scops, blending in very well in the thick vegetation. A proper photo would have required disturbing the owls, so we kept a respectful distance and contented ourselves with branches crisscrossing the photos. 

Sokoke Scops Owls

As dusk approached, we had just enough time to briefly stop at the elephant watering hole before it got dark. The elephants came out of the forest on cue, and we watched them fooling around and drinking for about 5 minutes before it was time to go. On our way out, we had to stop to allow a couple of them to cross the road, which was quite spooky in the dark forest. 

Northern Carmine Bee-eater

The next day, after our epic dive, we made the rather long drive from Watamu to Crocodile Camp, just before the park entrance for Tsavo East, called Sala gate. We'd called in advance to get a 'special price', otherwise we would not have afforded this place! The camp is really nice.  Basically your standard safari camp but it has an epic view of the Galana river right outside your tent which really makes this camp stand out, I would stay there again for sure. What shocked us was that the only other guests that evening besides us were 5 crocodiles of various sizes, sprawled out on the river bank below a stone balcony. The masai guard took us for a short evening drive before dinner, then we promptly went to bed. We didn't find any lifers, but I got 2 lifers: Blue-capped Cordon-bleu and Chestnut-headed Sparrow-lark. 

Chillin' at Crocodile Camp

Chestnut-headed Sparrow-lark lifer

Vulturine Guineafowl

We got an early start, hoping to spot a cheetah on the plains between the lodge and the park, which is prime hunting territory we were told. Not today. We did our formalities at the park gate (always a tedious process) and were at last unleased into the vast wilderness of the park proper. We decided not to follow the Gallana River, but instead to turn southwest, eventually ending up in Voi. The reasoning for this was that most of the ebird sightings for Somali Courser and Somali Crombec were from along this road. 

In Tsavo East (and west), the driving distances are vast and it seems like wildlife is very scarce. But when you tally up what you've seen at the end of the day, it's actually a heck of a lot! Such was the case on this day. 

We started with an excellent waterhole with a huge family of elephants arriving and swimming in the pond. At the climax of the spectacle, an interesting hawk flew in and perched on a snag right in front of the elephants. It was none other than a Grasshopper Buzzard! Epic lifer. 

Elephant eclipsed by a lifer Grasshopper Buzzard! 

Rufous-beaked Sandsnake

Along the road, we spotted some Golden Pipits and a Rosy-patched Bush-shrike in the treetops. There were larks singing all around, both Red-winged and Rufous-naped Larks. Our careful scanning for Somali Courser didn't pay off, but revealed alot of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse. But the highlight of the day (and the entire trip) was just up ahead. Driving along at a decent speed, I applied the brakes because I could have sworn I'd seen ears poking up from the grass, in the shade of a large dome-shaped shrub. I deftly put the car in reverse and no sooner had I came to a stop than a large-maned beast emerged from its sleeping spot and stood in the open grass, just staring at us. But it was not a lion as I expected, it was a Striped Hyeena!!! This is a strictly nocturnal solitary mammal of arid regions, which has massive territories and lives at very low density. We were elated and extremely lucky to see it so well. 

Golden Pipit

Rosy-patched Bush-shrike

Striped Hyeena - a wicked find

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

The rest of the drive was mainly just looking at elephants to be honest. There had been some recent rains so they were doing a mini migration from parts to the north, and were literally everywhere. We estimate we'd seen about 300 by noon which is when we left the park. A highlight was when we were driving along slowly in an area of thick shrubs and trees, and two massive bull elephants emerged from the trees right in front of us. The bigger one walked straight at our car as if to impose his authority, forcing us into a backward retreat. He then grazed in the long grass, surrounded by Northern Carmine Bee-eaters taking advantage of the bugs that were stirred up from the grass by the beast. It was like a scene out of an Attenborough documentary. 

Time to put'er in reverse! 

Northern Carmine Bee-eaters were in a rare instance outdone by something more impressive

Grant's Gazelle

I didn't want to leave but Jackson and Ramata forced me to get a move on. By the time we actually got on the highway, it was more like 1pm and we had about a 5 hour drive ahead of us. This turned into a 9 hour drive due to Sunday evening traffic on Mombassa Road. Further contributing to our delay, I stopped to buy a straw basked for my laundry for 1200 bob. Half an hour after leaving that place, I got a message saying that my mPesa hadn't sent the money, due to insufficient funds. I had a moral dillema because I knew driving through Nairobi in the dark would be dangerous, but I also felt really bad about ripping off that unwitting salesman. For some reason, his number wasn't included in the mPesa message. So the only thing my conscience would permit me to do was to drive back and pay the guy. He was very appreciative. 

It was about 10pm by the time we got back to the flats, and I was thoroughly exhausted and traumatized form the hours of overtaking, being cut off and incessantly stopping and starting in traffic. An experience I hope never to repeat! But it was all worth it. We were back in one piece without a singled dent or scratch on Rosie's Prado. 

Following up on that, a few days later, she told me that our little roadtrip had necessitate significant repairs on the car. The bill added up to basically what we would have paid to rend a 4x4 in the end. But I don't have any regrets. As with all of my trips, this one was EPIC.