As I boarded the aircraft that would traverse a slice of the globe and transport me to a continent known for being the second largest of its kind, harbouring the world’s largest desert, oldest human civilization, hottest temperatures, sparkling diamonds, an incredible wildlife and friendly old tribes, the only music ringing through my head was Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka this time for Africa’. My reason to undertake this sojourn was the amazing inmates of its many game reserves. The world’s largest, tallest, fastest, wildest, fiercest and greatest; it encompassed all kinds of superlatives. Kenya in East Africa was our destination for the next one week. Having landed at Nairobi and greeted with a Jambo (‘Hello’ in Swahili) by our guide, our exhilarating journey began.

Amboseli National Park

As we snaked towards Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro gave a splendid view of itself. It looked like a colossal banana flavoured cake with a thin layer of evenly spread icing on the top, seeming intangible at the moment. An arid and dry savannah scenery hailed us. Foremost to greet us were the tallest of land creatures, the giraffes. With a towering and imposing persona, they calmly walked across the landscape. Little ahead, two male ostriches were challenging one another, competing for a mate. They were dancing, showcasing their prowess and intimidating the other into surrender. Their peculiar moves were funny to look at and surely the female must have had a hearty laugh from a safe distance. Gazelles (antelopes) were in abundance here, going about their untiring and never-ending routine of munching. Their light brown coat, beautifully carved and curved horns, alert and graceful poise were a photographer’s delight.

The reason for the nomenclature of all road crossings in cities stared onward. Zebras, with their unmistakable black and white stripped coats were scattered across basking, munching, playing, mud-bathing and relaxing.

In a green and marshy portion of the park, we witnessed the mighty cape buffaloes and the world’s largest land animal, African elephants. The jumbos were submerged up to their bellies in the marshes, cooling off the heat. African male tuskers are giants while their Asian counterparts are more plump and smaller in size. Some were moving about in herds with the youngsters protectively positioned at the center. The massive cape buffaloes were lounging as well. A tough, well-combed and partitioned horn crowned their head. Our engines had disturbed their reverie and a look from them was hint enough to put as much distance as possible between both the parties.

On and off we could see hyenas sizing their prey. A silver-backed jackal stood with its priced hunt. It had divided its catch (the hare) into two parts. It first hid the first part some distance away. Then came back for the second and took it in the opposite direction to the first hiding place. Dug a hole near a bush and buried it there. Satisfied after stocking up lunch and dinner it trudged along. Warthogs posed for us. Amusingly, they run with their tails straight up, like antennas, true to the phrase ‘running for their lives’.

A Little Green Bee Eater was perched perfectly on the glass blade after a mid-air hunt for bees and flies. The colourful lilac-breasted roller, the National bird of Kenya, looked bright and exquisite.

A stunning ochre ball setting on the horizon marked the end of our visit to this National Park.

Our resort was in itself a wonderful place to connect with nature. It harboured a variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and other beings. It seemed as if we were always surrounded by wilderness. In the afternoons, we were visited by a troop of mongoose, some ten of them, who came near our cottage to drink water. They would look at us sitting in the veranda, judge us, then perceiving no threat, enjoy a splash in the water; drinking, bathing, playing, cooling off. Then as suddenly as they had appeared, they would melt away in the shrubbery around. The langurs, the arboreal sentinels, always kept an eye on all the folks that stayed in the resort. They watched, mimicked, threatened and enjoyed themselves in ways known only to their kind.

We loved the stay at Amboseli and the small wild encounters that we had there.

(to be continued…)