The bushdrums are sounding and Jan is back home.

How was it this time round?
Any new stories - any nyokas come over for a quick glass of wine?

Hi Cody:

Thanks for the welcome back (but I'd rather still be back in Kenya).

No, no nyoka to worry about this time. In fact, the trip was very different than all but one trip I've made.
Due to the late rains, and thus natural waterholes full all over the park, we didn't have many visitors at the waterhole the two weeks that I was there.

However, my last night (a week ago tonight), I had a buffalo mooing outside my tent window all night.
It should have kept quiet because at 5:45 a.m. I was awakened by the baboons barking. The askari had me look over the dry river bank and we saw two lions killing the buff. We heard one more MOO, and then silence.

There is only about 2 weeks worth of water in all the natural waterholes and then all the wlldlife will have to come to the camp waterhole (which is presently a mess). They couldn't start dredging it out in October because the drought was still going on. They did it late December/early January. The generators have been going 24/7 to try to fill it, but it still only about 1/4 full.

Sunday night I got a message from the camp manager stating " three lions have killed two more buffalos - one of them not even 50 Meter next to my tent. And an askari saw how 15 Hyenas killed one Buffalo behind the laundry. I can hardly believe it because Ive only seen one of this buggers." (Seeing hyema in that part of Tsavo is very unusual).

Today I got a message, "they have seen 278 Elephants yesterday. And you know what's happened; they went straight down to the water on the far side of the Water hole where I left it a bit sloping. Even on the side where the old outlet was they made a way down. " (So, picture two waterholes. The smaller one on the left is full of water; but the elephants are insistent to get into the main right side main waterhole - even though it is only 1/4 full!! The weight of them will probably start collapsing the sides until the waterhole is full). I just went several weeks too soon. It should be great by the time Kat gets there.

All in all a wonderful trip though. Just seeing old friends makes it worth it though.

I did have one very sorry moment though. In August when I had to be driven to Nairobi due to the KQ strike, we had dropped off two employees in Voi for their off-time. I had asked Hassan, the head of the Maintenance Department, if he had pictures of his kids with him. He didn't but he promised he would bring them the next time I was in camp. Well, last week he brought them for me to see. His two older kids look healthy and are in boarding school in Machakos. The first pictures of the baby was when she was almost two years old, a normal healthy walking toddler. Then he showed me her current picture at age 4, and my heart sank. It was obvious she had become severely handicapped. I asked him what happened and he said she had meningitis (probably bacterial - the worst). It caused severe damage; she is now blind, deaf and her wrists and hands as well as ankles and feet are severely contracted. She won't, obviously be able to get her eyesight or hearing back. But I want so badly to help this family out so I am investigating what type of equipment such as special strollers, pediatric wheelchair, even Pampers we might be able to get to the family. The Mother has no relatives in town so she is caring for this precious child on her own. It would be bad enough to have a child with these problems in the EU or US where Medicaid or government would help by sending visiting nurses and home health aides), but in a little town like Voi there is nothing to help the family. Thus over the next couple of weeks I'll work on this and try to find out the best equipment that might help her. If anyone has ideas as to what type of pediatric equipment might help this handicapped child, please let me know and I'll work on it.

Something like this makes one realize how fortunate most of us are to have our health, or if we don't, we have good medical care.

I really enjoyed the read until the last - how sad.... being a father myself it must be so hard to live through such a situation.

How I wish bushdrums one day can help out with such things... Simba and I have spoken about this so often but our own companies keep us busy as we are small and need to be hands on the whole day to keep us going if you know what I mean?

To take bushdrums to another level would really mean that one of us has to dedicate oursleves at least for a few hours per day to get anywhere - which for us at this period with the wonderful financial situation is not easy.

One day - thank you Jan for the report.

Hi Jan....WELCOME back!

I read your report which is not at all cheering as usual and I see why.....

Of course the drought has taken its toll and yes if a buff falls victim to lions it's sad. But hey - it's wildlife and of course the lions cannot go to the butchery.

I did a lot of studies recently also regarding human interference when it comes to HELP which in the end might create an even bigger mess.

Example:
Hwange National Park/Zimbabwe.
In the earlier days they did not have artificial waterholes. Droughts occured and regulated the number of elephants, buffaloes etc etc.

Since camp owners have installed artificial waterholes (they had 60 at a time!) the elephant population become so massive that they started to cull.

Maybe we - to a certain extent - should accept that nature will balance any overpopulation etc.

The same with the Massai cattle. The drought reguates that insanity of buying more and more cattle as more dollars from tourism fly in....

I am also very torn apart here.........................

Welcome home Pippa. Hope the trip was a great one for you.

I both agree and disagree where you are coming from with [ot]In the earlier days they did not have artificial waterholes. Droughts occured and regulated the number of elephants, buffaloes etc etc.

Since camp owners have installed artificial waterholes (they had 60 at a time!) the elephant population become so massive that they started to cull.[ot]

I too have mixed feelings about man-made waterholes. In the past, they would not have been necessary because wildlife was able to travel long distances to get their water and food. For instance, in the dry seasons the Tsavo elephants were able to traverse to Amboseli to the swamps. Now those areas are so built up by humans that the natural corridors elephants used to get from one place to another are now totally gone.

In Tsavo, which is huge, in the dry season Aruba Dam completely dries up. Thus the only places any of the animals can get water are the Galana River or at man-made waterholes at Voi Safari Lodge or Satao Camp,
probably about 50 miles between the two. Had those man-made waterholes not been put in, thousands of animals would die every year.

Yes, Mother Nature often knows best, but when humans have already thwarted Mother Nature, then I believe we humans need to give assistance. Believe me from first hand experience, it is very hard and heartbreaking to watch an animal suffer and slowly die over 5 - 7 days.

Jan
How could I not agree with you! Totally right - as we have started with interference we now have to take care of the outcome which created the mess.

I am again thrilled about Kenya.

You might well have realised I, at several stages/topics, got angry at Kenya and its politics.

But you know what!?: Kenya has become my most admired destination!

The more I travel Africa the more my admiration toward Kenya grows....for not allowing these sick trophy killers to carry out their bloody "sports" in Kenya!

Sometimes I fear this tropy hunting drives me away from the continent.

But we are already planning our next trip......to Kenya!