On our walk over Hampstead heath we spotted a heron on the hunt. A large, beautiful bird, with all its focus on a clump of grass. It pounced and emerged with a small wriggling thing, a mouse perhaps, and swallowed it down whole. Very dramatic in the moment, and more successful than the last hunt […]
Other people
We were invited to brunch by the friend of a friend of the GF. It was to celebrate their climbing Mount Kenya, specifically a bit which requires very technical climbing. It was a funny old gathering. Mostly women. The friend of a friend was a thin white American woman and her fellow climbers were two […]
To the city
This morning we left Naivasha. The taxi was late, which annoyed me, as I’d made a reservation at a fancy restaurant in Karen, but it turned out to be ok. We took a different route to Nairobi, a less scenic one, but also with a wider road and perhaps less risk of getting stuck behind […]
All that remains
This afternoon we went to look for the zebra carcass and all that remained was a strong smell, some hyena droppings (I now know how to identify hyena droppings) and a flat bone. Remarkable. Other than the lingering stench of death, not a bad way to clean up a body.
A well-rounded education
I would not have thought I would ever know to recognise the sound of a hippo eating, but I do.
Circle of life etc
Well today the wildlife had taken care of the zebra, or at least most of it. I hadn’t gone to see it for the past couple of days but the GF tells me that on day 2 it looked much the same but had clouds of flies around it while on day 3 it had […]
Dead zebra
In the grounds, not very far from our house, this afternoon we came across a dead zebra, one that seemed to have died very recently, perhaps an hour or so earlier when we heard zebra braying. It looked pregnant. It also looked quite pristine, other than being on its side. We sent a message to […]
Last night, in bed
Last night, in bed, lights turned off and just drifting into sleep, when I heard a dog barking, a man shouting, and then a strange, rhythmic wheezing grunting sound, like a defective water pump. Eventually I got out of bed to look out of the window and there was a baby hippopotamus in the garden, […]
Life and death
Another weekend, another life-threatening expedition. This morning we left early for Hell’s Gate and rented a couple of bicycles at the entrance. I’m glad I held out for a step-over as otherwise it was a fairly rattly bicycle and the brakes didn’t work. But because it was step-through I at least didn’t fall over every […]
Afternoon exploring
Yesterday I followed the dog that lives on this property as it clearly wanted to show me something. Today it was back at the same time, so we seem to have a regular afternoon exploration. Today we went down to the swampy bit by the lake. The nesting birds which usually divebomb to drive away […]