Joy's Camp, Kenya, May 28: Of puff adders and cobras

There is nothing that will get your attention more than having a briefing where you are told to beware of puff adders, cobras and other creatures in the night.

That’s what happened when we arrived at Joy’s Camp in north central Kenya. Dry and hot, they’ve just come out of a very rainy season and it reminds both of us of Texas. We were told that if we needed to leave our tents at night to use the radio and call for an escort—which we thought was a bit excessive. Until last night, when our escort pointed out the smallish puff adder that he had just chased off the pathway. Needless to say we didn’t go anywhere without an escort and a flashlight.

Our time in Kenya so far has been both rushed and relaxed. After another marathon travel day from Guangzhou to Nairobi via Dubai (and up more than 36 hours with only a couple of catnaps between us) we spent our first night at a really lovely place just outside of Nairobi. We had the chance to meet some other Americans just coming off safari and had a great time swapping travel tales.

From our limited experience being ferried around Nairobi in small vans, the roads are much worse than China, but the drivers are just the same. If cars and trucks could push, shove and throw elbows, that’s what the vehicles in Nairobi would be doing. Fortunately, there are new roads being built—by the Chinese.

We were picked up the next morning and took a very small plane to Joy’s Camp in Shaba National Park. This place is gorgeous, and to say that we are staying in tents is just a technicality. If these tents were transplanted back to the States, they’d be high-end condos.

We met Mike the manager and John our guide and shortly went on our first game drive and “sundowner.” Mike mentioned that the animals were “thin on the ground” because of the recent rains. When it is this wet, they don’t need to gather at one watering hole and are more dispersed throughout the park and other nearby areas. While this is great for the prey animals, apparently the predators are having a rough time. Whereas last year there was a severe drought and the animals were slow and dying, the prey is now well-fed, energized, quicker and harder to catch. This has unforeseen consequences on the human population as well. Since we have been here, there has been at least one verified report of a hyena going into a community and taking a baby from a home.

Though they may be dispersed, we have seen two kinds of zebras, giraffes, buffalo, and countless other ground animals to say nothing of the birds. Our favorites so far (aside from the ones just noted) are the kori bustard bird and the dik diks, a tiny antelope of sorts.

On our way to a morning hike along the river, in the company of two park rangers armed with assault rifles, we also encountered a man wandering through the park. This got the park rangers excited – poachers are a problem. We stopped the Land Rover and they jumped out to investigate. It was a bit of a tense situation but Mia, one of our camp mates, lightened the mood by leaning forward to our guide John and whispering, “Ask him if he’s seen any animals…”

John has found us a couple of fantastic spots to watch the sunset with wine and beer in hand. “Lovely” is the word that comes to mind.