“Onesmus, can you call for lunch? Ask them if the Memsahib wants to come with the driver.” “Ndio.” “What do you think, O? The wildebeest are coming down to the river on our side. Should we wait here, or move further downstream. There’s big pressure there with lots of zebra. The pressure should force a…
My Travels: Feeling Two Million Wildebeest
Ever since I could remember I wanted to see the wildebeest migration from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara. From the endless plains to the lone spotted trees on the Kenyan side, for that is what each name means respectively. If Africa could be afforded a single place for its heart, then surely the aorta…
My Travels: Birds and Bees in Flight
Although the Masai Mara is all about cats, the real reason we were there was to see two million or so white bearded wildebeest. I kept on losing count when I got to three hundred and fifty, which was when I opened the first Tuskers for the day. So sometimes it was easier to take…
My Travels: The Fast Cats of the Mara
We had just witnessed our first crossing: a few thousand wildebeest pouring over steep dusty riverbanks, splashing through the water and climbing to the north bank of the Talek. We followed them north after the last had crossed. “There’s a cheetah!” said Onesmus, pointing ahead to another herd of wildebeest. Marius turned to Ines and…
My Travels: Husbands and Wives in the Mara
One afternoon we were driving along the Mara River and heard a lion roar. I lifted my head and looked in the general direction and spotted a lioness about two hundered meters away, in the grassland just off the riverine bush. We followed her along the river, lost her and had to backtrack. She had…
My Travels: Brothers and Sisters in the Mara
Cats are my favourite animals. Their behaviour is similar across the spectrum, from domestic cats to lions. Well, similar except in mating. The first lioness we saw in Naboisho was well hidden on a rocky slope covered with bush. She groomed herself and then moved on, out of sight. The buffalo grazing below the slope…
My Travels: Leopard Spotting
Wilson was our Masai Guide in the Naboisho conservancy of the Mara. He had heard of a leopard kill that had occurred on the conservancy in a wooded area before the great plain of Naboisho. That afternoon we set off to find the leopard. We were driving along when Marius shouted “stop, I see a…
My Travels: A Photo Shoot at the Foot of Sirente
Sirente is a long mountain that rises from the village of Rovere on the Altipiano of Abruzzo and at its peak reaches up to 2200 meters above sea level. The plateau of the Altipiano sits at between 1350 and 1450 meters above sea level. Rovere sits on the western and southern slopes of a small…
My Travels: Summer in the Appenines
Yesterday I arrived in Roca di Mezzo, on the Altipiano of Abruzzo, a large plateau home to five quaint mountain villages set at 1350 metres above sea level. Rocca di Mezzo lies between the capital city of the region, L’Aquila, which was recently devastated by an earthquake and Avezzano, a medieval university city to the…
My Travels: Masterful Menu Mind Games at Campo Imperatore
Summer this year in the Appenines of Abruzzo arrived with hot days and cool nights. We had a new visitor to the Altipiano, a plateau at about 1400 meters above sea level and adjoining part of the National Park of the Sirente-Velino range. A must see for any visitor is Campo Imperatore, another plateau at…
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