3rd August:
Again we headed out for a morning drive, and again we had great views of the wild dogs and their puppies. I saw my first stone partridge of the holiday, as well as a pair of cliff chats on Millennium Hill. There were also several klipspringers on the hill, and dozens of dwarf mongeese on the ground. We came back and there was a lilac-breasted roller in our garden.
Von der Decken's Hornbill, Sarara
Lilac-breasted Roller, Sarara
In the early afternoon, this inquisitive small group of stone partridges appeared in our bathroom!
An afternoon trip to the hide brought a juvenile martial eagle perched in the top of a dead tree alongside a juvenile tawny eagle, as well as a small group of bristle-crowned starlings. Once again we headed out in the evening, on which I added African silverbill, African firefinch and Shelley's starling to my trip list. While searching in vain for another leopard, we got great views of a pair of common quail next to the road.
We came back out after supper, in search of the aardvark or aardwolf. Unfortunately we saw very little mammal-wise, but a Verreaux's eagle-owl was the highlight of the drive. I also saw several Donaldson-Smith's, Nubian and dusky nightjars.
I also managed to catch a leopard on my trail camera, as well as elephant, impala and all the other commoner mammals..
Elephant with Sarara camp in the background
Hamerkop
White-bellied Go-away-bird, Impala and Elephant
Leopard
4th August:
We decided to climb Snake Mountain today, a mountain the local Samburu people believe to be cursed and one that it is thought no-one had ever climbed. It seemed extremely exciting and we set out very early. On the way, we had a very brief view of an aardwolf, something of a Sararan speciality, as well as my first golden pipit ever, which shone in the early morning sun. Snake Mountain rises up in the middle of the bush in the crater amongst the Mathews Mountain range. It looked fearsome from the bottom, and Samburu who lived nearby could not believe we wanted to climb it. It started alright, with a gentle ascent, before it gradually got steeper and steeper. About half way up, we heard some wild dog very close by, but that was all we saw in terms of nature before reaching the first ridge. The walk became horrendous as our legs were ripped apart by thorns, and we had to be constantly crouched over to avoid the poison Euphorbia cactus. At the time I thought walking could not get any worse. We approached this ridge believing it was the top, but when we got there saw another ridge further on. We decided to push on, picking up little rock thrush and marico sunbird along the way. Typically, we reached the top of this ridge and saw another, and once again headed towards it. Each time we thought we were at the top, before seeing yet another ridge. We eventually reached the summit after three hours climbing and had breakfast. We all thought the worst was over. A Verreaux's Eagle shot past us, as did a peregrine falcon, with large numbers of rock martins and nyanza swifts, as well as a single black-throated barbet. The view over Namunyak and Milgis was absolutely breathtaking, the sheer size of the area and complete lack of any people creating a stunning sight. After finishing breakfast, we decided to head down what was seemingly a more direct route. It started alright, however it soon became dangerously steep and we had no option of turning back. A horrible slide down a near-verticle rocky mud slide was horrible, and from there it got even worse. Soon the thorns became unbearable and we were all covered in the poisonous sap of the Euphorbia. To make matters worse, our water had all but run out, and soon a swarm of bees appeared, stinging my mother and our guide. That passed, we continued our outrageously steep descent through the horribly thick bush swarming with thorns and bees, as well as snakes. After four and a half hours, with no water remaining, we all feared the worst. With still a long way to go down, and the boiling afternoon sun sapping us all energy, and no option of turning back or getting any help in, things were not looking good. We plodded on, with only adrenaline preventing us collapsing. It began to reach the stage that we could not go on, we were all horribly thirsty and our legs had been shredded. On the verge of collapse, our guide who had been waiting for us in the car appeared like a god with a bottle of water for each of us. We somehow managed to reach the car, and collapsed once we were in it. It had been a horrendous experience, in spite of the great view. I had even managed to get a new bird for the holiday, a single augur buzzard. We could now understand the bemused look of the Samburu tribesmen whom we had told about our adventure.
Snake Mountain not looking too fearsome from the ground
After spending the whole afternoon sleeping and getting over our pains, we went out for a drive after supper. Again we failed to see the aardvark or aardwolf, but did see an African wild cat, as well as
more of the three commoner nightjars, genet cats and a remarkable record of an Eurasian nightjar, a migrant that normally can only be found in the region between October and April. We went to bed, extremely tired.
On the first ridge
Approaching the third ridge
Reaching the summit
Forcing our way through the bush
Earlier in the afternoon I had gone to check my motion camera and had the shock of my life when I discovered it had been eaten by a spotted hyena! Thankfully it somehow still managed to work!
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