Ewaso Lions

Category: Lions | Date: Sep 30 2008 | By: ewasolions

Nashipai, my favourite lioness, has 2 cubs! They were seen on the 23rd of August near the Hippo Circuit not far from where Nabo and her 3 little ones have been seen often.

It is great to finally see Nashipai with cubs. They were about 8 weeks old when first sighted. Since then, she has stayed in the core area of Samburu, hiding the cubs often when hunting with Nabo and Uni.

Nashipai hasn’t had cubs since 2005 and her last cubs moved out of the reserve in May 2006. Since then she has mainly been with Nabo her sister, or alone. Everyone is thrilled to have more cubs in the reserve after not having seen any for years.

Nashipai with one of her cubs
(Photo by Paul Thomson)

3 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Sep 28 2008 | By: ewasolions

Hello all,

I have a few blogs that will be posted over the next few days but in the meantime I wanted to send you the following 2 links where Ewaso Lions has been featured in the news over the past week.

Best wishes from Samburu,

Shivani

Click on the links below:

On the trail of lions

Counting Samburu’s vanishing lions

Two of Samburu’s lionesses -Nabo and Nashipai

One response so far

Category: West Gate | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: ewasolions

Many of you have asked me what it is like to live at the Ewaso Lions research camp or Echo Lima camp as its known. It has been an amazing few months in this small bush remote camp in the West Gate Community Conservancy and I want to share with you some of our experiences here.

We set up the camp on June 6th. We decided on the location as it was the only flat bit of land we could find which had a few trees and was within close proximity to the nearby Sasaab Lodge staff quarters where we would get water. Our site is open and is at the base of a small rocky hill. On the other side of the hill is the Pukur lugga (sand river) where livestock come to drink during the day and hyenas and lions at night. The views are spectacular as we are surrounded by hills and the Samburu sacred mountain, Ol Lolokwe, is in the distance.

The Pukur lugga near camp

We put up a small mess tent using a canvas sheet and some ropes, a bush kitchen, dug a hole in the ground as a loo, erected some posts for a bathroom and 2 tents for sleeping. We collected dead logs and trees pushed over by elephants to form the posts of the loo, bathroom and kitchen and surrounded them with sack material.

Joseph in the kitchen

The Bathroom

We live in perpetual dust and have had some strong winds over the past few weeks. This is the windiest time of the year and our camp has blown away a few times with the materials surrounding the loo, bathroom and kitchen collapsing. And since the structures are held up by dead trees, everything is always falling over!

We have many animal friends visit our camp on a daily basis. The nearby lodge camels often graze on our site as do donkeys who stray from the Pukur lugga during the day. However they vanished once after they got a whiff of the lion scat near the bush laboratory in camp, and nowadays keep their distance.

We have 2 dik diks that have become so accustomed to our presence that they feed on the Acacia pods in the mess tent whilst we are sitting there! 15 kudus also ran through camp a few days ago which was great to see.

The birdlife is amazing. We have all kinds of hornbills, yellow spotted petronias, various weaver species in camp everyday feeding on the crumbs in the kitchen and near the mess tent.

We also have predators in camp. Hyenas are heard almost on a daily basis and on one occasion 2 hyenas killed a donkey in the Pukur lugga. We’ve also had lions walk through without us knowing it as we saw their tracks in the morning in between my tent and the warriors tent.

Shower and tent area

Big bull elephants love the area. The Kipsing lugga a few kilometers away is one of their favourite resting areas and it is where all the lone bulls come together and hang out in their bachelor groups. Often in the evenings, they leave the Ewaso Nyiro River and move towards the hills feeding well into the night. We have had elephants in camp often at night, and on one occasion 2 huge bulls came and knocked over one of our Acacia trees to the ground. We only had 4 large trees on our site… and now its down to 3.

Unfortunately we also live with termites; a real nightmare to live with! They have been eating away at the loo for a few months now. However much we try to get rid of them, they return. I am worried that they will eat the entire loo and it will collapse at some stage. I may need to get a plastic loo seat soon.

The termite infested loo!

We have many human visitors too during the day. Warriors often walk through camp. Women from the nearby Sasaab village stop by to ask for lifts to West Gate or Archers Post. We chat about the weather, livestock, the village and more. The lodge staff or conservancy scouts and personnel come to say hi often and for a quick cup of chai as we catch up on news within the group ranch. The Echo Lima camp has become a popular spot over the past few months and it has been great meeting new people and getting to know the community.

I am able to power my laptop and charge our phones using a fantastic solar set-up which has worked out really well so far. Thank you so much for your contributions to date towards paying off the loan for the solar system. I still require $200 to complete payments and am grateful for any donation towards this.

Joseph packing away the solar system every evening from the mess tent, which is the shadiest and coolest place in camp

We get water for our camp from the nearby lodge staff quarters. I carry 4 20-litre plastic jerricans in Gypsy and fill them up there. The 4 cans last us about 3 days depending on how many we are in camp. We put 1 jerrican out in the sun for hot water – its amazing how hot it actually gets! Water is scarce in the entire region, and living here has definitely taught me how to use only what is absolutely necessary. It is incredible how quickly one gets used to living off a small bucket of water a day.

Camp tap – a plastic bottle with a hole and covered with duct tape

Meals are simple but wholesome. Our main meal is ugali and dengu (green lentils) which we eat almost every day. I get vegetables once a week from the reserve and this lasts us a few days. We eat a lot of rice too. Joseph recently made bread in a small hole in the ground with some tin foil, coals and pots. It was amazing and the best bush bread I have ever eaten!

The bush oven

Joseph putting the finishing touches on the bread

Bush bread!

We planted 2 umbrella thorn Acacia trees in camp with the intention of planting more. One of our trees was doing really well but sadly we woke up one morning to find it totally eaten. We saw gerenuk tracks all around. The other tree is doing well and we are keeping the dik diks away from it.

Raphael and Joseph plant an Acacia tree in camp

Every morning I leave camp at 5 30 am to drive through the Conservation Area looking for tracks and predators. We are normally back by 8 am by which time Jeneria is ready to leave on his patrol. We then have a radio-call with all the scouts to check that everything is ok before they leave on their patrols and to also see whether anyone heard lions at night or received a report.

I then normally head out again after a quick breakfast of camel milk chai and bush bread. I attend community meetings, conduct recces within the conservancy, map the group ranch, follow the scouts on their routes, visit schools, look for lions or sit in villages and chat to the community about lions. Every day is different and is planned the night before. However, I have learned that it is sometimes best to just head out and see what happens during the day as every day something new and unexpected happens and being flexible is the key to working and living out here. Sometimes planning just doesn’t work!

I normally head back to camp by 3 or 4 pm, have a late lunch and then sit on my laptop doing emails, report writing, funding applications or writing these blogs. By 6 pm, I have a “shower”, we eat dinner by 7 30 and chat and laugh until about 8 or 8 30 and then its off to bed.

Living at the Echo Lima camp is quite an experience. I love every single day of being here. The hot, dusty, windy days with stunning sunsets and starry nights, and working with a great team, has been fantastic and I look forward to new adventures that each day brings.

Heading out on a new adventure…

6 responses so far

Category: Donors | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: ewasolions

Tasleem and Madeliene,

A huge thank you from all of us at Ewaso Lions for your donations to the project. All donations made go straight towards field costs. Your encouragement and support is really appreciated and again, thank you so much.

Shivani and the rest of the Ewaso Lions team

A stunning sunset in Samburu 

2 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Sep 05 2008 | By: ewasolions

I am breaking away from lion news to write about something different - a Samburu wedding!

Jeremiah Letoole, one of the Ewaso Lion Scouts took his 1-month leave in July to prepare for his wedding towards the end of the month. Jeremiah was marrying a beautiful young bride named Miriam and the wedding date was set for the 26th in a remote village in Samburu District, called Ndikir, where Miriam’s family comes from.

We set off from Echo Lima camp at 5 am on the 25th of July heading for Wamba. Wamba is a small town near the Mathews Ranges in the heart of Samburu District. Gypsy was full of camping gear, food, jerricans (plastic containers) of water and sacks of sugar for the wedding.

We arrived in Wamba town at 7 30 am and bought more sugar, tea-leaves and tobacco for the wedding. It is customary in Samburu tradition that the groom arrive at the bride’s village laden with gifts. In most cases the gifts comprise of sugar and tea leaves. By the end of our shopping, Gypsy had 100 kgs of sugar inside and lots more!

We left Wamba at around 11 am after all the shopping was done, and took the main road towards Maralal. Near a small village called Nkaroni, we met Jeremiah’s father who showed us the way to Miriam’s “manyatta” (village). It really was in the middle of nowhere as we finally arrived after driving through luggas and thick bush.

We set up a small camp near the family home and this would be our base for the next 3 days. I hung out with all the women of the village in their house drinking tea (with lots and lots of sugar!) and watching them prepare and talk about the wedding. We were surrounded by children and it was a relaxed scene that evening. The warriors (Jeremiah, Raphael and Paul) were all getting ready; putting on their beads, “shukas” (cloths) and red ochre mixed with goat fat over their bodies. It was fascinating to watch. Raphael was Jeremiah’s best man and Paul was assisting him.

Jeremiah putting red ochre

Putting on my beads with the help of Naramat, Jeremiah’s sister

Raphael and Jeremiah during the evening of the 25th

Early the next morning the wedding events started. Raphael, had a huge role to play during the wedding. It was his duty to make sure that everything was in order; the elders were kept happy and that all Jeremiah’s responsibilities were carried out. Miriam’s mother removed Raph and Jeremiah’s shoes and they had to walk barefoot for the whole day. They spent the day giving sheep and cows to the family, collecting wood and bushes for the wedding house and chatting to the elders. They had to present 4 various pieces of meat to Miriam’s mother after a long bull skinning process. The women, warriors and elders danced in the afternoon as the sun was setting.

Miriam, the bride

Marking the cows

In the evening, the elders cleared away an area where the wedding house would be built. They blessed the site as the women were making the house sticks and preparing to put it all together. It was fascinating to watch the house being built. After 2 hours and 7 women working, there it was – the wedding house. Everyone was drinking tea, meat was being roasted and it was a typical village scene. More blessings, dances and the wedding day ended at midnight with the elders giving the married couple advice on their future.

Building the house

The finished house

Another early start on the 27th. As the sun came up, we all congregated in the wedding village. Raph and Jeremiah were given their shoes back (goat skin sandals) and Miriam started to pack her belongings. More tea for everyone as I packed up our little camp. By 10 am, we had everything placed outside Gypsy ready to be packed. I was carrying the entire wedding party in the car plus the wedding house! It is customary that the house be transported to the groom’s home and set up in his family manyatta. Paul did a fantastic packing job and we managed to squeeze 7 people, plus all the gear and the iron sheets, skins and sticks for the house inside Gypsy. We were quite a sight as we left our home for the last few days and made our way back to Wamba.

A full Gypsy

As I drove into Wamba town, people stopped and stared at the wedding procession. Everyone was fascinated by Gypsy and the group. I did some shopping for camp and managed to squeeze it in the car and we left for West Gate at around 2 pm. At 5 pm, we drove into Jeremiah’s village manyatta to be greeted by his entire family and more tea. We were all exhausted as I drove back to Echo Lima camp arriving at around 6 pm.

It had been a brilliant experience. Not only the entire wedding but also living in a manyatta and experiencing a true Samburu lifestyle. I hope to return to this remote manyatta in a few months time to present the wedding album to the family. I really am looking forward to going back.

2 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Sep 04 2008 | By: ewasolions

I returned to Echo Lima camp on the evening of the 24th of July from the reserve. Jeneria greeted us and immediately told me of an abandoned elephant calf that had been killed by lions.

The day before, the community scouts had come across a young 6-8 month old elephant in the Conservation Area of West Gate Community Conservancy late in the evening. The family was nowhere to be seen and it was clear that the calf got lost or somehow had been abandoned. The bush in this area is very very thick – in fact it contains the most bush in the entire Conservation Area. Maybe the family left the river area and wandered into the hills leaving the calf behind?

The scouts returned to the site that morning and stumbled across 4 lions who had killed the young calf during the night. When I received this report from Jeneria, I rushed immediately to the site. Luckily I had the GPS location of the elephant that the scouts had provided me.

The terrain was tough and I struggled to get close to the GPS location. It was getting late as I was finally able to maneuver my way round to the site of the elephant carcass. We stumbled across 2 male lions (see Real Lions 2) feeding on the elephant just as it got dark.

We left after about 10 minutes as I did not want to disturb the lions on their kill. I returned to the site a few weeks later and we walked to the carcass through the thick bush. I was surprised to see that the carcass was still pretty much intact and the hyenas had not finished it off.

However, I returned a few days ago to find it almost gone. The jaw, skull and other bones were scattered. There was a small hole in the thick Salvadora bush where the lions had obviously rested whilst feeding on their kill.

Remains of the elephant calf

The young calf’s jaw

This was the first time that I have seen lions kill an elephant in the region. The last report was in 2002, when a young calf in Samburu National Reserve was killed by some females. A few months ago, Nabo, Uni and Nashipai did have a go at chasing a young calf only to have the mother come tearing out of the bushes and chase the lions away. During my years in Samburu, I have only seen lions feeding on elephants that have died from natural causes.
Thanks for all your comments on Real Lions and the maneless males of Samburu. I will reply to your questions soon!

5 responses so far