The game drive was fantastic.   I had driven around for 2 days prior to the student drive and had not seen lions or any of the cats.  But this time, we were soo lucky!  About half an hour into the drive, we saw Lguret, the collared maneless male lion.  Soon after that we bumped into more of the lions from the Koitogor Pride - Nashipai and her cubs.  And about 10 minutes after that, the students got to see a leopard!  The kids were thrilled!  They had 4 small digital cameras to use and take photos with - I will be giving them copies of their photos soon so they can remember their experience.  They watched and learned about the big cats.  At the end of the day, they even sat an exam which had questions on some of the topics they were taught.  The kids did great and it was clear that they had benefited tremendously from the drive.  One of the students, Samson, said to me “Now I will find it much easier to draw lions”.

Jeremiah and Legenas watch giraffes in the distance

James watches Lguret sleeping under a tree

Legenas and Jeremiah learn how to take photos

Watching a leopard

Group photo - some very happy kids!

Here are some of the photos that the students took themselves:

A male gerenuk browses

Lguret, the maneless male

Leopard sleeping on an Acacia tree

Jeremiah had this to say after his safari:

“I say thank you for the great tour we had with you yesterday.  I was very happy to use cameras and binoculars and to see many animals like lions, giraffes, gerenuk, and much more.  Thank you also for the biscuits and milk you brought us!  I learned so much from your tour and I was so excited because it was the first time for me to see the above animals. It was so enjoyable”.

Cynthia had this to say:

“We were 5 boys and 5 girls when we went on a drive.  We started seeing animals when we entered the park.  One of the animals I saw was a lion and it was interesting because we were told his name was “Lguret”.  I was very happy to see so many of these animals.  I wish again one day we will go again and see many others.”

A huge special thanks to Kenyan Kids on Safari for donating the cameras and starting this programme and to Sasaab Lodge for being so enthusiastic about the drive and providing their vehicle.  I am really looking forward to more drives with the students  -hopefully over Xmas!

Visiting renowned human-wildlife conflict expert from the US, Nina Fascione and her husband Steve Kendrot and I, decided to take 6 students from Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate, on a game drive in Samburu National Reserve.   The headmaster Johnson selected 3 boys and 3 girls who he said deserved a special treat for doing really well academically.  I am glad Johnson made the selection  -I would have really struggled to chose the children  -hoping to take them all!

We entered Samburu and after about 20 minutes or so, we began to see giraffe, tons of elephants close-up and were fortunate to see one of the Samburu lionesses, walk in the middle of the Ewaso Nyiro River.  The students were thrilled.  For most of them, they have never really seen animals close-up.  They may have seen the tail of a lion disappearing when they were young children herding livestock, or elephants running away from villages.  This time, the students got to see the animal’s behaviour and what they actually look like.

Edward and Moses learn how to use a camera with Ricila’s help

We stopped at about 10 am for some chai (tea) and a break.  I also gave the students a talk on the lions of Samburu - why they are important and the need to conserve them.  I also showed them how each one is identified individually and we went through the various lion IDs of the reserve.  The students had many questions.  One good question was had the numbers of lions changed over the years in the area.  Our question and answer session went on for about 30 minutes by which time we headed back.

Explaining about the importance of wildlife

Showing the students lion IDs with Steve’s help

The students were really excited to have gone out on a game drive with us.  We stopped at the Save the Elephants research camp on the way back and they were given a talk on elephants by the researchers.   It was a fun time for them all and they chatted animatedly all the way back to school and relayed their experiences to the other students.

A few weeks later I happened to be reading some wildlife essays that the students of West Gate had written when I came across one written by Scholastica.  She had written about her experience when she saw a Samburu lioness for the first time!  It was a great essay and a step forward in getting the students to know some of the Ewaso Lions.

All art material has been donated by Shalini Bhalla of SB Management. Lindsay Morency, from Canada, has sponsored editing of the Simba Stories booklet and the Panthera Foundation has sponsored production and printing of some of the booklets.

The students have already begun working on their artwork and have produced some great drawings.  Some of them had never painted before until they received boxes of paints and brushes.

Jeremiah working on his drawing

Samson learning how to paint

Some of the completed drawings

I will send an update on their progress soon!

Sasaab Lodge generously donated and constructed a waterproof shade in camp.  Before this, we had a canvas sheet but unfortunately this got torn and destroyed in the sun and strong winds (click here to see blog on this).  This is what we had before:

Ricila trying to tie the torn fly sheet

The carpenters from Sasaab built the frame for the new structure and we had some iron sheets put on top of it, after which we painted it green.  Our next plan is to put “makuti” (thatch) on top of the roof.

Building the frame

Painting the iron sheets green

The completed structure

Our kitchen also has been renovated! Joseph worked hard to make it bigger and higher so we don’t have to crouch any more.

Joseph working on the kitchen

The new and improved kitchen

The bathroom and loo were also renovated.  The walls are more sturdy now thanks to the thatching, although I’ve had to battle with the camels recently as they were trying to eat the makuti thatching!  To remind you what it used to look like:

Bush bathroom in 2008

New bathroom

Lastly, we now have an office in camp! This was my old tent and has now become a store/office. Our old store had fallen apart and thanks to donations from WildlifeDirect blog readers we were able to get newer, more sturdy tents.  We will eventually get  2 desks and chairs put in.  I have a new tent now - its smaller than my old one (now the office) but still very cool and as I recently discovered, it is waterproof!

New office tent and store

A view of camp

A huge thanks to Sasaab lodge management, Madeliene Todd,  Stuart McCullum, Chip Owen, Sammy Leleseita and Brenton H for funds to  help us make camp look so much better!

The first sighting was on the 9th of September and was about 10 minutes away from camp in the Conservation Area in West Gate Community Conservancy.  The second sighting was on the 13th of October and it was so close to camp!  In September we saw a pack of 7 dogs and in October we saw only 2 dogs, however later on a pack of 12 were reported nearby at the Sasaab lodge.

The wild dogs looked in great shape and sent the guinea-fowl and dikdiks into a frenzy.  I always enjoy seeing them - it is so rare to see the endangered wild dogs and considering they are not really resident in the area, I feel extremely fortunate to have seen them.

Wild dogs on the 9th of September

Pack of 7 move in the Conservation Area

One of the wild dogs seen on the 13th of October with Mt Kenya in the background

Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of this, but on the 4th of September, I was driving at night in Sasaab and at around 8:00 pm, I literally bumped into an aardvark!  This is my first time to see one and funnily enough it was only a few days before that I had mentioned that the one animal I would love to see is an aardvark.  This one walked across the road slowly and gave us a great showing.  It really is the coolest creature to see!  The Samburu people believe that it is very good luck to see an aardvark.  I was thrilled!

Impalas graze with the Samburu sacred mountain, Sabache, in the background

A thin impala finds some new grass 2 days after the first rain

Almost all the buffaloes died in the drought.  Here is one survivor who just managed to stay alive…

A dikdik a few minutes after a rain shower

Happy monkeys

A thin oryx makes the most of the new grass

Numerous waterbuck also died in the drought.  This male made it.

A not so happy lion cub in the rain!

Here are photos taken exactly 1 week after the first rain:

Grass!!!

Lots of grass for the Grevy’s zebra

Finally - some happy warthog!

Happy, healthy lions

One of the cubs on a fallen Acacia tree

The pride in Ngare Mara have also done well.  The two young females in that area, Jabdu and Korti, have not ventured far from Ngare Mara River and the swamps.  A few weeks ago, Jabdu gave birth!  I saw her the day after she gave birth - she had blood all over her legs and she was quite nervous.  It will be weeks before we see her cubs as she has them hidden well.  Kofafeti and her 2 cubs have also done well over the past few months, and Loirish and Lguret, the 2 resident males, have been moving between the 2 prides.

Jabdu, a day after giving birth

Loirish and Lguret feast on a giraffe

Lastly, Magilani. I have not seen her since August.   There is no sign of her at all. I haven’t seen any tracks or heard of any sightings from either the community or the scouts.  It has been long and I worry about her safety.  With lion numbers in Kenya declining in most areas, each and every individual lion is so important.  I have monitored Magilani for months as she wanders through West Gate Community Conservancy alone.  I hope she is still alive.

The rains have now begun and things will begin to change for the lions and other predators.  They have had an easy year so far, however this will now change as the prey moves away from the Ewaso Nyiro river and into the hills.  The lions will follow and leave the safe confines of the reserves.  I hope they survive this crucial period.

One of the last surviving warthogs died a few weeks ago

Arid landscape

Digging waterholes in the river for the wildlife

A few weeks ago, we began to see signs of rain.  Dark clouds were forming daily and the days were scorching.  It eventually began to rain all around us but never quite reached Samburu.  The Samburu ladies sang in the river, throwing milk and praying for rain to come.  Each day we would look at the river and wonder if today was the last day we would be digging.  This went on for days.

Rains in the distance

Finally on the 10th of October, the river flowed!  This was such an exciting moment.  We had seen signs of rain all around us and knew that the river had to flow soon.  We got word that the river was seen flowing 20 kms upstream from camp and there was a buzz in camp as we knew that we would see the great Ewaso Nyiro River flow very soon.  At 2 am, we heard it! We rushed down to the river at 5:30 am and saw the river flowing – it was amazing to see large volumes of water come past us.

The Kipsing lugga flowed into the Ewaso Nyiro

Clear views of Mount Kenya and the Ewaso Nyiro the day after the river flowed

All signs of rain then vanished and we had clear skies for a few days.  The river was also beginning to disappear again and dropped to low levels.  People were getting very disappointed and some were beginning to lose hope that it would ever rain at all.  But, on the 14th of October at 4:00 pm, it finally began to rain – properly!!! We rushed around camp, packing everything up and throwing stuff into Gypsy (project vehicle) and sat under our shade and watched the rain fall.  It was amazing.  We recorded our very first rainfall amount with our new camp rain gauge.

Rain close to camp

Jeneria, Ewaso Lions scout, excited after feeling rain for the first time in a year

The Ewaso Nyiro flowing on the 15th of  October

A warthog family walk down to the flowing Ewaso Nyiro to have their first drink of water from the river in months

A dikdik drinks from the small waterholes that have filled many of the roads in the reserve

After months and months of dryness and death all around us, everyone is so excited.  I just hope this is not temporary and the rains will continue over the next few months.  It needs to rain pretty much everyday.  Eventually the area will recover and the wildlife and livestock will come back.  Samburu is a stunning area when its green and lush  - its been so long since I have seen it that way and I can’t wait to see what the area will look like in December.

In the meantime, I am heading home to Nairobi very soon.  It has been a long long field season – and a very difficult one because of the conditions here.  We will be packing up camp over the next few days and I will then be in the reserve watching how everything will respond to the new rains, including how lion movements will begin to change after they have spent months and months along the river.

Speaking of the lions; they are doing great and have had an easy time over the past few months.  I’ll be writing about them soon but in the meantime, here is a photo of Nanyiro, that I took a few days ago.

Nanyiro looking great a few days ago

Its raining all around me and I can hear thunder everywhere as I post this blog!

Thank you SO much for your donations to Ewaso Lions.   Things are currently very difficult in the Samburu region -  see my previous blog on the drought.  Your donations will really help us enormously with continuing our conservation efforts.

Thank you again.

With my best wishes from Samburu,

Shivani & the rest of the team

Here is one of our new cubs in Buffalo Springs

The last few months have been very difficult in the area. The local people, their livestock and the wildlife have all really struggled to survive during this ongoing persistent drought. The rains totally failed in April and the river has barely flowed this whole year. In most places, the Ewaso Nyiro River is the only source of water and the drying of the river has greatly affected the local people. They struggle to find enough water for their livestock who have begun to die daily. They now need to move further in search of pasture and water including inside wildlife areas. But now even these wildlife areas have reduced to nothing. There is not a blade of grass or vegetation cover. Only dust, sand and soil.

Jeneria, Ewaso Lions scout,  gives water to goats from a dug hole with the Samburu elephants in the background

Unfortunately, due to the lack of water, waterbuck, impala, buffalo, warthog, cattle, donkeys and sheep have begun to die everyday. Large groups of close to 20 warthogs that were around in April and May have now reduced to 1 or 2 warthogs and even they have begun to die. I watched a crocodile die the other day. He had come out of hibernation and literally dropped dead outside his hole. More animals will die over the next few weeks reducing the species numbers and diversity within the area. Pressure on the reserves from livestock will continue. Animals are dying; every week, every day, every minute.

Crocodile dies in the Ewaso Nyiro

Vulterine Guineafowl search for water in the dry Ewaso Nyiro

The animals that are still alive are weak and some barely able to move. They traverse through this arid landscape in search of whatever pasture they can find. We have seen animals walking in the river Ewaso Nyiro in zig zigs searching for water and trying to dig.

A thin warthog struggles to stay alive

I have never experienced such a difficult field period and I apologize to everyone for not having written a blog in so long. We are so busy in the field, trying to help in whatever way possible to ease the pressure of the drought on the local people and the wildlife. Every day we are talking to people to try and ask them to tolerate the predators. The local people are losing everything – livestock to the drought and also all remaining livestock are weak and lethargic and get lost, often becoming prey to the roaming predators. We speak to the herders daily, assisting them to find lost livestock, informing them of predator locations and giving advice on where to graze and where not to graze. We are digging waterholes daily, but even this does not appear to be enough, but we are trying to do as much as possible. Each day I drive around and smell death and see carcasses littered all over the landscape during my drives.

Ewaso Lion Scouts digging in the dry river bed

A waterbuck carcass in the Ewaso landscape

On a positive note, the Ewaso Lions are all doing pretty well. They have not really moved far away from the river over the past few months. As the Ewaso Nyiro is one of the only water sources in the area, the lions lay along the river and wait in ambush for prey to come down to drink from the few waterholes that have been dug. They are doing well currently in this dry season as there is lots of food around. With many animals dying, the lions have plenty to choose from. However, due to the drought and the river drying up, there is more pressure on the reserves from livestock, increasing the human threat to lions and we are working hard to try and monitor all individual lions inside the reserves.

Loirish, Kofafeti and her 2 cubs healthy and happy in July after they fed on a giraffe for a few days

I hope to catch up with writing more blogs soon. In the meantime, I hope you can all bear with me as we get through this difficult period. Please do help anyone working and living in a drought stricken area. We need your help as I am sure my fellow bloggers do who are also working hard to help the situation. You can help by making a donation to allow us to keep going with our efforts in helping the people, their livestock and the wildlife.

It is now the middle of September. Everyone is saying rain is on the way and we also see a few signs of clouds building up. Lets hope the rain comes soon. We need it NOW as things are so desperate. I’ve almost forgotten what the river flowing looks like… but believe me, when it does flow, I will be amongst many in Samburu, celebrating.