The Leftover Parts

Today I want to talk about what some consider the 'ugliest' and 'stupidest' of all the animals we saw on the Kenyan savannah. I'm talking about the wildebeest. According to one African legend, God made the wildebeest out of the bits and pieces He had left over after He finished creating all the other animals. He gave the wildebeest a mule's face, a cow's horns, a goat's beard, and a horse's body. Sometimes a wildebeest behaves as if all these bits and pieces want to go in different directions. It will start to gallop around, leap up and down, and kick its heels into the air for no reason anyone can see!

March and April mark the rainy season as well as the mating season. Males fight for dominance among the herd. The gestation period in a female is eight and a half months, producing one offspring. The calf is able to stand within minutes of the birth. In a few days, it is able to keep up with the herd.

During May, more than a million wildebeest migrate more than 800 miles from the Serengeti to open woodlands to feed until November. About 500 wildebeest run at speeds of up to 50mph make a stampede. Stampedes are destructive, but also encourage new plant growth and renewal of soil.

The strong bulls in every wildebeest group defend territories that they have marked with their waste and glandular substances emitted from their face and hooves. Young males and bulls without territories form bachelor herd. Bachelors are forced to live on the fringes of the herd.


Here's a picture Rick took of ALL the different animals we saw at just one spot. If you look closely you can see a giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and gazelle!

The day of the jackal

I've always HEARD of jackals but had never seen one until today. What a beautiful, graceful animal.

Our guide told us that this carnivore has long been the subject of superstition about death and evil spirits. The ancient Egyptians believed a jackal-headed god guided the dead to those who judged their souls. Such beliefs were probably encouraged by the jackal's cleverness, nocturnal habits, eerie howling and scavenging.

Jackals live singly or in pairs (mate for life) and are sometimes found in small packs. Mated pairs are territorial, and both the female and the male mark and defend the boundaries of their territory.

Yipping calls are made when the family gathers. Members only respond to their own family's calls and ignore those of other individuals. Although they have long had a reputation as sneaky, skulking scavengers, research has shown jackals to be agile, lithe hunters with close-knit, cooperative family groups. They have been successful in adapting to changing environments.

Jackals are noisy. Family or pack members communicate with each other by a screaming yell and yapping, or a sirenlike howl when a kill is located.

Are the animals up THIS early?

Are the animals UP this early?

Tuesday morning we met at 6:15am to go on an early morning game drive. I think the ultimate goal of every game drive is to see a “kill”. (lions killing something) We saw lots of animals this morning (not nearly as many as yesterday – I don’t think they were up yet) and the weather was so nice and cool.

One interesting animal we saw was a spotted hyena. We saw one yesterday lying in the road. The hyena is known as the “scavenger” because he loves to come behind lions and finish up on the dead carcasses. They have the strongest jaws of any animals and can chew up bones like they were nothing. In fact, they DO eat so many bones that their feces are “strikingly” white because of the amount of calcium that they intake.

Litters of one or two are born, usually of different sexes. They are born with their eyes open and their teeth well developed. They start fighting at birth, especially if two females are born. One ends up killing the other before too long. That ensures dominance and that the strongest survives. If there are one of each sex born, the male will usually survive since he is no competition for the females. Weaning starts at nine months and is usually completed by 18 months. No other female will ever suckle a sister's young and should the mother not return from the hunt, these young will be left to die as survival of it's own genes is important. Other females will protect another's cubs. There is always a dominant female in the clan.

,

The Maasi and the Baboon

On our drive into the park yesterday we began to come through Maasi territory. The Maasi is a tribe that lives in Kenya and Tanzania. They are a well known tribe and we were thrilled to hear that there is a revival among the Maasi and that many of them are believers. Several things mark a true Maasi. They always wear RED. They pierce their ears at an early age and then continue to put larger things in the whole so that their lobes are stretched. (picture) They always have a gap between their two front teeth. If it is not there at birth, they either remove a tooth to make it there or put something between the teeth to insure the gap. If a young Maasi man has killed a lion, he will have scars on his arms. (If he ran from the lion, he will have scars on his back to show that he was a coward!) The Maasi women keep their heads shaved and do some beautiful beadwork. (yes, I bought some).

At this particular lodge where we are staying, there are several Maasi men who have been hired to control the baboons! Yes, because the eating areas are very open plus there are many chairs and small tables outside. The baboons are notorious for coming to the tables to steal food. The Maasi men (in their red) stand around with long sticks and homemade sling shots to keep them away. One Maasi man told me that when the baboon sees the red, he runs. It was evident he was right.

Rick had taken his coffee out on the veranda to enjoy the view. The Maasi man walked toward the door to help someone with a chair and two baboons set their plan to steal Rick’s sugar cube. One of the baboons walked toward the Maasi man to distract him. The other baboon quickly scurried down the roof ledge, jumped on to Rick’s table, grabbed the sugar, and scurried back up to the roof! Rick said it all happened so fast it was hard to take in.

November 5, 2007

Rick and I arrived in Nairobi (after seven hours to Qatar and then another six on to Kenya) about 3pm in the afternoon on November 4. We (along with another BGR couple) were picked up at the airport and taken to a guest house where we were able to refresh ourselves before meeting nearly all the BGR team for supper at a local restaurant. The next morning we had to be ready to go at 6am. The fourteen of us boarded three vehicles (Land Rovers) for our trip to Amboseli Park (a game park/hotel) where we would have our meetings and FUN time. The drive took about four hours but then we got into the park and drove for another hour in (slowly) as we say MANY animals! I will be describing them all and hopefully putting on pictures but just to wet your appetite – just on the drive in we saw zebras, elephants, gazelle, hippos, giraffes, lions, and MANY others. It was amazing. The land is flat for so far you seem to be able to see forever! In fact, the sky is so big I could hardly open my eyes big enough to see it all. We finally got to the lodge/hotel and were met with cool wet towels and freshly squeezed orange juice! Rick and I got our key (which was hooked to a very interesting piece called a ringu – picture later ) and set ourselves up in Room 9.

Our team had lunch – a beautiful buffet. We were in our rooms just long enough to prepare for our afternoon game drive! Wow, it was incredible! Our truck was very high so we had good views PLUS we all had binoculars! (“binos” as they are called here). Our hosts are two young men (one was from Zimbabwe and the other was from South Africa) who work for a Christian tour group called ACTS. You can find out more about them at www.actsoverland.com. They knew all about the animals and had led tours in this park many times. As we drove along they told us interesting things about the animals that we were seeing. And boy, did we see the animals. We drove right through a herd of hundreds of zebra. A herd of about forty elephants crossed the road right in front of our truck and it was absolutely awesome to watch them majestically parade in front of us. I wish you could have all been with me to experience this first day of the game drive. It really was incredible and I could see the hand of God at every turn.

We returned after about two hours and had a great supper. Then our team met for worship and prayer. When we got back to our room our mosquito net had been drawn and our beds had been turned back. What service! We hit the sack about 10:30. Remember we are still dealing with jet lag so we were more than ready to hit the hay.

going on safari

Just wanted to let you know that Rick and I are on our way to Kenya tonight. We are headed there for team meetings and for fun – to go on some game drives. Will write all about it when I get back – with pictures. Get ready.