Oooooowup

There is nothing that can compare to a camel safari -- days spent walking or riding through the African hinterland. Silence surrounds you except for the soft thuds of camel feet. At night myriad stars and the moon shines in the absolute blackness of the sky. Animals snuffle, their distance unknown in the unfamiliar quiet.

I took my two daughters and their friend on a camel safari to investigate properties for a large safari I was planning. It was their introduction to Africa. Before the safari, we drove through the Samburu National Reserve and saw the magnificent animals that populate the area: lion, elephant, zebra, buffalo, waterbuck, gazelle and hyena, which terrify me. Unlike other animals that kill their prey before eating them, hyenas attack and eat their prey alive! Frightening!!!

Camel safaris are expensive. For our party of four, we had a guide, a camel boss, and the construction crew who built our toilette, shower and set up our bed sites each night. We had camel handlers for the additional camels that carried our beds, bed site equipment, food, water, shower and toilette gear, tables and chairs. We had Maasai warriors to protect us. It took 30 Maasai and 20 camels for our trip of 4 days.

We traveled only three hours our first day. Our camels walked with an easy and hypnotic gait. Their huge feet step gently on the land and the sensation is not unlike that of being on a boat. At sundown a large fire was built and we were served a lovely dinner by candlelight in the middle of nowhere.

The first morning we woke with the sun. There were ewers filled with fresh water and bowls; soap, fresh wash cloths and towels, toilette paper and a mirror were all set into pockets of a large leather strip which was hung from a tree. Our drop toilette was a room made of leather with a leather door and a toilette set at standard height above a hole that had been freshly dug. A large pile of clean sand and a shovel were provided. Quite elegant living!

Breakfast, an elaborate affair, was served an hour after sunrise as if we were guests enjoying a meal served from a sideboard in a manor house in England.

On our first full day of safari we saw elephant and cat spoor (tracks), tiny Thompson’s gazelles, and small Samburan villages, ringed by long-thorned acacia branches to protect the people and animals from predators. After walking in the hot morning sun, I mounted my camel, hoping to catch a breeze. When we stopped for a break, camp chairs and cold lemonade appeared like magic. Then off we went again. This time we saw more gazelles and lots of reptiles. Snakes fascinate me, unless I cannot identify them. I would not want to confuse a non-venomous snake with a cobra or mamba!

We reached our campsite around one o’clock that afternoon. There was time to wash up before a light lunch was served. Then it was time to explore, nap or read; but first it was time to see our beds. Each little area was set up with two camp beds. A camp bed is a small four poster cot with the posts used to hold up the thin mosquito netting which encloses the bed. A heavy leather pallet was placed in between the beds and a broom was provided to keep the pallet clear of acacia thorns. A table was set up beside each sleeping area equipped with our water and hurricane lamp and the leather strip with the mirror at the top and our washing supplies hung from a tree above the table. I stared at the unprotected beds wondering if hyenas had ever torn them apart to get to the travelers inside. I had no fear of a lion or elephant attack, only hyena. I went to explore the area and our guide soon joined me. I read the animal tracks I knew and he taught me those I didn’t. I wondered if elephants would wander through our little campsite on their way to the river below us. I thought about the acacia fences around the villages in the area. Four o’clock was shower time on our safari. Showers had been erected with leather walls and floor and a shower bag with hot water hung from above. There is something very luxurious about taking an outdoor shower. The sky and sounds outside are lovely. By the time we had all showered dried and dressed it was time for our candlelit dinner. After dinner we sat around a huge fire, talked quietly, and watched the stars travel across the sky. The sky was boundless and the night silent but for the crackling of the fire.

Our third day on safari was a long day of riding and hiking. We talked little, watching the scenery unfold around us. We hoped to see zebras and giraffes and hoped not to see lions, leopards, or hyenas. We saw antelope of all sizes, but the elephants and zebras eluded us. Every once in a while one of the girls would give off the soft low call of the hyena, oooooowup oooooowup, just to scare me. It worked every time! We reached our new campsite in the heat of the afternoon. After a light lunch, we went to our bed sites to wash up. Set up as before, my bed was closest to the bushes. As I swept our leather pallet to clear it of thorns, I heard a slithering sound and looked to see a large, black, smooth, unpatterned snake sliding into a hole. I panicked. I screamed. I jumped. The girls came running and I kept jumping. Two Maasai warriors, down by the river looked up at me, watching for a moment, and then broke into great smiles and waved. They thought I was dancing and they thought I was good! I stopped jumping. At last our guide came sauntering over! “What is the problem?” he asked me.

“A snake... in the bush next to my bed! He went into a hole.” A few Maasai came to our bed site and poked the leather pallet, poked the bed and lifted the thin mattress.

“ What did the snake look like?”

“It was black and smooth, it had no pattern and its scales were flat” I answered.

“What color was this snake, black black or brownish black?”

“It was the color of that tree bark and smooth but not shiny. What was it?”

“Well, with no pattern, gray-brown and smooth, and it likes bushes and holes, I think it was either a black mamba or a cobra, but the snake is gone,” he said. “Call me if you see it again”.

“Oh no! I’m not going to wait here for the snake to come out of the hole and crawl in bed with me. Move the bed!” I ordered.

“Move the bed?” He looked at me like I was crazy. “You want to move the bed?”

“Yes, move the bed!”

So, our beds were moved up the hill, away from the bushes and the deadly snake.

We had our showers, our lavish dinner, and our lovely fire. Our guide told us about his education and degree in agriculture. He was earning money to buy land to start his own farm. Around nine o’clock we all headed off to bed. I could see through the netting as if it weren’t there. The sky was filled with so many stars I could not imagine finding a constellation among them. I drifted off to sleep watching the stars in the silent night.

In the middle of the night I awoke with terrible stomach cramps. I knew I had only moments to get to the toilette. I saw the dim light of the lantern outside the toilette, grabbed our lantern and hurried down the hill. A short while later, AS I came out of our little camp bathroom, I heard Ooooooowup. Oooooowup. Wup. Wup. The dreaded hyenas! Hyenas all around! I was surrounded by hyenas! I stood paralyzed with fear. Silent tears of horror were streaming down my face. I looked around at the landscape; nothing was recognizable in the dark. The moon was setting and close to the earth…really close…too close. I looked again at the moon. It was in a tree. The mirror I clutched the lantern in my sweaty hand and followed the moonlit mirror. I made it back to my bed and somehow in that flimsy little camp cot I felt safe. Now I listened to the sound of the hyenas around me and fell sound asleep.

I often think of our camel safari; how I looked jumping in terror at a slithering snake, how frightened I was alone in the night with the sound of hyenas all around, how the stars looked in a truly black sky, how the silence felt warm and thick.

Would I go on a camel safari again? In a heartbeat! Am still terrified of hyenas? Absolutely!

When to go: During the dry season, January-February or July-August.

Finding a Camel Safari: Book a camel safari only through a reputable Kenya based travel agency. Look for members of KATA (Kenya Association of Travel Agents) and ESOK (Ecotourism Society of Kenya). Do not book a safari on the fly when you reach Nairobi.

Websites:

For information on tribes and reading resources:

http://www.africaguide.com/country/kenya/culture.htm

African newpapers http://www.webkenya.com/news.php

For World weather http://www.wunderground.com/

For Quick money conversion http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet