After one week of rain in Kalama Conservancy, bordering with Samburu National Reserve, the skies have cleared and the landscape has been transformed. What was once parched soil is now fresh shoots, the plants are flowering, the birdlife is thriving and most animals have young. The water catchment dam – next to the lodge - which holds over one million liters was completed by the community just in time for the rain and it is already full. We have had elephants showering and drinking from the dam regularly, thirsty Grevy zebras and leopards. As time goes on, the ‘bush telegraph’ will spread news of the dam and our waterhole! The recent discovery of rock art very close to the lodge has brought an exciting addition to the guests’ activities. In several caves near the lodge there are numerous motifs ranging from the semi figurative to the pure abstract. David Caulson, the leading Kenyan expert on rock art and founder of TARA, suggests that the site where the lodge is located has been used as a Samburu meat feasting site. Now we include the “caves tour” as part of our morning guided walk and guests are invited to decipher the images.

I did a morning game drive with my guests down to the Samburu National Reserve, on the way there I came across three male lions within the Kalama Conservancy who were trying to kill the young cubs of two female lions. We patiently watched the situation and saw that the females had hidden the cubs in a hole, The males were very upset that they could not find them and the females maternal instinct drove them to confront the males in order to drive them out of the area. They injured one of the females very badly on her forelegs and her throat. Both females waited many hours for the males to leave the area & they eventually did because they could not manage to find the well hidden cubs. The interesting thing about this trio is that they are three brothers who travel and hunt together. This would not be the case with three unrelated males. I estimate their ages to be around seven years, a crucial time in their lives because one of them has to become the leader of the pride by beating the elder male who currently dominates. The two brothers will then have to leave his territory immediately. Male lions begin the take over of a pride by killing the cubs of the females, this ensures there is minimal opposition and it also means that that the females will come in heat sooner so that the new male can mate and ensure his genes are dominant within his new pride.

We slaughtered the goat yesterday evening. I decided to try drinking the blood ~ straight out the neck… Three gulps and that was enough! Cant imagine actually wanting to do that again. When I walked back up to the lodge I found one of our resident leopards lying on a rock right next to the office, we watched one another for about 10 minutes and then she wondered off and I came over the hill to find another one relaxing next to the pool. Fantastic!

A radio call came in late one night a couple of weeks ago while I was having dinner with my guests. I heard the voice of our guide, Wilson, with the plea that I go down to the vlei below the lodge to baby sit some abandoned cheetah cubs… An unusual request! One of our game viewers had spotted the three baby cheetahs on a night game drive and it seemed, sadly, that these little ones had been abandoned by their mother. This tends to happen from time to time when the mother goes off to hunt and the worry is that something has happened to her, but our first concern was to get the distraught younger guests back to the lodge and in to bed, since they refused to come back to the camp unless someone else would look after the cubs. Our Kalama game ranger, Sambara, and I decided we were up for the task and jumped into one of the game-watching vehicles to drive down to the field and relieve Wilson and the children of the baby sitting. We spent the next few hours watching the cubs, keeping enough distance so that we would not interfere if the mother returned. Our biggest worry was the presence of lions in the area, which could well be the reason for the mother cheetah’s absence and who were likely to kill off the youngsters if they became aware of them. However, one is usually advised to leave any cubs for 24 hours in the hope that the mother might return when the coast is clear, and once we were satisfied that the little ones were uninjured and reasonably healthy we knew we must leave their fate to nature (a very hard decision). Early the next morning I went back to the scene and discovered they had gone. Now the only thing to do was search the area to see if it was possible to determine the outcome of the night. Looking for both lion and cheetah spoor, and any sign of bones, I’m delighted and relieved to report that I eventually came across the three little lots of footprints, lovingly flanked by a set of much larger female ones.