End of the Season

Peace and quiet at last. All the guests have gone and the season is officially over. Wilderness is now closed until the end of May. Sadly the rains are still yet to arrive. Normally they start mid to late March but despite a few afternoons of threatening clouds, the rain has still not started. It may seem strange to those of you reading this who live in the UK, but in Africa the rain is essential to life and everyone is desperate for it to come. If it doesn’t, then the next rainy season is not until November. All the grass is dried up already so the animals will suffer and even die through lack of food. That said, I am told by guests that there is a “drought” in the UK at the moment. Somehow, I doubt that it compares to a drought in Africa..

After saying in my last blog post that slaughtering animals is not a regular occurrence here, a big staff party was held to celebrate the end of the season and an ox bought, killed and devoured in one day! Admittedly, there were probably close to a hundred people to feed but by the end of the day, there was not a scrap left – no part of it goes to waste and once again, the drinking of the blood is a big part of the ritual for the Masai people.

On to more pleasant subjects, I am flying home tomorrow! Very excited, although I will miss and worry about the horses, I think it would get very boring here with no guests and the majority of the staff have gone on leave. That said, for a couple of days, it is nice to enjoy Wilderness without guests and have the pool to myself. So I will be back in the UK until almost the end of May and then back to Kenya ready to start the next season.

Had some good rides and wildlife sightings recently. One of the great things about riding here is that every ride is different because you never know what you might see. Sometimes it is just the small things such as the ostrich eggs hatching. We had seen a male and female ostrich looking after their eggs for some time, and then the other morning it was lovely to see them with nine little ostrich chicks bobbing along beside them. Or yesterday, two cheetah relaxing on a termite mound. Seeing cats is always special as they are so hard to find and normally keep themselves well hidden in the long grass. Some days you just see so much out riding, for example, twelve rhino and a herd of buffalo within the first fifteen minutes of leaving the stables! The buffalo are tricky customers as they can be very aggressive. Had to wait a while for the two by the river blocking our path to move on. Today, we exercised the polo ponies on the canter track with around thirty Grevy zebra lined up along the airstrip watching us! So it’s never boring and, at times, quite surreal.

Anyway, once I get back to the UK and faster internet, I will endeavour to get some photos posted so you can see what Lewa looks like!