Falcons, hyenas and good friends

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Nairobi

Back in Nairobi again. We spent the weekend at Simon & Laila’s place about 35km out of town. Those 35km took us approximately 3 hours to drive when we left town on Saturday afternoon. Driving in Nairobi is actually the worst traffic experience so far. Everyone claims that Cairo is a driver’s nightmare, but then you haven’t been stuck in Nairobbery at rush hour…
We did however succeed in our effort to get out of town eventually, and drove up to Simon’s place at about 5 pm on Saturday.
Simon seems to manage his injury quite well; he is already walking although he needs his crutches most of the time. But considering the fact that he fractured his hip and dislocated a few of his joints just two weeks ago, we were highly impressed with seeing him up and about.
After a quick hello we all got in to their Range Rover and took off for a short Game Drive before sunset. The area were Simon lives is teeming with wildlife; wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, hyenas, bat eared foxes amongst some of the mammals. And then we have the birds… Raptors left and right, and Simon must be some sort of bird hybrid since he can spot just about anything when the rest of us are just seeing yellow grass and blue skies.

Från Off the Map - Africa

Later that evening we went on a nightly Game Drive as well, using a hand held spotlight to find the animals. Their eyes reflects the light amazingly well and Simon can tell right away what kind of animal it is just by looking at that reflection… Impressive!
After a bunch of springhares that jumps around astoundingly similar to small kangaroos, we also spotted bat eared foxes and a pair of hyenas. When the spotlight then died on us, and the temperature dropped enough to at least make me chatter my teeth we decided to turn around and head for home again.
Suddenly, a pair of red eyes glimmered right in front of us. And next to it another pair, and beyond those the whole savannah seemed to glimmer red. We had without any warning entered right into a pack of hyenas. Unexpectedly we were surrounded by at least twenty individuals, Simon tried to get the camera up, I threw myself onto the spotlight to make it work again, Laila did a great job in steering the car between rocks, holes and hyenas, and Wes & Gustav were holding on for dear life up on the roof of the Range Rover. Since the animals were no more than a couple of meters away from the vehicle, falling down on the ground would be a seriously bad thing to do…
It was almost surreal being surrounded by all these predators in the middle of a dark African night, a memory for life indeed.

Back at the house Gustav and I set camp just outside the fence to Simon’s yard since our car wouldn’t fit through the gate. Just when we’d climbed up into our beloved roof tent we heard animal sounds over the savannah. We identified them as more hyenas and they were closing in by the minute. Pretty soon they were practically just below us and we fell asleep to their calling in the night. Awesome…

Från Off the Map - Africa

The next morning brought not only sunshine but also a visitor from above… Tim, a year-and-a-half old lanner falcon flew in to greet us. Simon has had him for quite some time, although Tim lives in total freedom and comes and goes as he pleases. He is however a very social guy and this morning he wanted in on breakfast. Since muesli isn’t a falcon’s idea of a good way to start the day, Laila fetched a couple of chickens from the fridge and then the show began.
Simon, broken hip and all, stood in the big field swinging a dead chicken by a rope whilst Tim circled above and attacked from every angle. He is really fast and some of his maneuvers are simply inexplicable, he is able to turn in acrobatic ways in full speed all the time with his eyes on the target. Gustav filmed parts of it and as soon as possible we’ll post a video here along with the photos.
We also had the opportunity to hold this wild raptor ourselves and I can only say that it was really a powerful experience to look a falcon straight into his eyes, only a few inches away…

Från Off the Map - Africa

The enormous work that Simon & Laila put into conserving raptors in Africa is really inspiring. Unfortunately the accident with the water tank has set their plans back a bit, but hopefully Simon will recover quickly so that they can proceed again.
Simon and Laila are truly good people, the kind that you just enjoy being around. Sometimes one can talk about energy thieves when meaning someone who really gets on your nerves and drags you down. Well, these people are the absolute opposite of that!
Their energy and good nature literately lifts you up and it is all very inspiring.
I’m really glad that we got to spend some more time with them, and I hope that we can repay them in any way possible.
Please check out their website and support the work they are doing. And also, they have some truly amazing pictures of birds of prey, which eventually will be published in a book.
Do get a copy of that one!

http://simonthomsett.wildlifedirect.org/

Från Off the Map - Africa

We spent two nights at their place, and now we are back in the big city.
We are planning on leaving town quite soon though, it’s getting a bit to familiar around here now. The itchy feet is back again…
We do however need to stay a couple of more days since we are waiting for some equipment to be made for us. Thanks to East African Canvas we’ll soon travel in luxury inside our Bumblebee. They will kindly enough supply us with custom made seat covers for the car and that is highly appreciated! Beyond the fact that they will take care of some of the dirt and the dust that the roads of Africa have to offer, they also look great! Handmade in durable canvas and leather they will last for many years to come, and we are really grateful to Gary at East African Canvas. Beside the smaller products that they manufacture their main export is their incredible tented camps. Have a look at their website and prepare to be amazed…
http://www.eastafricancanvas.com/

Everything is custom made to fit the need of each client, and we can only say; WOW!
Tent is really not the proper word to describe these constructions…
If we ever move to a warmer climate, this is the company that’s going to build our house!
They are also making a new cover for Wes’ kayak, and he’s totally stoked about it. He is planning to use it as a small one-man tent as well, so he’s made the design himself. We’ll see in a couple of hours how it all turns out. :-)

Från Off the Map - Africa

By the end of the week we’ll probably hit the coast and it will definitely be nice with some warmth and sun again. Kenya’s highland is not exactly warm even if it is on the equator. The altitude brings the temperature down and since the rainy period is beginning now it’s surprisingly cold considering the fact that we are in Africa.
The coast is a lot warmer though, so we’ll definitely get the chance to thaw there!