Nature Walk at the Mountain Lodge

On Saturday afternoon while at the lodge we went on a nature walk.  A guided tour through the very forest from which all the animals lived and traveled before gathering at the watering hole.  Does that seem a bit crazy?  Don't worry, no need to fear, an escort would follow with an assault rifle in case danger finds us.

We were scheduled to take the hike in the morning but it was delayed because the guard was unavailable.  He had be called away to free an elephant from a snare.  A snare is a trap set by poachers in the forest.  Illegal poaching for the ivory of elephant tusks is a big problem in the park and the enforcement officers are thinnly spread across the large area.

Our guide gave us lots of interesting educational facts about plants and animals and I'd like to share those that stuck with us.

Elephants are long lived in very close-knit familial groups.  They can live up to 70 years and eat as much as 200 kilos of foliage a day.  They feed 16 hours of each day.  By way of a poor digestive system they are responsible for sewing many of the seed of the forest in their depositions.  What I found really interesting about these tremendous creatures:  they mourn the loss of a family member and will actually gather debris to cover, or bury, their loved one.

Those cape buffalo are an irritable species.  They travel in groups and their aggression prevents them from being domesticated.  A lone male cape buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals to run into in the forest, they will attack unprovoked.  If you are so unlucky your only hope is to climb a tree.  If none is near, lie flat on the ground.  Hopefully he will just turn you over several times with his horns and stomp on you.  This is the only way people have survived a meeting.

The difference between the forest and the bush is that the bush has been deforested.  This is a huge problem in Kenya where many people gather wood for building fences and fire.  The old growth rainforest that we walked through has a beautiful clear, low understory.  By comparison the bush is thick and dense with woody shrubs.  It will take 600 years to return to a mature forest.

And I have to mention the Strangling Ficus.  This is a close relative of the beautiful banya trees we found in Hawaii.  But in this species seedlings find life in the crook of existing trees.  Then the roots form around the existing trees, using it as a crutch to reach the light quicker.  Eventually they completely devour the first tree and strangle it.  I think this is the same ficus you find consuming the temples of Angkor What in Cambodia.

Kenya is named for Mount Kenya, the country's second highest peak at 17000 ft.  (Mt. Kilamonjaro, south of Nairobi, is taller).  Mt. Kenya was an anomoly to the early western visitors because it sits nearly on the equator (off by 11 miles) and still retains snow and ice on its peak year round.  The name is derived from this contrast of black rock and white ice which many local tribes (each in their own language) called “ostretich tail”, which also has the same contrast.  The tribal word for this, per whichever of the eastern tribes the westerners were near, was something similar to Kenya.  42 distinct and seperate tribes, each with their own language and culture, lived in the boundries of present day Kenya.  Instead of choosing the name of one tribe to identify the region they chose the one landmark they all identify with, Mt. Kenya.

The hike concluded with tea time in the bush.  We came around the corner of the trail to find they had set out cups and saucers.  We sat on a log and enjoyed our afternoon tea.  I found it rather charming and picturesque.  Quite a fine hike.